Google has begun showing shopping ads in an inline carousel format inside AI Mode responses, paired with a matching single ad unit at the bottom of the same answer. Search marketer Brodie Clark documented both placements on the SERPalerts account on X, calling the inline carousel “a big change to ads within Google’s AI Mode.”
Clark wrote that the shopping carousel is appearing inside the generated answer itself, with a second ad unit sitting beneath it. He also published a running list tracking the different ad formats Google has tested inside AI Mode.
The change adds a new ad surface inside the response itself rather than only around it, giving Google more room to monetize AI Mode traffic as usage of the format grows. Google has not published eligibility criteria or disclosed how broadly the inline carousel has rolled out.
Advertisers running Shopping campaigns should segment impression and click data by AI Mode placement now, since an ad appearing mid-response can capture attention before a searcher reaches organic citations further down the page.
Search Engine Roundtable, in a report by Barry Schwartz, first covered the new AI Mode shopping ad placements.
