Google Ads AI Brief: How to Guide AI Max Campaigns in Plain English
Table of contents
What is Google Ads AI Brief?
Google Ads AI Brief is a feature inside AI Max for Search campaigns that lets you set plain-English guidelines for how Google’s AI writes and targets your ads. You tell it what to say, what to avoid, which searches to chase, and who to speak to differently. Google’s AI, powered by Gemini, reads those instructions and applies them before generating ad copy or expanding your keyword matching. Think of it as briefing a copywriter, except the copywriter is running your ads at scale. Currently available for AI Max for Search. AI Max for Shopping and Performance Max support is coming.
Zara Imrie, Google Ads and AI Marketing Specialist, Founder of Bizi Digital
This post was drafted with AI assistance and reviewed by Zara Imrie.
Prerequisites
Before you can use AI Brief, you need:
Not sure where to start?
We help businesses build marketing systems that actually work. Let us show you how.
Get Your Free Growth Plan →- An active AI Max for Search campaign in Google Ads
- Access to your Google Ads account (admin or standard access level)
- AI Brief enabled inside that campaign (check Campaign settings under AI Max features)
AI Brief is available globally in English. More languages are in progress.
What AI Brief actually does
AI Max can rewrite your headlines, expand your keyword matching, and generate new ad variants on the fly. Left to its own devices, it doesn’t know your brand. It doesn’t know you never discount. It doesn’t know you only serve commercial clients. It doesn’t know that one phrase your legal team has banned.
AI Brief is where you fix that.
You write guidelines in three categories: messaging, matching, and audience. Google’s AI reads them before it does anything. Once you’ve saved your brief, the system shows you sample assets and sample search queries so you can sense-check the direction before the campaign goes live.
It won’t give you word-for-word control over every ad. But it does let you set real guardrails, in plain language, without touching a single line of code.
How to write messaging guidelines
Messaging guidelines tell the AI what your ads should and shouldn’t say. This is the closest equivalent to briefing a human copywriter on tone, claims, and off-limit territory.
The format is simple. You write plain sentences. Google reads them. The AI applies them.
Here’s what that looks like across different types of businesses.
Accountancy firm
“Never mention prices or hourly rates in ad copy. Focus on outcomes for small business owners, not technical accounting terms. Do not use the phrase ‘tax advice’ in any headline.”
E-commerce clothing brand
“Focus messaging on the current autumn/winter collection. Highlight free UK delivery on orders over £50. Do not reference last season’s products or sale pricing.”
B2B SaaS company
“Always position the product as enterprise-ready. Do not use startup-focused language. Avoid phrases like ‘easy’, ‘simple’, or ‘no setup required’. Focus on security, compliance, and integration.”
Local home services business
“Lead with local availability and same-day booking. Never mention competitor names. Emphasise that all engineers are fully qualified and DBS checked.”
The underlying logic is the same as briefing a copywriter: tell them what you sell, what you never say, and what matters most to your customer. Write it how you’d say it to a person.
One thing I’ve seen clients get wrong is writing guidelines that are too vague. “Keep it professional” doesn’t give the AI anything to work with. “Avoid informal language and do not use contractions in headlines” does.
How to write matching guidelines
Matching guidelines let you set boundaries around which searches the AI can target. AI Max expands keyword matching beyond your list, which is powerful but can pull in completely irrelevant traffic if you don’t set edges.
You’re essentially telling the system which territory is yours, and which to stay out of.
Online degree provider (distance learning)
“Avoid searches related to in-person degrees, campus visits, or student accommodation. Focus on remote learning, flexible study, and working professionals.”
Commercial cleaning company
“Do not match searches for domestic or household cleaning. Only target commercial, office, or industrial cleaning queries.”
Personal injury law firm
“Avoid searches related to criminal law, family law, or employment law. Only match personal injury and medical negligence queries.”
Premium kitchen fitter
“Avoid searches that suggest a DIY or flat-pack intent, including terms like ‘IKEA kitchen fitting’ or ‘self-assembly’. Focus on bespoke, custom, and professional installation queries.”
If you serve a specific geography, say so here too. “Only match searches with local intent in Yorkshire and the Humber” is a legitimate matching guideline. It’s not a location bid adjustment, it’s an intent filter.
How to write audience guidelines
Audience guidelines let you personalise messaging for different types of people who might see your ads. The AI uses these to adjust the tone or emphasis of copy depending on who it thinks it’s reaching.
This is where it gets genuinely interesting, because you can tell the AI to lead with different selling points for different audiences without setting up separate ad groups.
Health food retailer
“For people who appear health-conscious or interested in nutrition, highlight that products are free from artificial additives and use whole-food ingredients.”
Financial planning firm
“For people approaching or past retirement age, lead with peace of mind and long-term security. For younger audiences, focus on building wealth and early planning.”
Commercial insurance broker
“For tradesperson audiences, lead with public liability and tool cover. For office-based businesses, lead with employer liability and professional indemnity.”
Software company selling to multiple departments
“For IT decision-makers, emphasise security credentials and technical integration. For finance teams, lead with ROI and cost reduction. For operations managers, focus on workflow automation.”
You don’t need perfect demographic data for this to work. You’re describing your audience segments in the same way you’d describe them to a new member of your marketing team. The AI figures out the matching.
What AI Brief cannot control
This is the part most guides skip over. Here’s what AI Brief does not do.
It does not override your ad assets. If you’ve written headlines and descriptions in your campaign, those stay. AI Brief influences what the AI generates on top of them, not your existing approved copy.
It does not guarantee compliance with regulated industries. If you’re in finance, healthcare, or law, AI Brief guidelines do not replace compliance review. Google’s ad policies still apply. Your legal obligations still apply.
It does not give you character-level control. You can’t dictate exact phrases that must appear in every ad. You can set direction and exclusions. You’re briefing the AI, not writing its output.
It does not affect your bidding strategy. Budget allocation, Target CPA, Target ROAS, all of that sits outside AI Brief entirely.
It is not a substitute for good campaign structure. If your ad groups are a mess, your landing pages don’t convert, and your keyword list is three years out of date, AI Brief won’t fix that. It only works well on a solid foundation.
Language support is currently English only. If you run multilingual campaigns, brief guidelines in English for now and wait for the rollout.
Common AI Brief mistakes to avoid
These are the patterns I see repeatedly when reviewing AI Max campaign setups. ⚠️ ZARA INPUT NEEDED: add a short line here about how many clients/campaigns you’ve reviewed with AI Brief — e.g. “I’ve reviewed AI Brief setups across a dozen client accounts since launch.”
Writing guidelines that are too vague. “Be professional” gives the AI nothing. Be specific: what does professional mean for your business? What would an unprofessional ad say? Start from the negative.
Treating AI Brief as a one-time setup. Your business changes. Seasonal campaigns, promotions, new products. Brief guidelines should be updated when your messaging changes, not left from launch.
Ignoring the sample assets Google shows you. After you save your brief, Google surfaces sample ads and searches. Look at them. That’s the system telling you how it interpreted your instructions. If the samples are wrong, the brief is wrong.
Setting matching guidelines that are too restrictive. There’s a difference between “avoid irrelevant searches” and “only target three very specific phrases”. The latter defeats the point of AI Max. Give the AI room to find traffic you haven’t thought of, just keep it out of territory that genuinely doesn’t convert.
Forgetting that the brief is public-facing output. Whatever the AI generates based on your brief will appear in real ads, to real people. Write your guidelines as if you’re setting standards, not just suggestions.
FAQ
Is AI Brief available for all Google Ads campaign types?
Not yet. At launch, AI Brief is available for AI Max for Search campaigns only. Support for AI Max for Shopping and Performance Max is confirmed to be coming, but no specific date has been announced.
Do I need to write all three types of guidelines?
No. You can write one, two, or all three depending on what your business needs. Messaging guidelines are the most broadly useful. Start there if you’re unsure.
Will AI Brief override my existing ad copy?
No. AI Brief influences what the AI generates beyond your approved assets. Your existing headlines and descriptions stay in place.
How long should my guidelines be?
Write as much as the situation needs, and no more. A few clear sentences per guideline type is enough for most businesses. Avoid trying to cover every scenario. Focus on the instructions that would most change the AI’s behaviour without them.
Can I use AI Brief if I’m not using keyword expansion in AI Max?
Yes. Messaging and audience guidelines still apply to ad generation even if you’ve limited the matching expansion settings. The features work independently.
Get help with AI Max
AI Max changes how Search campaigns work at a fundamental level. Used well, it can find traffic and ad angles you’d never surface manually. Used without guardrails, it wanders.
If you want help structuring AI Max campaigns or setting up AI Brief guidelines that actually reflect how your business works, get in touch with Bizi Digital.
Last updated: 21 May 2026
Schema markup
“json
[
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "BlogPosting",
"headline": "Google Ads AI Brief: How to Guide AI Max Campaigns in Plain English",
"description": "AI Brief lets you guide Google's AI in plain English, covering messaging, matching, and audiences. Here's how to write guidelines that actually work.",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Zara Imrie",
"url": "https://bizidigital.com/about"
},
"publisher": {
"@type": "Organization",
"name": "Bizi Digital",
"url": "https://bizidigital.com"
},
"datePublished": "2026-05-21",
"dateModified": "2026-05-21",
"url": "https://bizidigital.com/blog/google-ads-ai-brief-guide",
"keywords": [
"Google Ads AI Brief",
"AI Brief AI Max",
"how to use AI Brief Google Ads",
"natural language ad guidelines Google",
"AI Brief messaging guidelines"
]
},
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "HowTo",
"name": "How to Use Google Ads AI Brief",
"description": "A step-by-step guide to writing messaging, matching, and audience guidelines in Google Ads AI Brief for AI Max for Search campaigns.",
"author": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Zara Imrie"
},
"step": [
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"name": "Open your AI Max for Search campaign",
"text": "In Google Ads, navigate to your AI Max for Search campaign and open Campaign settings. Locate the AI Brief section under AI Max features."
},
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"name": "Write messaging guidelines",
"text": "In plain English, tell the AI what your ads should say and what they must never say. Include tone instructions, banned phrases, and key selling points."
},
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"name": "Write matching guidelines",
"text": "Set boundaries around which searches the AI can and cannot target. Exclude irrelevant categories or intents that do not convert for your business."
},
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"name": "Write audience guidelines",
"text": "Describe how the AI should adjust messaging for different audience types. Tell it which selling points to lead with for each segment."
},
{
"@type": "HowToStep",
"name": "Review sample assets",
"text": "After saving your brief, review the sample ads and searches Google surfaces. If the samples look wrong, revise your guidelines."
}
]
},
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "FAQPage",
"mainEntity": [
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Is AI Brief available for all Google Ads campaign types?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Not yet. At launch, AI Brief is available for AI Max for Search campaigns only. Support for AI Max for Shopping and Performance Max is confirmed to be coming, but no specific date has been announced."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Do I need to write all three types of guidelines in AI Brief?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "No. You can write one, two, or all three depending on what your business needs. Messaging guidelines are the most broadly useful starting point."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Will AI Brief override my existing ad copy?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "No. AI Brief influences what the AI generates beyond your approved assets. Your existing headlines and descriptions stay in place."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "How long should AI Brief guidelines be?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "A few clear sentences per guideline type is enough for most businesses. Focus on instructions that would most change the AI's behaviour without them. Avoid trying to cover every scenario."
}
},
{
"@type": "Question",
"name": "Can I use AI Brief if I am not using keyword expansion in AI Max?",
"acceptedAnswer": {
"@type": "Answer",
"text": "Yes. Messaging and audience guidelines still apply to ad generation even if you have limited the matching expansion settings. The features work independently."
}
}
]
}
]
“
