AI is redefining paid search, not just through automation, but through changing search behaviour. With AI Overviews and AI Mode, users shift from short keyword queries to conversational questions, and Google increasingly decides which answers and ads appear. Performance Max, Broad Match and AI Max push this algorithmic approach even further.

For PPC managers and digital leaders, this creates both uncertainty and opportunity. Visibility moves into AI-generated surfaces, and control over placements continues to shrink.

In this talk, Cindy shows how advertisers can regain strategic control in an AI-first search landscape: from feeding the right signals into Google’s systems to steering campaigns with structured testing and clear decision frameworks.