This week's Search Influence briefing is about control. Google, Bing, and ad platforms are adding more AI surfaces and AI reporting, but the practical advantage still comes from clean proof, clean data, and deliberate migration work.

The larger takeaway: AI search and AI-powered advertising are not separate workstreams. They increasingly depend on shared inputs: pages worth citing, product and conversion data worth trusting, reporting definitions worth auditing, and migration plans that keep humans in control.

• Google added more links inside AI Mode and AI Overviews - more citation and preview surfaces, but no automatic traffic guarantee.
• Content pruning is now an AI-search issue - weak pages can make strong pages harder for people and machines to trust.
• AI search usage is rising while trust declines - proof, expertise, and third-party validation matter more than generic content volume.
• Google delayed the DSA-to-AI Max migration - DSA auto-migration moved to February 2027, but September 2026 still matters for ACA and campaign-level broad match.
• Google Ads reporting data now has a 37-month limit - long-range granular reporting needs exports and warehouse retention.
• Bing and Google are making reporting conversational - AI visibility reports and Ask Ad Manager are useful only if the underlying data is clean.
• Paid and organic visibility are merging - search, ads, feeds, landing pages, conversion events, creative, and reviews are becoming shared AI inputs.

• 00:00 - Opening note and weekly theme
• 00:35 - Six things to know this week
• 02:00 - Google link updates in AI Mode and AI Overviews
• 03:20 - Content pruning for AI search
• 04:25 - AI search adoption, trust, and proof
• 05:45 - DSA-to-AI Max migration delay
• 07:20 - Google Ads 37-month granular reporting limit
• 08:30 - Ask Ad Manager and conversational reporting
• 09:20 - Bing AI visibility reporting
• 10:15 - Paid and organic visibility merging
• 11:10 - Client-call cheat sheet

• Google: 5 new ways to explore the web with generative AI in Search
• Search Engine Land: Google updates links within AI Overviews and AI Mode
• Search Engine Land: Content pruning for AI search
• Search Engine Land: AI search adoption rises as consumer trust declines
• Search Engine Land: AI Overviews cite listicles but recommend competitors
• Google: Upgrading Dynamic Search Ads to AI Max
• Search Engine Land: Google delays Dynamic Search Ads migration to AI Max
• Google Ads Developer Blog: New Data Retention Policy for Google Ads
• Google: Introducing Ask Ad Manager
• Bing: New AI Visibility Insights in Bing Webmaster Tools
• Search Engine Land: How AI is merging paid and organic visibility

Search Influence helps organizations earn visibility across search, AI answers, paid media, and the places customers make decisions. searchinfluence.com