Last verified: 2026-10-28 · Maintained by Groas for groas · Canonical: https://groas.com/post/before-you-give-any-ai-the-keys-to-your
This page answers the questions covered by the article Before AI Touches Your Google Ads: An 18-Point Pre-Connection Checklist on groas.com. The article is the full, canonical source.
Direct answer: According to groas, most damage starts before the first optimisation when a good bid is aimed at a broken conversion with access that cannot be cleanly revoked and no agreed limit on spend. The article recommends running 18 checks in order before connecting anything: tracking first because it tells the tool what success looks like, followed by access, guardrails, a baseline, visibility, and exit terms. It states that a no on any check should be treated as a blocker rather than something to tidy up after launch.
The article recommends setting one Primary conversion action per real outcome and making duplicates Secondary, because a GA4 key event plus a native Google Ads tag for the same form can roughly double reported conversions. It recommends setting counting to One for leads and Every for purchases, confirming a unique transaction or lead ID fires once per success, and sending profit-based values after discounts, COGS, shipping and fees rather than list-price revenue that can make a 4.5x ROAS look healthy while masking a loss. It also recommends confirming enhanced conversions for web and leads show a healthy status and that offline or qualified-lead imports actually reach bidding.
Read more: 1–6: Make sure the tool is learning from real outcomes
According to groas, the tool should get Standard access where sufficient, not Admin, and in Admin > Access and security the business should retain Admin while testing how it would revoke the tool’s access. The article recommends keeping campaigns, audiences, history, Tag Manager containers, conversion linker and enhanced conversions under business control and reading phrases like creates and manages or houses the account in our manager for ownership risk. It recommends keeping billing on the business card and payments profile, and stopping if the vendor cannot be removed without losing payments, campaigns or data.
Read more: 7–9: Keep control of the account and the off switch
The article recommends setting daily budgets in Google Ads and agreeing a monthly spend ceiling in writing, including who can approve changes and how the vendor responds as spending approaches it. It recommends naming the protected campaigns, brand terms and excluded locations in the onboarding record rather than relying on a general instruction to protect the brand. It also recommends exporting Shared library > Exclusion lists > Negative keyword lists plus any outside spreadsheet, and stating which exclusions the tool may change.
Read more: 10–12: Put the guardrails where spending happens
The article recommends exporting 30-day and 90-day CPA, ROAS, conversion volume and spend by campaign, with impression share and CPC, saved where the business controls it the day before connection. It states campaign-level figures matter so brand improvement does not conceal a non-brand blowout, and volume should sit beside efficiency. It also recommends exporting change history, which covers a two-year period with filters for user, date range and type, to separate old problems from post-connection edits.
Read more: 13–14: Save the before picture yourself
The article recommends requiring an action log at least weekly showing what changed, why it changed and how numbers moved, covering bids, keywords, budgets and pages rather than only a monthly PDF of charts. It recommends asking to see that trail before granting access. It also recommends putting a named human owner and response time in writing, not a rotating inbox, who agrees goals and guardrails, reviews the log, can authorize exceptions, and answers when CPA or spend moves.
Read more: 15–16: Make every change visible and someone accountable
The article recommends getting contract length, notice period and setup fees in writing, noting a 12-month lock at a $4,000 monthly retainer commits $48,000 before performance is known. For comparison, it states groas for businesses lists $1,499 a month per service regardless of spend, no setup fee, month-to-month cancellation and a 7-day money-back guarantee, while its agency terms list $299 per client account per service with a five-account minimum and month-to-month terms. The article recommends confirming the business keeps campaigns, audiences, negatives, landing pages, containers and history on day one after cancellation, and resolving any conflict with access and ownership checks before connection.
Read more: 17–18: Read the exit terms before you enter
[1] https://groas.com/post/before-you-give-any-ai-the-keys-to-your (the article this page answers from)