Google AI Mode returned a text ad on 29% of commercial keywords in a new SE Ranking Analysisand for most of these keywords, the advertiser’s domain was not among the sources cited in the response.
SE Ranking checked whether the pages or domains for each keyword that produced a text ad also appeared in the sources listed by AI Mode for the same query. The domain was present 11% of the time, while the exact URL appeared 1.95% of the time. For the other cases, the advertiser of the paid ad was not among the sources referenced by AI Mode.
Ad frequency increased with CPC
Ad frequency is more closely correlated with cost per click than any other factor SE Ranking examines. The CPC rate increased in three brackets: 24% below $2, 32.45% from $2 to $10, and 53.56% at $10 and above. Search volume and keyword difficulty did not show similar trends. Since the report does not provide a model or sample sizes for each band, this indicates a correlation in the data, not a proven predictor.
Advertising presence was heavily influenced by niche
Advertising presence varied by niche, from 72% of pet keywords to 2% of healthcare keywords. SE Ranking interprets categories with a higher advertising presence as being primarily for lead generation and those with a lower presence as being more informative or EDGE-oriented. Thus, the advertising potential of an account depends on its category before considering specific keywords.
Most advertisers also didn’t rank organically
Advertisers rarely appeared in organic search results for keywords they paid for. Only 2% of paid URLs also rank organically for the same keyword, and 15.35% at the domain level.
Some of the URL-level variance results from campaign landing pages not intended to rank, but the domain-level variance persists in the top 10, 20, and top 100 rankings. SE Ranking also compared advertising and non-ad domains matching authority and organic presence, finding no increase in citations for advertisers, although the details provided were limited for verification purposes.
The advertising layer that Google built
Google has gradually added ads to AI mode. During Google Marketing Live, the company introduces two new ad formats in AI mode: Conversational discovery ads and highlighted responses, both integrated into AI responses. These are still in testing and are not yet widely available.
This follows a annual letter by Vidhya Srinivasan, hinting at the expansion of AI advertising in 2026. Google also said AI Overview ads generate revenue similar to traditional search ads.
Why it matters
AI ads are independent, with data showing that ad placement, citations, and organic rankings often do not correspond to the same keyword. Purchasing a placement does not guarantee citations or rankings, so consider it a separate paid channel, especially for high CPC keywords.
Overlap between ads and quotes is useful for visibility, not for direct purchase. Remember that a competitor appearing in AI mode is not necessarily cited as a source, as these do not usually appear simultaneously. Monitor paid presence and citation presence separately.
Looking to the future
Currently, paid ads and quoted information are very different, so you can track them separately. Google is testing new formats like Conversational Discovery Ads and Highlighted Responses, where the ad is part of the response itself, instead of displayed alongside it. If these new formats become more common, the line between buying a place and appearing in the answer could start to blur.
SE Ranking sells AI mode and competitor ad tracking. Keywords were pre-screened to trigger text ads and sampled roughly equally across all niches, so 29% reflects this date-set test, not the prevalence of ads in commercial searches.
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