How to set up AI Max for lead generation without getting junk form fills

Question 1

A business wants to capture prospects via form submissions. Which marketing objective should they select to instruct AI Max on how to prioritize the budget?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends selecting Leads as the campaign objective, via + Create > Campaign > Leads > Search. According to groas, Leads identifies the campaign's purpose, while the Primary conversion tells Smart Bidding what a lead is, so the objective alone does not instruct bidding. The article notes new Search campaigns may already have AI Max on by default, while existing campaigns need the toggle checked under Campaign > Settings > AI Max before the test.

Question 2

How should I set Primary versus Secondary conversions so AI Max does not chase junk form fills?

Accepted Answer

The article instructs opening Goals > Conversions > Summary and setting the raw Form submit action to Secondary (observe only) via Edit settings > Goal and action optimisation > Secondary (observe only) > Save. According to groas, the Qualified lead, SQL, or Closed-won import action should be set to Primary (default), with campaign-specific goals used if the campaign needs its own selection. The article states Primary actions appear in Conversions and feed Smart Bidding, while Secondary actions remain in All conversions for observation.

Question 3

How do I wire enhanced conversions for leads and check that the match rate is healthy?

Accepted Answer

The article instructs accepting the customer data terms under Goals > Conversions > Settings and enabling Enhanced conversions for leads, with a User-Provided Data variable mapping email, phone, first_name, and last_name. According to groas, that data is SHA-256 hashed in the browser before matching to improve attribution when cookies fail, but it does not turn a junk lead into a qualified one. The article states Diagnostics should show Recording Conversions (Enhanced) and Enhanced Conversions Match Rate, with Excellent or 70% plus as a target and 60-80% a healthy range, while 25% match indicates broken mapping.

Question 4

How do I import qualification from my CRM so bidding learns from qualified leads?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends adding hidden gclid, gbraid, and wbraid fields to each lead form, storing those values on the contact record, and uploading MQL, SQL, Opportunity, or Closed-Won as its own conversion action with timestamp and value. According to groas, updates should be sent daily or twice weekly rather than monthly, uploads are accepted up to 90 days after the click, and qualified conversions appear under Goals > Conversions > Uploads within 24 hours of upload. The article states hashed email can serve as fallback if capture breaks, but it is not a reason to skip the fields.

Question 5

How should I enable AI Max and constrain where it can match and send traffic?

Accepted Answer

The article instructs opening Campaign > Settings > AI Max and switching it On, then reviewing search-term matching and Asset optimisation separately. According to groas, advertisers should set Brand inclusions/exclusions at campaign level, add campaign-level URL exclusions for destinations such as /blog/, /careers/, and /support/, and review Text customisation and Final URL expansion line by line. The article recommends starting with one mid-volume campaign at around 10% of Search spend, noting a stable read at 8-12 weeks and roughly 14% conversion-rate lift once settled as a reason for a controlled test.

Question 6

What bid strategy should I start with when bidding on qualified leads?

Accepted Answer

The article recommends setting the campaign to Maximize Conversions without a tCPA cap using the qualified Primary action and leaving that target alone for the first 14 days. According to groas, advertisers should wait until 15-30 qualified conversions accrue before setting tCPA from qualified-lead math, because search-term matching will not run on Manual CPC or Max Clicks and requires Maximize Conversions, Maximize Conversion Value, tCPA, or tROAS. The article illustrates the math with a $20k/month example where one in five raw leads qualifies, so a $50 raw-lead target corresponds to $250 per qualified lead.