Google's AI is fundamentally transforming search and advertising by enabling more personalized, context-aware interactions, leading to new customer acquisition and conversion opportunities for businesses.
Mind Map
Click to expand
Click to explore the full interactive mind map • Zoom, pan, and navigate
Everyone is underestimating just how
much Google's AI is about to change the
way search and advertising actually
work. Google has leveraged the AI
revolution to transform how billions of
people spend their money online today.
I've been watching this transformation
unfold and what most people haven't
realized yet is a complete game changer.
I'm Neil Patel. My agency NP Digital
manages Google ads for some of the most
recognizable brands in the world. And
today I'm going to break down what
changed, why it matters, and how you can
Everyone who said Gen Z only uses Tik
Tok to search is wrong. Studies are
showing otherwise. Gen Z actually
searches on Google more than any other
age group. But they're not just
searching more. They're searching in a
completely different way. Instead of
typing pizza delivery, they're asking,
"What's the best late night food that
won't make me feel terrible in the
morning?" And it's not just Gen Z.
Google's AA overviews are now reaching
over 2 billion people every month. But
here's the really crazy part. People who
use AA overviews don't search less, they
search more. They start asking questions
they never would have asked before,
like, "How to keep suits from wrinkling
when traveling on long haul flights?" or
what is the difference between a flat
white and a cappuccino? In Google's
biggest markets like the US and India,
AI overviews are driving over 10% growth
in completely new types of search
queries. And this growth accelerates
over time. Now, what does this mean for
your business? Every day, more potential
customers are asking questions in ways
traditional keyword research never
anticipated. If Google is using AI to
provide a new level of helpfulness to
new answers, why wouldn't your ad
campaigns? That means being ready to
connect with customers as they not only
search for your product, but they
discover it via a conversation with
search. Take a picture of an inspiration
or ask search to resolve a debate for
them on comparing two solutions. In a
new environment, a manual keyword
Remember when finding the right answer
meant scrolling through page one of
Google? Thanks to AI, we just got a
major upgrade. Now, when you ask a
question, Google's AI doesn't just look
once. It fires off multiple searches at
the same time, each from a different
angle, to piece together the best
possible answer for you. Think about
this. When someone searches for how to
choose the best laptop, are they a
college student trying to stretch a
budget, a video editor chasing speed, or
a grandparent who just wants simplicity?
The old Google would show everyone the
same results. The new Google doesn't. It
understands the person behind the
search. For years, Google systems relied
on simple signals like where you were or
the device you were using to guess what
might be relevant. But now with Google
AI, it goes way deeper. It can simply
process, reason, and understand the full
meaning behind those same signals. So,
it's not just predicting what you're
looking for. It's recognizing why you're
searching and when you're most ready to
take action. And that ship doesn't just
make search smarter, it makes ads
smarter, too, by connecting what people
search, scroll, stream, and shop across
Google's ecosystem. AI can now deliver
ads that feel more relevant and timely,
meeting users before even they realize
what they need. And it's not just about
individual searches anymore. Google's AI
understands search journeys across its
entire ecosystem. Search, YouTube,
Gmail, maps, and beyond. Here's where it
gets even bigger. A overviews are
changing how people use Google. Instead
of sending users off to click 10
different links and wasting an hour of
their time, Google provides the answer
right inside the search within seconds.
So when people do click onto your
website, the quality tends to be higher
because they're ready to make their
decision. And when the ads are
integrated directly into AI overviews
and AI mode, they benefit from an AI
power response that gets a user ready to
convert. So, if you're a business owner,
here's the reality. It's no longer just
about being seen. It's about showing up
when it matters the most. When people
are comparing, deciding, and getting
help from AI. That's why branding is
more important than ever. Because Google
is pulling context from everywhere. Your
website, your reviews, even how people
mention you on Reddit. And behind all of
that, Google has been building something
even bigger. An AI powered ad system
designed to give you an edge in this new
landscape. Here's what this means for
you. You can reach people before they
start searching. Guide them while
they're exploring and capture them the
moment they're ready to buy. These three
AIdriven systems work together to help
you win across the full customer
journey. Demand genet creates awareness
and desire. Performance Max unifies
every surface from search to YouTube to
maximize conversations. AIAX for search
predicts intent in real time uncovering
demand before it even exists. Each one
plays a unique role. Together, they let
you move with the speed of Google's own
AI, turning curiosity into clicks and
clicks into customers. Let me show you
Every business owner asks the same
question. Where are my customers? The
truth is, you don't know if they're
watching videos on YouTube, reading
emails in Gmail, or searching on Google
Maps. Performance Max campaigns take
away the guesswork. It runs your ads
across search, YouTube, Gmail, Google
Maps, Discovery, the display network,
and millions of websites at the exact
right time. The AI processes billions of
interactions to figure out exactly when
and where each person is most likely to
buy. My agency helped Little Bellies
take advantage of this system in a
crowded baby food market, and the
results were incredible. Little Bellies
was competing against major corporations
with less than 2% market share.
Performance Max became their omniresence
engine across Google's ecosystem from
search to YouTube to Gmail and display.
By feeding the system quality creative
assets, showing happy babies enjoying
their organic snacks and parents
integrating them into everyday routines.
The AI learned to find highintent
parents at the exact right moments. The
results, a 56% year-over-year growth in
the US market share, making Little
Bellies one of the fastest growing baby
snack brands in America. And non-branded
search impressions jumped 363%
as the brand captured parents actively
researching baby food options. And the
cost per acquisition dropped 69% from
$13 to just $4. The magic happened
because Performance Max identified
parents across their entire journey.
Someone might see Little Bellies while
watching parenting content on YouTube
and later search organic baby snacks and
see a text ad, encounter an influencer
post on social and finally convert after
seeing a Gmail remarketing ad. The AI
optimizes entire path automatically
meeting parents wherever they're
searching for trusted nutrition advice.
But here's where most people go wrong.
They let AI run on limited or poor
quality data. They use performance max
as their only campaign type. Performance
Max is like the star player of your
team. It's powerful, but it can't win
the game alone. Think of it as your
exploration engine. It should run
alongside proven paid search campaigns
if you already have them or work as a
discovery tool if you're just starting
out. That's why this next type of AI ad
Have you ever wondered why some brands
seem to pop up everywhere right before
you realize you need them? That's not
coincidence. It's Google's demand genen
campaigns. Traditional advertising
responds to intent. Someone searches for
running shoes and you show them ads.
Demand genen creates intent. You show
running shoe ads to someone watching
workout videos before they even think
about shopping for running shoes.
They're not searching yet, but Google's
AI can predict who's most likely to
become a customer based on behavior
patterns. It gets even more powerful
when you feed it your own targeting and
first-party data. That's what helps the
AI learn faster and find better
customers. Even if you don't have your
own video assets, Google's AI can build
them for you. You just upload a few
images, headlines, your logo, and it'll
automatically turn that into short form
videos for YouTube Shorts, Discover, and
Gmail. Google recently released a case
study that shows just how powerful this
approach can be. Samsung saw a 400% jump
in click-throughs with 70% lower costs
using demand genet. Instead of only
targeting people already searching for
their TVs, Samsung started reaching
people watching tech reviews on YouTube
who hadn't even decided that they wanted
a new TV yet. This dramatic improvement
happened because traditional advertising
fights over the same pool of people
actively searching. When you're running
demand genen, your goal isn't to just
shape perception. It's to create demand
that converts. Instead of selling
features, you want to show
possibilities, how your offer fits
naturally into someone's world. That's
why demand uses visually engaging
formats like short videos, carousels,
and lifestyle imagery. They capture
attention in the discovery phase when
people are curious but not yet comparing
products. As a system learns, it
automatically creates more assets based
on which visuals and formats are
performing the best. Every impression
builds familiarity and emotional
context. So by the time someone's ready
to buy, whether that's on search or
YouTube, your brand already feels
familiar. And that's where AIAX research
complements the power of YouTube,
converting curiosity into intent in new moments.
This third AI ad system is where
Google's AI absolutely gets mind-blowing
and how good it is. It's called AIAX for
search. Think of it as a one-click
supercharge for your existing search
campaigns. You don't have to rebuild or
start from scratch. AAX learns from
what's already working. Your keywords,
your assets, your landing pages, even
your creative tone. From there, it
expands your reach, uncovering new
queries, new audiences, and new
opportunities you might never find
manually. And here's where it gets even
better. AMAX doesn't just match
keywords. It reads context. It analyzes
every search history, location, device,
time of day, and thousands of other
intent signals to understand the why
behind every query. That's the kind of
nuance only AI can detect and now it's
built right into your campaigns. It also
enhances your creative performance. In a
world where AI generate answers like air
or views and air mode are rewriting how
users interact. Contextually tailored
ads become more critical. AMAX helps
align your visuals, messaging, and
offers so they feel part of the
experience, not an interruption. One of
my agency clients, Maxis, a
telecommunications company in Malaysia,
piloted this feature and saw a 207%
increase in conversion volume. The AI
surfaced multilingual and longtail
queries that their manual keyword tools
had missed, including regional slang and
problem focused searches that revealed
brand new intent. Here's a pro tip that
you can take away from this. When you
enable AI Max, apply brand controls to
make sure your ads stay on message while
AI explores new intent patterns. Then
check your search term report. It shows
you which queries trigger your ads
through AI Max. Many of those terms will
reveal untapped intent signals or fresh
content ideas that you'd never uncover
on your own. And that's only half the
story. Create AI Max as an intelligence
system, not just as an ad setting. The
search terms it uncovers can guide your
creative strategy, your content
planning, and even future campaign
design. Because when you pull it all
together, performance max, demand genen,
AI max, and even AI overviews, that's
most advertisers are still running one
campaign at a time, managing search
here, a YouTube ad there, and hoping
something sticks. But Google's AI
doesn't think in silos. The real power
comes when your campaigns start learning
from each other, even if you're layering
them in one step at a time. That's what
I called compound learning. Your organic
content builds authority that earns
citations and AI or views, which makes
your brand more recognizable when
running performance max ads. Demand
genen is about finding your audience and
putting your brand top of mind across
Google's most visual services. That
means it doesn't just make your demand
genen campaign stronger. It also
improves the results with performance
max and AI powered search. Google's AI
connects every system so each one picks
up where the last one left off. That
way, every placement works smarter
together, strengthening each touch point
and turning more viewers into high value
customers. and AIAX for search uncovers
emerging queries and language trends
that feed right back into your content
and targeting strategy. It's a feedback
loop. Each piece makes the other
smarter. Organic strengthens ads. Ads
accelerate discovery, search intent,
unlocks new opportunities. Together,
they help Google's AI understand your
business and your audience on a deeper
level. Now, not every business can or
should run all three systems, and that's
okay. What matters is how you connect
the tools you do use. If your budget is
just a few thousand a month, start
simple with Performance Max. It gives
you reach across search, YouTube, Gmail,
and discover without needing multiple
campaigns. Once that's performing, you
can activate AI Max and paid search to
capture intent or demand genen to shape
it. If you're managing larger budgets,
six or seven figures, that's when
combining all three becomes truly
powerful. Each system plays a role.
Demand genen creates awareness. AAX for
search finds high intent buyers and
Performance Max scales everything across
Google's ecosystem. The more touch
points you create, the more your
campaigns learn from one another,
turning isolated ads into a connected
marketing engine that grows smarter with
every impression. You're not just
feeding a machine. You're training your
marketing to adapt the way your
customers do. Across formats, across
channels, and across intent. That's the
future of growth on Google. A living
system that compounds in intelligence
Click on any text or timestamp to jump to that moment in the video
Share:
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
One-Click Copy125+ LanguagesSearch ContentJump to Timestamps
Paste YouTube URL
Enter any YouTube video link to get the full transcript
Transcript Extraction Form
Most transcripts ready in under 5 seconds
Get Our Chrome Extension
Get transcripts instantly without leaving YouTube. Install our Chrome extension for one-click access to any video's transcript directly on the watch page.
