How to set up Google Ads and connect it with AI agents

Google Ads is where AIM's AI agents prepare Search, Demand Gen, and App campaigns, and where they read clicks, conversions, spend, and cost per action. Every campaign they prepare arrives paused. Nothing spends until you approve it.

At a glance

• Time: about 15 minutes if the Ads account already exists.
• Access you need: Admin or Standard on the Google Ads account.
• What AIM can do: prepare paused campaigns and read results.
• What AIM cannot do: turn on spend, change billing, or see your Google password.

Before you start

• A Google account.
• Admin or Standard access to the Ads account you want AIM to use. Billing or read-only access is not enough to receive prepared campaigns.
• In AIM, the Owner, Admin, or Marketer role on the workspace. Analysts and Viewers can see integrations but cannot connect them.
• A site or app the ads will send people to. Connect Google Analytics as well if you want the agents to compare ad clicks with what happened on the site.

Billing stays on the Google Ads account you already own. AIM never stores your card.

Set up Google Ads

1. Open ads.google.com and sign in.
2. Create an account if you do not have one. Choose the country, time zone, and currency carefully. Google does not let you change the currency later.
3. Add a payment method in Google Ads when you are ready to spend.
4. If an agency or teammate manages the account, open Admin, then Access and security, and confirm the Google user you will use in AIM has Admin or Standard access.
5. If you manage several accounts under a manager (MCC) account, note the customer ID of the account for this business. It looks like 123-456-7890. You will pick it after you connect.
6. Create at least one conversion action if you care about leads or sales: a form submit, a purchase, or a phone call. Campaigns can still be prepared without one, but cost per action stays empty until conversions exist.

Connect Google Ads with AIM's AI agents

1. Sign in to AIM and open Integrations, then Google Ads.
2. Click Connect Google and approve access to Google Ads.
3. Sign in with the Google user that has Admin or Standard access.
4. Choose the Ads account for this workspace. A workspace uses one Ads account at a time. You can switch later from the same page.
5. When the badge says Active, the connection is ready.

What happens after you connect

Here is what AIM does with the connection, in plain terms.

1. Your access is stored privately. Google gives AIM an access grant, not your password. AIM keeps it encrypted, uses it only for this workspace, and deletes it from AIM when you disconnect.

2. The agents read results on a schedule. About twice a day, Analyst & Reporter reviews the latest spend, clicks, and conversions. If something needs action, such as a rising cost per action or a wasteful search term, Performance Optimizer writes up a proposed change. You can also click Refresh insights on the Google Ads page at any time.

3. Every campaign is checked before it reaches your account. Before a prepared campaign is sent to Google Ads, AIM checks that:

   • it is paused;
   • the daily budget meets Google's minimum and your workspace budget;
   • the landing page link carries tracking;
   • conversion tracking exists;
   • the ad copy fits Google's character limits and avoids common policy problems.

   A draft that fails a check is not sent.

4. You approve, then it can spend. Prepared campaigns show as Needs your approval on your AIM dashboard and in Activity, and you get an email. Campaigns stay paused in Google Ads until you turn them on.

5. Everything is logged. The Agent work on Google Ads list on the integration page records every time an agent read from or prepared something in this account.

6. You get a weekly summary. Every Friday, AIM emails what the agents did and what changed.

Which AI agents use this connection

• Media Buyer prepares Search, Demand Gen, and App campaigns. They arrive paused.
• Campaign Planner uses the account when it splits budget across channels.
• Performance Optimizer reads search terms and cost per action, and proposes the next change. Turning on spend still needs you.
• SEO & Discovery compares paid search demand with what the site already ranks for.
• App Growth prepares app campaigns when the goal is installs or in-app actions.

If something looks wrong

• The account is not in the list. The Google user you signed in with does not have access to it. Add that user in Google Ads under Access and security, or disconnect and sign in with a different user.
• Choose an account. You signed in but have not picked an Ads account yet. Open the page and choose one.
• Sign in again or Expired. Google ended the access grant. This happens after a password change, or when access is removed in Google. Click Connect Google and sign in again. Your settings in AIM stay as they were.
• Needs attention. AIM could not reach the account. Open the Google Ads page in AIM to see the reason, then try Refresh insights.
• Cost per action is empty. Google Ads has no conversion action yet, or it has not recorded a conversion. See step 6 of the setup.

What stays in your control

Disconnecting in AIM stops the agents immediately and removes AIM's access grant. Campaigns already in the account stay as they are, including any you have turned on yourself. To revoke access on Google's side too, remove AIM under Third-party apps & services in your Google Account.

Still need help setting this up?

If the account is missing from the list, or you are not sure whether your access is Admin or Standard, contact the AIM team. Tell us you are connecting Google Ads and, if you have it, the customer ID. We will help you finish the setup.