The Google Ads Power Pack: AI Max, Performance Max and Demand Gen
09/11/2026
Marketers have traditionally built strategies around keywords, channels and individual campaigns. But as the customer journey evolves and consumers become harder to reach, paid media strategies are evolving too.
In this article, Fusion Unlimited's Managing Director and paid media expert, Katie Harling, discusses the benefits of combining AI Max, Performance Max (PMax) and Demand Gen, and how they're changing the paid media landscape.
Is Google moving away from traditional keyword- and channel-based marketing?
Yes, because platforms are evolving to match consumer behaviour. Rather than focusing on individual campaigns and platforms, brands are managing touchpoints together. Instead of asking which channel to spend on, brands should be asking how they can reach consumers wherever demand is. The focus of the 'power pack' is simple:
Target the right message, to the right audience, at the right time, on the right platform and in the right format.
This makes activity more relevant to users and increases engagement in a competitive landscape. Each part of the power pack plays a different role across the customer journey:
Demand Gen: creating demand and building interest
AI Max: discovering and capturing intent
Performance Max (PMax): driving conversion across the ecosystem
However, brands shouldn't forget the core principles of running paid campaigns. New developments will keep arriving, but we still test and learn from them, so they shouldn't be relied on to run all activity.
How does AI Max deliver value for clients?
AI Max unlocks incremental demand that standard keyword targeting misses. It finds valuable searches that weren't being captured before, uncovering new search behaviours, landing page preferences and search term insights.
Louisa Grundy, Account Manager at Fusion, added: "AI Max works well for clients to enhance the user experience with tailored headlines and landing pages. For example: if a consumer searches within a certain location, the targeted ad copy is specific to that area, creating a higher likelihood of conversion."
See our successful AI Max strategy with PQA
What mistakes are brands making when evaluating AI Max performance?
The first is judging performance too early, expecting campaigns to immediately outperform existing search campaigns on every metric. As campaigns mature, commercial performance becomes clearer.
The second is measuring success against the wrong benchmark. Instead of asking whether AI Max took traffic from existing keyword activity, ask whether it increased the overall opportunity available. The aim isn't to replace what's already working; it's to uncover incremental demand.
PMax has been around for a number of years now. Has the conversation changed?
Yes, significantly. When PMax first launched, there was plenty of uncertainty about what it could do, so conversations focused on its lack of transparency, loss of control and cannibalisation of search.
Now, the conversation is about how PMax fits into the Google and AI ecosystem, and how it works alongside AI Max and Demand Gen. People have moved from asking "Should I run it?" to "What role does it play for my brand?"
How important are audience signals, creative assets and data quality in making PMax work?
They're critical. As platforms evolve and automation increases, brands that understand how to work with AI will have a competitive advantage. Using Google AI effectively isn't just about handing it control; it's about carefully planning the signals you give it to work with.
Some may think AI makes audiences less important, but that isn't the case. We feed AI with our own information to improve performance. It needs to understand who your best customers are, why they buy, what stage of the customer journey they're in and which customers drive the highest lifetime value. Knowing this helps AI find the most profitable customers.
Creative assets are key. Images and videos give the platform the opportunity to resonate with different consumers.
Discover Fusion's creative services
Katie added: "Data quality is everything. If I were a brand, I would harness the data I have and challenge myself to use the data as optimally as possible to find the converting customers.
"Don't go after 30 customers, get six good converting ones. AI platforms can learn from conversion tracking, lead quality signals, offline data and customer values. Therefore, if data is poor, AI will learn from the wrong signals."
Why are more brands focusing on demand creation rather than simply demand capture?
There's only so much demand to capture. With everyone competing for the same consumers, it's increasingly difficult to drive growth by targeting only people who are already looking to buy.
As platform automation improves, it becomes easier for competitors to target the same searches and audiences, so brands need to think beyond simply being there when someone searches.
This is where Demand Gen plays a significant role; it supports upper- and mid-funnel activity to build awareness and consideration, which helps AI Max and PMax turn that interest into commercial outcomes.
See Fusion's Demand Gen strategy with Oxford Ski Company
How to stay ahead in an evolving landscape
Staying ahead isn't just about being visible once someone searches; it's about influencing consumers before they search.
Consumer journeys are becoming longer and less linear, as products are discovered across many different platforms, not just through traditional search. Creating demand earlier in the journey builds familiarity and trust before the consumer reaches the point of purchase.
Commercially, demand creation can also lower acquisition costs over time. Consumers who already know and trust your brand mean you aren't competing from scratch against other companies.
What role does YouTube play within a Demand Gen strategy?
YouTube is a valuable channel within Demand Gen because it's often where demand is created before someone searches. It reaches consumers during the discovery, inspiration and consideration phases, rather than waiting for intent through search.
Historically, marketers have seen search as an intent channel and YouTube as an awareness channel, but that distinction is becoming outdated. Demand Gen brings together placements across YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Discover and Gmail, all aiming to introduce brands earlier in the customer journey and fuel future demand.
YouTube's role is to introduce the brand, build familiarity and trust, educate consumers, and create consideration and future brand searches. All of this feeds audience signals into AI Max and PMax activity.
We've seen this work for one of our travel and tourism clients. A brand uplift study across YouTube showed higher brand recall and conversion among people exposed to YouTube ads than among those who weren't.
Explore how Fusion supports brands' YouTube strategies
Fusion's connected approach to paid media
At Fusion, we don't see AI Max, PMax and Demand Gen as standalone solutions. Each plays a different role across the customer journey, from creating demand and building consideration to driving conversion.
The opportunity comes from understanding how these platforms complement each other, while still nailing the paid media fundamentals: strong audience signals, quality data and effective creative.
As these platforms evolve, we'll keep testing and learning to understand where they add incremental value, rather than adopting new technology simply because it's available.
