# Google AI Mode Ads Tracker: Who Advertises in AI Mode (`nerolabs/google-ai-mode-ads`) Actor

Shows which ads Google puts inside AI Mode answers for your keywords, per country: advertiser, headline, description, sitelinks, new-ad alerts. Input: keywords (list, dataset, CSV or Sheet) and countries. $0.003 per keyword checked, $0.02 per ad found; no answer free. Agent-ready via x402 and MCP.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/nerolabs/google-ai-mode-ads.md
- **Developed by:** [Adam Pearce](https://apify.com/nerolabs) (community)
- **Categories:** Marketing, SEO tools, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $3.00 / 1,000 keyword checkeds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

### Who is advertising inside Google AI Mode for your keywords?

On 28 October 2026 Google started showing ads inside **AI Mode** answers in Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore, with the UK, Brazil and Mexico planned for Q4 2026. These ads sit inside the AI answer under a "Sponsored" label, they only serve to broad match, AI Max and Performance Max campaigns, and **Google Ads gives no separate report for them**. So nobody can easily see which competitors already show up there.

**Google AI Mode Ads Tracker** checks your keywords in AI Mode, country by country, and returns every ad Google placed in the answer:

- **Advertiser** and **display domain**
- **Headline** and **description**, copied exactly from the ad
- **Sitelinks** under the ad
- **Google's intro line** ("You might consider these options:") and where in the answer the ad sat
- **New-ad alerts**: watch mode remembers every ad, so scheduled runs show when a competitor starts advertising
- Plus the **sites the AI answer cited** and how many **product cards** it showed, so you see the whole page your ad competes with

Built for PPC agencies, in-house search marketers and brands who need to know whether AI Mode is worth bidding on, and who is already there.

#### How to use it

1. Type your keywords, one per line (or pick a dataset, a CSV or a Google Sheet).
2. Pick the countries.
3. Run. Each keyword is checked once per country.
4. To track competitors over time, switch on **Watch mode**, give the watch list a name (one per client), and schedule the run daily or weekly. Turn on **Return only new ads** to get just the changes.

#### Example output

```json
{
  "keyword": "best vpn deal",
  "country": "AU",
  "adShown": true,
  "adCount": 1,
  "advertisers": ["surfshark.com"],
  "ads": [{
    "adNumber": 1,
    "advertiser": "surfshark.com",
    "displayDomain": "surfshark.com",
    "headline": "Cheap VPN - Premium Quality - Affordable VPN price",
    "description": "Get an affordable VPN to protect yourself online, block ads, and connect to servers in 100 countries, all with a 30-day money-back guarantee",
    "sitelinks": [],
    "isNew": true,
    "firstSeenAt": "2026-10-29T18:21:00.000Z"
  }],
  "adIntro": "You might consider these options:",
  "adPositionPercent": 94,
  "citedDomains": ["nordvpn.com", "amazon.com.au", "software.pcworld.com"],
  "shoppingProductCount": 0,
  "status": "ok"
}
```

#### Pricing

You pay per result, with no subscription:

- **$0.003 per keyword checked** (per country)
- **$0.02 per ad found**
- A keyword where AI Mode gave no answer is **free**.

The AI Mode answers are fetched by Apify's own [Google AI Mode Scraper](https://apify.com/apify/google-ai-mode-scraper), which runs on your account as part of this run and charges its own price: **$0.005 per answer on paid Apify plans** (less on higher tiers) and **$0.20 per answer on the Free plan**. So on a paid plan, a weekly check of 50 keywords in 2 countries costs about 100 x ($0.003 + $0.005) = **$0.80 a week**, plus $0.02 for each ad found.

#### How it works, and what it never does

- Ads are found from the ad links Google lists with the answer, and from the "Sponsored" block in the answer text.
- **It never clicks an ad.** Ad links are only read, never opened, so advertisers are never charged for a click by this tool.
- The split into advertiser, headline and description is done by a small AI model that may only copy words from the ad. Any part that is not found word for word in the ad is left empty. The full ad text is always in `adText`.

#### FAQ

**Why do so few keywords show ads?** Ads in AI Mode are brand new outside the US and Google is ramping them up. In our first tests on 29-10-2026, about 1 in 16 commercial keywords showed an ad, and ads rotate between runs. That is exactly why tracking over time (watch mode) matters: you see the day a competitor arrives.

**Does it show the ad's landing page?** No. The landing page is only revealed by clicking the ad, and this tool never clicks ads. You get the display domain when the ad shows one.

**Can I use it for the US?** Yes, pick United States. The UK, Brazil and Mexico are in the list for when Google switches ads on there.

**Can an AI agent call it?** Yes, through the Apify API, MCP and x402 payments. Output is plain JSON, one row per keyword and country.

If this showed you a competitor you did not know about, a short review on the Store helps a lot.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

Search terms to check, one per line, for example 'best vpn deal' or 'cheap car insurance quote'. Each keyword is checked once in every country you pick. Leave empty to read keywords from a dataset, file or Google Sheet instead.

## `countries` (type: `array`):

Where to search from. Google switched on ads in AI Mode in these ten countries on 28-10-2026: Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and Singapore. The UK, Brazil and Mexico are planned for Q4 2026.

## `watchMode` (type: `boolean`):

Remember every ad found under this watch list name, so each later run marks which ads are new (isNew, firstSeenAt). Schedule the run daily or weekly to see when competitors start or stop advertising in AI Mode.

## `watchListName` (type: `string`):

Keep one name per client or project. Runs with the same name share their memory of ads already seen.

## `onlyNewAds` (type: `boolean`):

With watch mode on, return (and charge for) only ads not seen before in this watch list. Every keyword checked is still listed and charged once.

## `datasetId` (type: `string`):

An Apify dataset holding keywords, for example the output of a keyword research actor. Used when 'Keywords' is empty.

## `fileUrl` (type: `string`):

A public link to a CSV, TSV, Excel, JSON or JSON Lines file with one keyword per row. A normal Google Sheets link works when shared as 'Anyone with the link can view'. Used when 'Keywords' and 'Dataset' are empty.

## `fileFormat` (type: `string`):

Leave on 'Detect automatically' unless the link has no file extension.

## `sheetName` (type: `string`):

Only for Excel files with several sheets. Leave empty for the first sheet.

## `keywordField` (type: `string`):

The column that holds the search terms. Leave empty to use a column named keyword, query, search term or term, else the first text column.

## `splitAdText` (type: `boolean`):

A small AI model copies the advertiser, headline and description out of each ad's text. Every part is checked word for word against the ad, so nothing is invented. The full ad text is always returned too.

## `maxKeywords` (type: `integer`):

A safety cap on how many keywords one run checks (each is checked once per country).

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "best vpn deal",
    "best web hosting",
    "cheap car insurance quote",
    "buy noise cancelling headphones"
  ],
  "countries": [
    "au",
    "ca"
  ],
  "watchMode": false,
  "watchListName": "default",
  "onlyNewAds": false,
  "fileFormat": "auto",
  "splitAdText": true,
  "maxKeywords": 500
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per keyword and country with every ad found in the AI Mode answer.

## `summary` (type: `string`):

Checks answered, ad rate, advertisers seen and new ads.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "keywords": [
        "best vpn deal",
        "best web hosting",
        "cheap car insurance quote",
        "buy noise cancelling headphones"
    ],
    "countries": [
        "au",
        "ca"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("nerolabs/google-ai-mode-ads").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "keywords": [
        "best vpn deal",
        "best web hosting",
        "cheap car insurance quote",
        "buy noise cancelling headphones",
    ],
    "countries": [
        "au",
        "ca",
    ],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("nerolabs/google-ai-mode-ads").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "keywords": [
    "best vpn deal",
    "best web hosting",
    "cheap car insurance quote",
    "buy noise cancelling headphones"
  ],
  "countries": [
    "au",
    "ca"
  ]
}' |
apify call nerolabs/google-ai-mode-ads --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,nerolabs/google-ai-mode-ads"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/J2sALdTwaJbLqngQk/builds/pr9NWoht4e72BGTft/openapi.json