Your Google Search advert is promising a service you do not offer, quoting an old offer or using words nobody remembers approving. Before rewriting the campaign, find out where that text came from.
The practical question is whether you need to edit your own advert, remove a generated headline or change a separate automated asset. Each has a different control. If the wording could cause customers to buy or enquire on a false basis, pause the affected advert or campaign while you investigate.
This guide covers Search adverts, particularly responsive search ads. Performance Max and Shopping need their own checks.
First, identify which part of the advert is wrong
Keep a screenshot, the exact wording, the search used, the date and the landing address if available. Mark whether the problem is in the main headline, description or an additional link or message. Do not assume every unexpected line was written by AI.
Familiar words appearing in an unfamiliar combination
Responsive search ads assemble headlines and descriptions in different combinations. Google also allows some existing text to appear in other placements, including link-based assets. Check the other active adverts in the same ad group as well as the one you expected to see.
Review each line as a standalone promise. For example, a headline about emergency repairs and another about routine servicing may imply an offer you never intended when customers read them together. Rewrite ambiguous wording rather than relying on customers to interpret the combination generously.
A headline or description you did not supply
Text customisation generates additional headlines and descriptions from material including your domain, landing page, existing adverts and ad-group keywords. It was previously called automatically created assets and is now managed within AI Max.
Treat this as a possible source to investigate, rather than proof that the feature caused your particular problem.
A word changes inside an otherwise familiar sentence
Check for keyword insertion in your ad text. This inserts the triggering ad-group keyword into wording you configured; it is a different mechanism from text customisation. Review both the insertion template and the keywords that could appear within it.
An extra link or short selling point is wrong
Account-level automated assets include dynamic sitelinks and dynamic callouts. They have separate controls from campaign-level text customisation. A wrong link below an advert therefore needs investigation even if generated headlines are switched off.
Find the exact asset and its source
Open Campaigns, then Ads, and locate the relevant responsive search ad. Select View asset details. Match the reported wording to the screenshot before changing anything.
Google’s current text customisation reporting guidance identifies generated text through Google AI in the Added by column. Campaign-level asset reporting helps you review these assets across campaigns, while combination reporting shows common combinations that received impressions.
Record the campaign, ad group, advert and asset involved. Keep the reporting date range aligned with when the problem was spotted. Look for the same promise elsewhere: removing one occurrence will not correct another advert containing equivalent wording.
For an additional automated link or callout, use Assets and filter Added by to Google AI. Google’s account-level guidance linked above explains the reporting route and the separate settings for each automated asset type.
If the screenshot cannot be matched, ask whoever manages the account to trace it before making broad changes. A useful handover contains the exact claim and evidence of where it appeared, rather than simply “Google changed our ads”.
Choose the fix that matches the problem
Remove one unsuitable generated headline or description
If the problem is isolated and you want to retain text customisation, Google’s current removal instructions allow individual generated assets to be removed. In the advert’s asset details, hover over the asset’s status icon, select Remove and confirm permanent removal.
Save the original wording and your reason for removing it. Then inspect the source material and other generated assets for the same issue.
Stop generated text for the affected campaign
If you cannot confidently approve the available wording, open the campaign settings, select AI Max and deselect Text customisation under Asset optimisation, then save. Google says assets generated by that setting will no longer serve.
Check the landing-page consequence: the same instructions state that disabling text customisation also turns off Final URL expansion when it is enabled. Record both settings before the change and review the resulting destination setup afterwards.
Do not treat this toggle as a complete reversal of every AI Max setting. Review the remaining campaign settings separately.
Correct your own copy or a separate automated asset
If the wording is advertiser-provided, edit the relevant advert and check its other possible combinations. For keyword insertion, replace the insertion with fixed wording if that gives you the control you need.
For account-level automation, the Assets menu leads to Account level automated assets, then Advanced settings. Use the relevant asset-type control described in Google’s account-level guide. Keep the change focused on the source you have identified.
Correct the website material behind the promise
Review the actual landing page alongside the advert. Google’s text customisation guidance stresses accurate website content, including page titles, descriptions and meta tags. Updating the visible heading alone may leave conflicting source material elsewhere.
Check the business facts most likely to affect an enquiry:
- Whether the advertised service is currently available.
- Which locations you genuinely cover.
- Whether an offer has expired or has important conditions.
- Whether a price is fixed, conditional or only a starting point.
- Whether response times and availability match what the team can deliver.
Give each correction an owner. The person managing the campaign may not be able to confirm delivery coverage or approve a pricing promise without the business owner’s input.
Do not leave misleading advertising running while waiting for website changes to influence generated text. Contain the affected advertising first, then repair the source. Our guide to matching Google Ads with the right landing page explains how the advert and destination should work together.
Check the current settings rather than an old tutorial
Google’s August 2026 migration notice scheduled automatic upgrades of eligible legacy campaigns during September. Its mapping specified text customisation and search term matching enabled for standalone automatically created assets users, with Final URL expansion off.
The current Help pages still describe the upgrade starting in September. That timetable does not establish what happened in your account. Inspect its settings and change history before attributing a new headline to migration. An old screenshot of the automatically created assets menu may no longer match the controls you have.
Verify accuracy first, then judge the commercial effect
After saving the repair, reopen the settings and inspect the affected assets. Check the remaining copy against what customers can actually buy or book. If you paused advertising, confirm its wording and destination before resuming it.
Use a reporting period beginning after the change when checking for further impressions on the affected wording. Historical impressions are not evidence that a removed asset is still serving.
Google’s ad-level asset reporting guidance says the former performance-label column has been deprecated. It also warns that asset metrics cannot simply be added together and that asset-level ratios are directional because assets serve in combinations.
Avoid declaring success from a single headline’s click-through rate. Review the campaign’s suitable enquiries, sales and spend, noting any simultaneous changes to targeting or landing pages. Our guide to connecting conversion reporting with qualified enquiries and sales gives that review a practical structure.
If your adverts are making promises you cannot stand behind, talk to BuzzBoost about reviewing your Google Ads copy and landing pages. Bring one example of the wording and what should be offered instead, and we can help identify the right repair.
Featured image: AI-generated editorial artwork, not a photograph of a real BuzzBoost office, client or result.
