How AI is Changing Paid Search in 2025?

Read time: 8 minutes

Most marketers are asking the wrong question. They’re asking how to adapt their PPC campaigns to AI. But the real question, the one that will determine who thrives and who merely survives, is why this change is happening and what it means for human connection in digital marketing.

Google didn’t introduce AI Overviews to make your life difficult. They did it because they believe in a future where search provides immediate, comprehensive answers. But here’s what they missed: People don’t just want answers, they want understanding, trust, and human insight.

How AI is Rewriting the Rules

The Search Experience Has Become Conversational

Think about how you actually seek advice in the real world. You don’t walk up to someone and say “property finance”. You’d probably say, “I’m thinking about refinancing my business property, but I’m not sure if now is the right time, given the market conditions. What do you think?”

AI has finally made search behave like a human conversation. Users now ask complete questions: “What’s the best business loan for a £50K startup in Leicester with good credit?”

This isn’t a challenge. Perhaps, it’s an opportunity to connect with people the way we naturally communicate.

The opportunity where your ads can now speak to real human concerns, not just keyword combinations.

AI Overviews Are Creating a New Kind of Competition

AI Overviews are perhaps the most disruptive change to paid search visibility in years. According to recent research from Pew Research, when an AI Overview appears on SERP, user behaviour changes dramatically:

• Only 8% of visits result in clicks on traditional search results, compared to 15% when no overview is present
• Just 1% of visits include clicks on the links embedded inside the AI box itself

For many marketers, this feels like a crisis.

But here’s a different perspective: AI is doing the commodity work so you can focus on being irreplaceably human.

When an AI Overview (previously known as Search Generative Experience) provides generic information regarding a financial query, such as about business loan rates, it’s actually highlighting what makes you different. 

• Your local expertise
• Your same-day decisions
• Your understanding of the unique challenges facing businesses in Milton Keynes or Northampton. 

These are things AI can summarise but never truly provide.

Automation Is Taking Over

Performance Max campaigns and Smart Bidding have automated much of campaign management. Many advertisers feel like they’re losing control, and in many ways, they are. But control was never really the point.

The point is connection – Understanding your customers so deeply that even when algorithms make the tactical decisions, your strategic vision guides every interaction.

What Great Looks Like in the AI Era

Start With Your Unique Value, Not Your Keywords

Great marketers in the AI era don’t start with keyword research. Instead, they start with a simple question: “What can we provide that AI cannot?”

For a finance business, this might be:

• The confidence that comes from working with someone who understands local market conditions
• The peace of mind of same-day decisions when time is critical
• The trust built through years of helping businesses in your specific community

Your ad copy should reflect these human differentiators: “Local Milton Keynes Business Finance Broker – Same-Day Decisions, No Broker Fees” as all these can cut through AI media because it promises human expertise and local understanding.

Align Your PPC and SEO Team Around Shared Human Insights

The most successful companies are breaking down the silos between SEO and PPC teams. Not because the technology demands it, but because understanding the complete customer journey, from AI Overview to Conversion. This requires human collaboration and insight.

When your organic team understands how AI Overviews cover your topics, and your paid team knows where the gaps exist, the conversion happens. You’re no longer competing with AI, instead, you’re complementing it.

Build Data Foundations That Serve Audiences

Clean product feeds and comprehensive first-party data are expressions of how well you understand your customers. When your Google Business Profile, website schema, and conversion tracking are immaculate, you’re not just feeding algorithms better data, you’re demonstrating that every customer interaction matters.

Don’t Put All Your Trust in One AI’s Vision of the Future

While everyone else is fighting for visibility in Google Ads and the increasingly crowded AI Overviews, the smartest marketers are asking a different question: “Where else can we connect with people who need what we offer?”

Bing Ads represents a fundamentally different philosophy. Where Google’s AI tries to answer everything within the search results page, Microsoft’s approach integrates AI as a collaborative tool that guides users toward making decisions. 

When everyone navigates toward Google’s zero-click future, the greatest opportunities often lie in exploring toward PPC platforms where genuine conversation and consultation are still valued.

The Future Belongs to the Human Authenticity

Despite all the automation, despite AI mode taking over campaign management, despite algorithms making bidding decisions, one thing remains unchanged: People buy from people they trust.

Cindy Krum’s insight is profound: “You’ll have to be logged in to access AI Mode and when you’re logged in, they [Google] can collect all kinds of behavioral data and serve you incredibly personalised ads – ones you’re actually likely to click and convert on. That’s valuable to advertisers. Google can say, “We only show your ads to people who will convert.”

The winning approach isn’t to fight AI or to surrender to it completely. It’s to use AI as a tool while never forgetting that behind every search query is a person with real needs, real concerns, and real desires for human connection.

Why This Matters More Than Ever

The companies that will dominate paid search in 2025 and beyond aren’t those with the most sophisticated AI strategies. They’re the ones that understand why people search in the first place: to solve problems, make decisions, and feel confident about their choices.

• When AI provides generic information, you provide specific expertise.
• When AI offers broad solutions, you offer personalised service.
• When AI gives answers, you provide understanding.

The question isn’t whether you’ll adapt to AI in paid search. The question is whether you’ll use this disruption as an opportunity to become more human, more authentic, and more valuable to the people you serve.

Partner with Experts Who Understand AI-Era Paid Search

Understanding how AI is changing paid search is just the beginning. The real challenge is implementing these insights while maintaining the human touch that drives real business results.

Here’s what we believe at Loop Digital – The future of paid search isn’t about choosing between human insight and artificial intelligence, it’s about combining them in service of something bigger than both.

We don’t just create PPC campaigns that adapt to AI changes. We help businesses rediscover their human advantage in an increasingly automated world. 

While others get lost in the complexity of automated bidding and AI Overviews, we cut through that complexity with a simple focus: understanding what makes your business irreplaceably valuable to the people you serve.

We work with companies across Northampton, Milton Keynes, Leicester, and beyond to create PPC advertising campaigns that thrive precisely because they remember why people search in the first place.

Book your free PPC audit today. If you have any queries then, call us on 01604 806020 or book a free consultation to discuss your AI-era PPC challenges with our specialists.

AI is changing your campaigns, but why that change creates unprecedented opportunities for authentic connection with your customers. 

FAQs

1. Should I still use manual bidding or switch to Smart Bidding?

This isn’t about choosing sides between human and artificial intelligence. It’s about understanding that Smart Bidding works best when guided by human strategy and insight. Use automation for efficiency, but maintain human oversight for PPC strategy, particularly in finance where compliance and trust are paramount.

2. How can I optimise for conversational search queries?

Conversational search is actually a return to natural human communication. Instead of optimising for “business loans”, think about the real conversations your customers are having: “What’s the best business loan for a startup with limited credit history?” Your ads should join these conversations authentically.

3. How do I track conversions when users interact with AI Overviews first?

Attribution in the AI era requires understanding the complete human journey, not just the last click. Implement comprehensive tracking, but more importantly, focus on building relationships that transcend individual touchpoints. People may interact with AI first, but they convert with businesses they trust.

4. Are Performance Max campaigns worth using despite the lack of transparency?

Transparency matters, but results matter more. Performance Max can deliver strong outcomes when your business understands its unique value proposition clearly enough to guide the algorithms effectively. The key is ensuring your human strategy is strong enough to direct the artificial intelligence toward meaningful outcomes.