Microsoft launches AI Max for search advertising in May pilot
Microsoft Advertising will open a pilot program in May for AI Max, a tool that uses artificial intelligence to match search ads to longer, more detailed user queries across Bing and Copilot. The company is positioning the feature as a way for advertisers to reach people on AI-powered search surfaces where traditional keyword matching falls short.
AI Max handles expanded query matching, personalizes creative assets, and routes URLs for search campaigns. Participation is optional, and Microsoft will provide controls including brand inclusions and exclusions, term exclusions, and messaging constraints so advertisers can set boundaries on where their ads appear.
Search term and asset reporting will be available from the start. These reports show how AI Max matches queries, which creative assets it uses, and how the tool contributes to campaign results.
Why this matters for marketers
Microsoft reported that AI-driven sessions nearly tripled in 2025. Agentic browser traffic-sessions initiated by AI agents rather than humans-rose about 8,000% year over year. These numbers signal a shift in how people search and shop, which means marketers need new tools to reach them.
The company said businesses must now provide information that AI systems can find and cite. That includes website content, product data, pricing, inventory, and structured commerce information. Without this data, your brand may not appear in AI-generated answers.
Clarity shows which content AI cites
Microsoft expanded AI Visibility in Clarity, its analytics tool. The feature shows which website pages appear in AI-generated answers and which pages influence those answers even when users don't click through.
The tool also compares how much of an AI response comes from your content versus competitors' content. It identifies topics where your brand is underrepresented and flags content gaps. This gives marketers a way to see where they're losing visibility to competitors in AI answers.
Commerce integrations expand
Microsoft added support for Universal Commerce Protocol-ready feeds in Merchant Center for U.S. businesses. UCP-ready feeds let merchants send structured product data to AI shopping systems in a standardized format.
The company integrated Shopify Catalog into Copilot through a commerce API. Early results showed top Shopify merchants recorded nearly 90% growth in impression share in Copilot through real-time product feeds.
Copilot Checkout-which lets customers complete purchases inside Copilot while the merchant stays the merchant of record-now supports more than 500,000 merchants and is available on Copilot's mobile apps. Target enabled account linking for its loyalty program, allowing Target Circle members to see exclusive discounts and free shipping at checkout.
New ad formats and audience tools
Offer Highlights, a new ad format for Copilot, lets retailers promote products or offer details like free shipping or in-store pickup within conversations. The format appears on product detail pages in Copilot, Edge, and Bing. Best Buy is among the first companies using it.
Microsoft launched Brand Agents for WooCommerce merchants. The conversational shopping assistant, previously available only to Shopify merchants, brings shopping help directly to merchant websites. Customers using Brand Agents saw an average twofold lift in conversions compared with unassisted sessions.
Audience generation entered a closed pilot in the U.S. and Canada. The tool lets advertisers describe a target audience in natural language, and Microsoft AI translates that into targeting settings including demographics, locations, in-market signals, and custom audiences.
Learn more about AI for Marketing and how Generative AI and LLM are changing advertising tools.
Your membership also unlocks:
