Google is writing AI review summaries into your Search ads. Who on your team signs off on what they say?

Short answer: Google's help doc "About Review summaries" says AI-generated, positive-only summaries of online reviews can appear inside Search ads, and advertisers "cannot directly edit or customize the generated text." You can't approve the words, so assign one person to watch the reviews underneath and the ads that quote them. (Google Ads Help, answer 18760807, read Oct 26, 2026)

TLDR

• AI review summaries can appear in Search ads. Positive only. Not editable. (Google Ads Help)
• Eligible: Search campaigns, all positions on Google.com, US, AU, UK, IN in English, all devices, all verticals except sensitive categories such as pharmaceuticals.
• Shown only when Google predicts it will improve ad performance.
• Name an owner.

What did Google publish?

A help page titled "About Review summaries." It says: "Review summaries on Search are AI-powered summaries of online reviews that appear directly as part of your Search ads." Google AI "automatically aggregates online reviews from across the web." The summaries "are positive only." (Google Ads Help, answer 18760807) Hana Kobzová spotted it and posted it on PPC News Feed on Oct 24, 2026; Search Engine Roundtable covered it on Oct 26. (PPC Land, Oct 25, 2026; SER, Oct 26, 2026)

Where do review summaries show?

Per the help doc:

• Campaign type: Search campaigns
• Ad placement: All positions on Google.com
• Location and language: US, AU, UK, IN in English
• Device type: All supported devices
• Business verticals: All advertiser verticals except sensitive categories, such as pharmaceuticals

The doc also says summaries "only show when predicted to benefit your ad performance." It does not say which performance measure. (PPC Land, Oct 25, 2026)

Can I edit or turn them off?

You cannot edit the text, per the help doc. PPC Land noted the page documents no opt-out and no reporting column. (PPC Land, Oct 25, 2026)

Why does this need an owner?

Because words are now going out under your client's name in a paid ad, and nobody at the agency wrote them. When a dentist's patient reads that summary and it doesn't match what they got, the call comes to you.

My take: the agency signs off.

What does the owner do?

1. Search the client's brand terms weekly and screenshot any ad showing a summary.
2. Read the review sources the summary could draw from: Google reviews first.
3. Flag any summary claim the business can't stand behind.
4. Log it in the monthly report with the date seen.
5. Keep the review response process tight, because the summary is only as good as the reviews under it.

Next step

Who: the paid search lead on each local client in the US, UK, Australia or India. What: assign a named review-summary owner. When: this week. How: add the five checks to the weekly account routine and the log to the monthly report.