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What Is Google Ads AI Essentials?

Answered 3 November 2026 · Written and reviewed by

The Short Answer

Google Ads AI Essentials is Google's checklist of AI features to turn on. It runs from the Google tag and enhanced conversions to Performance Max and video. For a store, do the tracking items first and leave Demand Gen and video for later. Scaley Media Buyer, which we build, reads your account and tells you which ones fit.

What Google Says AI Essentials Is

Here is how Google describes it. Google frames it as a checklist for putting its AI to work in your account. Its own page asks: "Do you have the essentials to succeed with AI?" Then it lists ten things to set up, from tracking to campaign types.

The list also ties into your Google Ads account (the steps below show where).

There are two versions out there, which is why you see two different lists online. The first is the ten-item checklist. The second is AI Essentials 2.0, on a Google page dated January 2026, which sorts the same idea into four groups. When we checked on 3 November 2026, Google's old help link for AI Essentials 2.0 opened its Google Marketing Live 2026 page instead. So what is below is what Google's own pages say, read that same day.

Every Item on the List, and What a Store Should Do

Here are Google's ten items in Google's order. Google's page does not say which ones matter for a store, so next to each one is my call for an online store. The call comes from running 400+ store accounts at ZenoX Media, my Google Ads agency.

The ten Google Ads AI Essentials items, in Google's order, with a do now, later or skip call for an online store
Google's itemStore callWhy
Google tag on every page, plus Consent ModeDo nowNo tag, no data. Google flags Consent Mode for advertisers operating in the EEA and the UK
Enhanced conversionsDo nowGoogle says it makes your conversion counts more accurate. Bidding learns from those counts
Values on your conversionsDo nowSend the real order value. Google itself names revenue and profit margin as values to use
Google AnalyticsUseful, not urgentGood for reading your site. Just never count the same sale twice in Google Ads
Customer MatchLaterNeeds a real customer list. Worth it once you have repeat buyers to reach
More and better creative inputsDo, with a checkGenerated images and text are fine. Read each one before it runs
Search campaigns with Google AI, simpler structureAfter tracking and negativesWide matching on bad data spends fast on the wrong searches
Performance MaxYes, once tracking and feed are cleanThe main campaign for most stores. It needs a clean product feed to work
Demand Gen campaignsSkip for nowReaches people who are not searching. Fix the campaigns that catch buyers first
Video campaigns on YouTubeSkip for nowNeeds real video and spare budget. Most small stores have neither yet

The first three items are all about data, and they make every other item work better. The last two, Demand Gen and video, are about spending more money in new places. Google lists them all as one checklist. A store should not treat them as equal.

How a Store Should Work Through AI Essentials

The order I use on store accounts. Google's list is not in this order, and the order is what saves the money.

  1. 1

    Open the list in your account

    Click "Take action now" on Google's AI Essentials page while signed in to Google Ads. It opens your Recommendations page, filtered to these items.

  2. 2

    Check your conversions first

    Make sure each sale counts once, test orders are left out, and the value sent is the real order value. Fix this before anything else on the list.

  3. 3

    Turn on enhanced conversions and Consent Mode

    Enhanced conversions for every store. Consent Mode if you operate in the EEA or the UK, which is where Google's footnote says it applies.

  4. 4

    Then let Google's AI bid and match

    Once the data is right, move to Smart Bidding with a target you can explain, and widen matching only after a negative keyword list is in place.

  5. 5

    Run Performance Max on a clean feed

    Fix Merchant Center errors and product titles first. Performance Max is only as good as the feed it reads.

  6. 6

    Leave video and Demand Gen for later

    Dismiss them for now if your search and shopping campaigns are not profitable yet. Come back when they are.

What Is AI Essentials 2.0?

AI Essentials 2.0 is Google's newer version, on its UK Accelerate page dated January 2026. Google calls it an assessment that helps you decide how best to use Google AI in your ads, and it splits the list into four groups.

The four groups of Google Ads AI Essentials 2.0, as Google's January 2026 page lists them, with what each means for a store
GroupWhat Google listsWhat it means for a store
AI Data StrengthFirst-party data in Data Manager, incrementality experiments, Meridian and the budgeting tool in Google AnalyticsSame message as the old list. Get the data right first
AI Content StrengthAsset Studio, image to video with Veo and Imagen, video reach and view campaignsUse the creative tools, check every asset. The video campaigns can wait
AI Performance Strength (the "Power Pack")Performance Max asset variety and final URL expansion, AI Max for Search, Demand Gen lookalikes and channel controlsPerformance Max yes. Final URL expansion and AI Max only with close watching
Agentic"Personalised help from our AI experts in Ads, Analytics, and for all your needs across the web", marked coming soonNothing to switch on yet from that page

Google's page marks several of these as coming soon or in beta, so what you see in your own account may differ. Final URL expansion lets Google send a click to a different page on your site than the one you picked. For a store, that can mean a shopper lands on the wrong product. Turn it on only if you check the landing pages it picks.

Is AI Essentials Worth Doing?

Part of it, yes. The data items are worth doing for any store, and they cost nothing but time. Smart Bidding learns from your conversion data. If that data is wrong, every AI feature on the list gets worse.

The rest needs judgment. Matthew Umbro, writing for Practical Ecommerce in April 2025, put it this way: "These recommendations are the core tactics Google wants all advertisers to implement." On Performance Max, he wrote that Google "includes it in AI Essentials, even if the campaign type isn't a fit for all advertisers."

So AI Essentials is Google's list of what Google wants you to use. That is not always the same as what makes a store money.

One more thing. Do not let these recommendations apply themselves. Check your auto-apply settings and say yes to each one yourself.

Doing AI Essentials Yourself vs Getting Help

Doing it yourself is free. The steps above cover the data items. Google also has a request implementation support page in its Help Center, if you want Google's team to help with the tag and conversions.

Scaley Media Buyer ($99/mo + 1% of total ad spend) is the one we build, so weigh that. It connects to Google Ads read-only. You ask "which of these recommendations would actually help my store?" and it reads your live account and answers right away, with the numbers behind it. Your dashboard also shows how much wasted spend Scaley found this week. It never changes a setting and never runs on its own.

Scaley comes in two other levels. Scaley Consultant ($99/mo flat) reads screenshots or CSVs you upload and connects to nothing. Scaley Suite ($199/mo + 4% of total ad spend) finds the fixes and makes each change only after you say yes to that one change. Every level starts the same way: 3-day free trial. Card required. Cancel anytime.

If you want a person to run the whole account, that is what an agency does. ZenoX Media is mine, so I am not neutral there either.

Common Questions

Is Google Ads AI Essentials a paid product?

No. It is a checklist from Google and a section of recommendations inside your Google Ads account, not something you buy. The campaigns it suggests spend your ad budget like any other campaign.

Where do I find AI Essentials in Google Ads?

It ties into your Recommendations page. The quickest way in is the button on Google's AI Essentials page, which opens that page filtered to the AI Essentials items.

What is the difference between AI Essentials and AI Essentials 2.0?

The first is a ten-item checklist, from the Google tag to video campaigns. AI Essentials 2.0, on a Google page dated January 2026, sorts the same idea into four groups: AI Data Strength, AI Content Strength, AI Performance Strength and Agentic.

Should I accept every AI Essentials recommendation?

No. Do the data items first, since they help everything else. Treat the campaign items as Google's suggestions, and check each one against your own sales before you say yes.

Should you turn on auto-apply recommendations?

Is Google Ads AI Essentials the same as the Google AI Essentials course?

No. Google AI Essentials is a separate Grow with Google course on Coursera that teaches the basics of generative AI. Google Ads AI Essentials is the checklist inside Google Ads covered on this page.

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