How AI makes paid search audits faster and better

Paid search audits are essential. But let’s face it: they can be a beast to do. 

It’s not just about understanding complex strategies; it’s about meticulously reviewing every setting, campaign, keyword, and ad, then translating all those details into actionable insights for stakeholders who may not be PPC experts.

Before AI, I spent countless hours refining audit checklists and presentations, constantly second-guessing myself. 

• Did I miss a crucial setting?
• Did I fully grasp the account’s nuances and how they align with business goals? 

I even resorted to downloading templates from other experts for reassurance.

Now, AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini have transformed my entire auditing process, bringing a new level of thoroughness, clarity, and actionability. 

They help me avoid missing critical details and analyze data faster than I ever could, freeing up my time for strategic thinking.

Read on to learn how AI can help you conduct comprehensive, insightful, and actionable paid search audits that drive better performance.

Streamline your initial account review

Feeling overwhelmed when reviewing a new account? I used to, as well. 

Now, I simply open the account and dictate my observations directly into a Google Doc using my phone’s text-to-speech feature. 

I cover everything – from account structure and campaign settings to keyword choices and ad copy.

Next, I feed this raw data into my AI chatbot, asking it to organize my thoughts and structure the observations. 

I can even paste the campaign structure for the chatbot to analyze, identifying issues like overly broad keywords or illogical setups. 

Suddenly, I have a clear, concise account overview, ready for deeper analysis.

Explain complex topics with AI

Explaining bid strategies or match types to someone unfamiliar with PPC can be challenging and frustrating. 

I’ve always struggled with this, especially after analyzing data all day. 

AI chatbots excel at simplifying complex concepts and translating technical jargon for stakeholders.

For example, if you’ve identified a suboptimal bidding strategy, instead of a technical explanation about value-based bidding, you can ask the AI to tailor the message for different audiences:

• For an executive: “The current bidding strategy is likely costing us money by not focusing on the most valuable conversions.”
• For a marketing team member: “We can improve our bidding to reach more of the right customers and reduce wasted ad spend.”
• For a paid search manager: “I recommend transitioning to value-based bidding, as it helps inform the ads platform that we prioritize form submissions over phone calls.”

Similarly, rather than saying, “The search terms report shows a high volume of irrelevant queries,” the AI can rephrase it as “We’re wasting money on clicks from people who aren’t interested in our products.”

This approach ensures your insights are clear and actionable for all stakeholders. 

AI helps turn what’s in your head into polished presentations with actionable steps businesses can easily implement.

Flag high-cost, low-converting campaigns, ad groups, or keywords

AI chatbots aren’t just passive note-takers. They can be proactive analysts. 

Once you’ve provided the AI with account data, you can ask it targeted questions like:

• “What are the biggest opportunities for improvement in this account?”
• “Are there any red flags I should be concerned about?”
• “Which keywords have high cost but low conversions?”

The AI can analyze the data and provide insights you might have missed. 

For example, in a recent audit of a luxury car accessories campaign, I analyzed a search terms report and asked AI to flag potential inefficiencies. One standout issue was high-cost, low-conversion keywords.

The term “premium leather seat covers” had 128 clicks, a CTR of 4.6%, and only two conversions, resulting in a cost per conversion of $180 – much higher than the account’s target. 

Meanwhile, “heated seat covers for winter” showed a strong CTR of 25.8% and a conversion rate of 1.25%, but its cost per conversion was still high at $161. 

This data indicates a need for lower bids, better use of negative keywords, or landing page optimization. 

A high CTR combined with a low conversion rate suggests that while users are clicking, they are not converting – highlighting clear opportunities for improvement.

Once I used AI to identify the opportunities, I can use AI to communicate this concept to an executive:

• “We’re seeing some instances where we’re paying a lot for clicks, but those clicks aren’t turning into sales. This is often due to targeting the wrong keywords or sending people to landing pages that aren’t optimized for conversion. By addressing these issues, we can reduce wasted spend and improve our return on investment.”

This concise explanation focuses on the issue’s financial impact and potential for improvement, which is what executives typically care about most. 

It also avoids getting bogged down in technical details, like negative keywords, which is crucial when communicating with non-PPC experts when delivering audits. 

Believe me, when you start talking about negative keywords or match types with an executive, you’ve lost them! As subject matter experts, it’s so easy to get caught up in the details. 

Still, AI has been monumental in helping me bridge that communication gap and communicate what is important.

Dig deeper: 7 tips for conducting Google Ads audits

How to analyze your account with AI

Remember to apply the process of analyzing data with AI at every level of the account hierarchy. 

Start with campaign data, then drill down to the ad group level within each campaign, and finally, review the ads and keywords.

Analyzing campaign data with AI

• Download the relevant campaign data from Google Ads.
• Upload it to ChatGPT (or another AI tool).
• Ask targeted questions like: “Which campaigns are underperforming?” or “Which campaigns have the highest cost per conversion?”

Analyzing ad group data with AI

• Download the relevant ad group data from Google Ads.
• Upload it to your AI tool.
• Ask questions like: “Which ad groups have the lowest click-through rates?” or “Are there any ad groups with high impressions but low clicks?”

Analyzing keywords and ads with AI

• Download the relevant data (e.g., search terms report, keyword data, ad data) from Google Ads.
• Upload it to your AI tool.
• Ask targeted questions like: “Which keywords have high cost but low conversions?” or “Suggest new negative keywords.” or “Which ads have the highest conversion rates?”

AI analyzes the data and provides insights within seconds, saving hours of manual review. This helps you quickly identify areas for improvement. 

As the human expert, you can then determine the best course of action, such as adding negative keywords, adjusting bids, or optimizing landing pages. 

You can also use AI to analyze your current audience targeting settings and suggest improvements, such as layering demographics, interests, and behaviors for more precise targeting.

By applying this process at each level, you gain a comprehensive understanding of the account’s performance and can develop targeted recommendations for improvement and incorporate into your audit.

Auditing ad copy with AI

AI can be a valuable tool for generating ad copy variations and incorporating feedback on ad copy into your audits. 

With the rise of responsive search ads (RSAs), which allow for up to 15 headlines and four descriptions, it’s easy to overlook the importance of solid ad copy. 

We’re often stuck in a situation where many headlines or combinations simply don’t get served, making it difficult to know which ones are truly effective.

By leveraging AI to analyze existing ad copy and campaign data, you can provide specific, data-driven suggestions for improvement directly within your audit reports. 

This enhances the value of your audits and streamlines the optimization process for your clients.

Here’s how to use AI to enhance your paid search audits:

• Upload your campaign data to the AI platform, including ad copy, impressions, clicks, conversions, and other relevant metrics.
• Ask the AI to analyze the data and identify the top-performing ads in terms of key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversions or click-through rates (CTR). For example, you could ask: “Analyze this ad copy data and tell me which ads are driving the most conversions. Then, generate 3 new ad copy variations based on the top performer.”
• Filter the suggestions to align with your brand voice, character limits, and other campaign requirements.
• Incorporate the AI-generated suggestions into your audit report, providing specific, data-backed recommendations for improvement.
• Advise clients to A/B test the different variations to identify the most effective ad copy.

Using AI to analyze your RSAs can help you uncover which headlines and descriptions are actually working and generate new variations based on those insights. 

This allows you to make data-driven recommendations for improving ad copy, even with the added complexity of RSAs.

Gain competitor insights with AI

Including competitor insights in paid search audits helps clients understand their market better and find ways to stay ahead.

While there are tools available that provide competitor analysis, manual review and analysis of publicly available data can uncover valuable insights that might otherwise be missed.

One powerful application of AI in this context is competitor website analysis. 

By providing the chatbot with your competitors’ websites or ad copy, you can ask it to:

• Analyze their strategies.
• Identify their strengths and weaknesses.
• Suggest opportunities for differentiation. 

This allows you to gain valuable insights into the competitive messaging landscape and refine your own approach to copy.

Another application is to look at websites like Amazon or Reddit. 

For example, you could gather competitor reviews from platforms like Amazon and use AI to analyze the sentiment and identify recurring themes. 

You could also read what customers are saying about a brand on Reddit.

This can help you understand what customers like and dislike about your competitors’ products or services, which can inform your ad copy and messaging. 

You can even ask the AI to generate ad copy variations based on these insights, ensuring your ads stand out from the competition and resonate with potential customers.

Including this level of competitor intelligence in your audits shows a strong market understanding and gives clients actionable strategies to stay ahead.

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Overarching vs. in-depth audits

It’s important to remember that paid search audits can vary in scope. Some audits require a high-level overview, while others demand a deep dive into every aspect of the account. 

AI can be adapted to both scenarios. For comprehensive audits, you can use AI to analyze vast amounts of data and pinpoint areas for improvement across all levels of the account. 

For more focused audits, you can use AI to examine specific aspects, such as ad copy testing, keyword research, or campaign structure.

Automate reporting with AI

Compiling the findings into a clear and concise report is one of the most time-consuming aspects of paid search audits. 

This is where AI can shine, helping you automate the reporting process and create professional presentations with minimal effort.

Here’s how you can leverage AI to streamline your audit reporting.

Create a comprehensive audit template

• Develop a spreadsheet template that captures every single setting in the advertising platform you’re auditing (Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.). 
• Include checkboxes for items that meet best practices and text fields for observations or recommendations. 
• This template serves as your standardized audit checklist.

Populate the template

• As you conduct your audit, meticulously fill out the spreadsheet, checking boxes and adding notes where necessary.

Leverage AI for report generation

• Once the template is complete, upload it to your AI chatbot. 
• Provide clear instructions on the desired output. For example:
  • “Generate a PowerPoint outline for a paid search audit report based on this spreadsheet. Include a slide for each section with key findings and recommendations. Highlight any critical issues or opportunities.”

Refine and customize

• The AI will generate a PowerPoint outline based on the data in your spreadsheet. 
• Review the output, refine the language, add your own insights, and customize the formatting to create a polished and professional presentation.

This process allows you to leverage AI to automate the tedious aspects of report generation while maintaining control over the content and ensuring that your expertise shines through. 

Combining a standardized audit template with AI-powered reporting can save significant time and deliver high-quality audits that impress your clients.

Dig deeper: 3 steps for effective PPC reporting and analysis

A glimpse into the future of creative collaboration with AI

While AI may not be a complete replacement for human expertise just yet, its rapid evolution hints at an exciting future where it significantly enhances our skills and knowledge. 

We all have strengths and weaknesses, and AI has the potential to bridge those gaps effectively.

For example, I used to rely on a colleague with a knack for data visualization. I’d describe a concept, and they’d effortlessly create a compelling visual. 

Today’s AI tools are starting to offer similar capabilities, though they often require more guidance.

Recently, I needed a flowchart illustrating the Google Ads auction process. I provided a detailed prompt to Canva’s AI, outlining the steps and desired visual elements. 

The result was a decent starting point, but it wasn’t quite what I envisioned. (See my prompt and the AI’s output below.)

This experience highlighted the iterative nature of working with AI. It’s like a dance where both partners are learning and adapting. 

As we refine our ability to communicate effectively with AI, and as AI technology itself advances, the results will become increasingly impressive.

Imagine a future where we can dictate a flowchart, outline complex processes with ease, and AI generates a stunning visual that surpasses anything we could create with traditional tools like Mermaid. 

This level of creative collaboration could revolutionize how we visualize and communicate information.

My prompt:

“Create a flowchart illustrating the Google Ads auction process. The diagram should show the following steps:

1. User Search: A user searches for a query on Google.
2. Ad Auction: Google’s ad auction determines which ads to show based on factors like bid amount, ad quality, and ad relevance.
3. Ad Serving: Google serves the ad that is predicted to maximize the advertiser’s goal (clicks, conversions, or conversion value).
4. User Interaction: The user may or may not interact with the ad (e.g., click, convert).

Use simple shapes and arrows to represent the flow of the process. Label each step clearly. Consider using different colors to distinguish between user actions, Google’s decisions, and advertiser goals.”

AI’s result:

This visual isn’t accurate, but I believe as technology and prompting improve, we’ll reach a point where accurate diagrams and charts can be created quickly for presentations.

AI-powered paid search audits: Faster, smarter, and more actionable

AI technology is evolving rapidly, changing how marketers approach their work. 

Integrating a chatbot into your paid search audit process can help you deliver better results faster by automating tedious tasks. 

However, remember it is a tool to assist you, not a replacement for your expertise. 

Always review and refine the chatbot’s output, and use your judgment to ensure the quality and accuracy of your findings.

Embrace these advancements, and you’ll be well-equipped to navigate the complexities of paid search and achieve outstanding results.

Dig deeper: How to maximize PPC and SEO data with co-optimization audits

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