Editor’s Note
Digital marketing platforms release more changes than most businesses could—or should—track. At M&M Multimedia, we filter recent developments down to the changes that can affect visibility, advertising performance and customer acquisition. Here’s what matters now.
AI Answer Summary
Google is continuing to reshape Search around AI-assisted discovery while giving site owners new ways to connect their brands to Search. At the same time, Google and Microsoft are pushing paid search deeper into AI-driven automation, and OpenAI is expanding ChatGPT advertising. The practical priority for businesses is better source content, cleaner first-party data, tighter campaign controls and clearer brand information—not chasing every new AI feature.
Key Takeaways
- Google added documentation on September 16 for a Search profile badge that can send website visitors to a brand’s Search profile.
- Google’s September AI Max transition remains an immediate paid-search audit item for eligible campaigns using Automatically Created Assets or campaign-level broad match.
- Microsoft AI Max is now broadly available and scheduled Google Imports can inherit AI Max settings.
- Google’s September 10 measurement updates reinforce the growing importance of first-party conversion data.
- ChatGPT Ads continue expanding, making conversational advertising worth controlled testing rather than wholesale budget shifts.
How The Changes Compare
| Area | What changed | Immediate action | M&M view |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEO / GEO | Google documented a Search profile badge on September 16 and continues emphasizing useful, original content for generative Search | Strengthen brand/entity signals and useful source content | Visibility is increasingly about being a trustworthy source, not finding an “AI trick.” |
| Google Ads | Eligible legacy Search settings are transitioning into AI Max during September | Audit affected campaigns, conversion goals, URL expansion and exclusions | Test automation against qualified business outcomes. |
| Microsoft Ads | AI Max is available to advertisers and Google Import can inherit settings | Review scheduled imports and Microsoft-specific controls | Cross-platform convenience should not replace platform-specific oversight. |
| Measurement | Google announced expanded Data Manager integrations and measurement tools on September 10 | Improve enhanced conversions and qualified-lead/customer feedback loops | Better data increasingly determines how useful automation can become. |
| ChatGPT Ads | OpenAI continues expanding advertiser access and updated its ad policies September 10 | Watch eligibility and test selectively | Treat conversational ads as an emerging channel, not a Google replacement. |
Google Is Making Brand Presence In Search More Explicit
What Changed
On September 16, Google added documentation for a Search profile badge that website owners can place on their sites to direct visitors to their Search profile. Two days later, Google updated documentation to support local-business queries in its aggregator and supplier units.
These are documentation and product-surface changes, not a new ranking system. But they fit a larger direction: Google is making brand, publisher and local-business identity more explicit across Search experiences.
Why It Matters
Generative search raises a basic question: can a search system confidently understand who a business is, what it does and which information belongs to it?
For SMBs, that makes consistency more important. A website, Google Business Profile, organization information, services, locations, authorship and supporting social/video properties should tell the same story. None of that guarantees inclusion in an AI answer. It does reduce ambiguity.
Google’s own generative Search guidance continues to emphasize useful, unique, non-commodity content and established SEO fundamentals rather than special “GEO hacks.”
What Businesses Should Do
Audit the information that defines the business across the website and Google Business Profile. Make sure names, services, service areas, locations and key claims are consistent. Where appropriate, evaluate Google’s new Search profile badge, but do not treat it as a ranking tactic.
More importantly, keep building source material competitors cannot easily reproduce: expert commentary, customer questions, original photography and video, comparisons, case studies and first-hand business knowledge.
AI Max Makes Paid-search Governance More Important
What Changed
Google’s planned September transition continues for eligible Search campaigns using Automatically Created Assets and campaign-level broad match. Google previously extended the Dynamic Search Ads transition until February 2027, so businesses should not confuse those timelines.
Google has also been rolling out expanded AI Max experiment and planning tools during September. Microsoft, meanwhile, made its own AI Max suite available to advertisers in late August.
Why It Matters
AI Max can broaden matching, customize ad text and expand landing-page selection. That can uncover demand—but it also gives the platform more freedom to decide how a campaign participates in an auction.
The strategic question is not “Is AI good or bad?” It is “What guardrails and success signals are we giving it?”
That matters even more for businesses running Google and Microsoft Advertising. Microsoft says Google Import can carry AI Max settings into corresponding Microsoft campaigns during scheduled syncs.
What Businesses Should Do
Audit campaign-level settings now. Review negative keywords, brand controls, geographic targeting, final URL expansion, conversion goals and any Google Import schedules.
Use experiments where practical. Compare qualified leads, appointments, customers and revenue—not just platform-reported conversion totals.
Better First-party Data Is Becoming The Fuel For Ad Automation
What Changed
On September 10, Google announced new measurement capabilities across its advertising stack, including expanded Data Manager integrations, a universal Data Manager API, additional diagnostics and a Data Strength Uplift metric.
Google positions these tools as ways to improve measurement and give its AI better first-party signals.
Why It Matters
As platforms automate more targeting, bidding, matching and creative decisions, the quality of the feedback loop matters more.
If a platform is told that every form submission is equally valuable, it can optimize toward more form submissions. If it receives qualified-lead, appointment, customer and revenue signals, it has a better definition of the outcome the business actually wants.
M&M’s interpretation is straightforward: better automation does not fix weak measurement. It can amplify it.
What Businesses Should Do
Map the full conversion path:
Click → Lead → Qualified Lead → Appointment → Customer → Revenue
Then determine which downstream outcomes can be returned to the advertising platforms responsibly and reliably. Review enhanced conversions, CRM integrations, offline conversion imports and duplicate or low-quality conversion actions.
ChatGPT Ads Are Becoming A Real Channel To Watch
What Changed
OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the U.S. in February and has continued expanding availability internationally. On September 10, OpenAI updated its advertising policies, including rules around sensitive and brand-unsafe contexts. OpenAI says ads are separate from ChatGPT’s answers and advertisers cannot influence those answers.
Why It Matters
Conversational advertising may expose a different kind of intent than traditional keyword search.
“water treatment Fort Myers” is useful intent.
“Our well water smells like sulfur and leaves orange stains in the shower. What kind of system do we need?” contains considerably more context about the problem and potential solution.
That does not make ChatGPT Ads automatically better than Google Ads. It makes the channel worth understanding.
What Businesses Should Do
Do not shift major budgets simply because the channel is new. For appropriate clients, test with controlled budgets, clear conversion tracking and comparable lead-quality standards.
Evaluate the economics against established channels rather than judging the test on novelty, clicks or early platform metrics alone.
What We’re Testing At M&M
We’re focusing on three connected questions: which original client content earns visibility across AI-assisted discovery, whether AI Max improves qualified business outcomes rather than raw lead counts, and how richer first-party conversion signals change campaign performance.
We’re also watching conversational advertising closely. The opportunity is not simply another place to buy impressions. It is whether richer conversational context can produce meaningfully different customer acquisition opportunities.
The Bottom Line
Marketing platforms are automating more execution. That makes business inputs more important, not less.
Clear brand information helps search systems understand the business. Original expertise gives search and AI systems something worth citing. Better conversion data tells advertising systems what success actually looks like. Strong controls keep automation aligned with the business.
The advantage is not being first to turn every AI feature on. It is knowing what to test, what to measure and when the result is actually better.
Need help deciding what these changes mean for your SEO, paid media or local marketing? Talk to M&M Multimedia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Google AI Max?
AI Max is a set of Google Search campaign capabilities that can expand query matching, customize ad assets and help select relevant landing pages. Businesses should test it against qualified business outcomes rather than assuming more automation automatically means better performance.
Is Google automatically moving every Search campaign to AI Max in September 2026?
No. Google says eligible campaigns using Automatically Created Assets and campaign-level broad match are part of the September transition. The Dynamic Search Ads auto-upgrade was extended and is scheduled to begin in February 2027.
Does Microsoft AI Max copy settings from Google Ads?
It can. Microsoft says AI Max settings can carry over through Google Import, and corresponding campaigns using scheduled imports can inherit those settings. Advertisers should review imports rather than assume the same setup is appropriate on both platforms.
Do businesses need special AI schema for Google AI Overviews or AI Mode?
No. Google’s guidance does not require special “AI schema.” Established SEO fundamentals, crawlable content, useful original information and accurate structured data remain the foundation.
What should businesses send back to ad platforms as conversion data?
When technically and legally appropriate, businesses should move beyond basic form submissions and capture downstream outcomes such as qualified leads, appointments, customers and revenue. The goal is to give automated systems a more accurate definition of business value.
Should SMBs advertise on ChatGPT now?
For some businesses, a controlled test may be worthwhile if advertiser access is available and measurement is in place. It should be evaluated as an emerging channel alongside established platforms, not treated as an automatic replacement for Google or Microsoft Ads.
