Should Therapists Use AI Max? Why I’m Advising My Ohio Google Ads Clients to Say No.
If you’ve had a call with a Google Ads rep lately, you’ve likely felt the push.
They call it 'optimizing,' but to a private practice owner, it feels like pressure.
It is a sales call. Google Ad reps want you to turn on AI Max.
But before you click that button to satisfy a representative’s 'account health score,' we need to talk about clinical integrity.
When therapists ask me whether AI Max is a good fit for their practice, I give the same guidance I use in all of my Google Ads for Therapists in Ohio coaching: optimize for clinical integrity, not platform automation.
Google releases new automated products constantly, but that doesn’t mean they’re appropriate for therapy practices. AI Max is one of the tools I do not recommend for therapists running their own Google Ads.
What is AI Max?
AI Max is Google’s newest automation layer for Search campaigns. It pushes advertisers further away from keyword‑based targeting and into “keywordless” automation. The system scans your website, predicts what a user might be searching for, and then generates its own headlines and ad copy to match that prediction.
What are the issues with AI Max for Therapists?
For therapists, this creates a major problem: you lose control of your language, your clinical boundaries, and the way your practice is represented.
My therapy clients value clarity, accuracy, and ethical communication.
If you want to read more about structural misalignment you should read this post: Why Most Therapy Paid Ads Fail (And Why It’s Not Your Fault)
Therapists running Google Ads do not want an algorithm rewriting their ad copy or making assumptions about the services they provide.
Other industries may embrace AI Max for “efficiency,” but therapy is different.
The stakes are higher, the language is sensitive, and the risk of misalignment is real.
For that reason, I do not recommend AI Max for therapists—especially those managing their own campaigns in Ohio who need stability, control, and clinical safety in their advertising.
Why Google Ads AI Max is a Risk for Mental Health Practices
In mental health, the "marketing" is actually the first stage of clinical contact. Here are 3 more specific reasons why AI MAX is a poor fit for my Google Ads therapist clients:
The Risk of "Hallucination": AI MAX generates its own headlines by "reshuffling" your website content. In a clinical context, a slight change in wording can move a message from "supportive" to "clinically inappropriate" or even "unsafe." We cannot risk an algorithm "hallucinating" a headline that makes promises we can’t keep or uses language that is triggering to someone in crisis.
Loss of Informed Consent: When we choose our keywords and write our own ads, we are being intentional about who we reach and how we present ourselves. AI MAX takes that agency away. If you don't know exactly what words are being used to represent your practice, you cannot truly say you are practicing with ethical transparency.
The "Black Box" of Intent: AI MAX prioritizes what gets a click. But a click is not a client. An algorithm might match your "Trauma Informed" page to a search query it thinks is related, but lacks the nuance to understand the sensitivity required for that specific clinical niche.
Here is a post that covers targeting that you might like: Why Your “All-in-One” Agency is Wasting Your Google Ads Budget: The Ohio Therapist’s Guide to Real Math & ROI
| Risk Category | Why It Matters for Therapists |
|---|---|
| Loss of Clinical Voice | AI may rewrite sensitive language in ways that violate your boundaries, shift your tone, or misrepresent your therapeutic approach. |
| Ethical Misalignment | Automated headlines can imply guarantees, outcomes, or services you don’t actually provide, which conflicts with clinical ethics. |
| Informed Consent Issues | You cannot truly stand behind messaging you didn’t write or approve, which undermines ethical transparency in how clients first encounter your practice. |
| Triggering or Unsafe Language | AI may generate phrasing that is inappropriate for trauma‑informed, crisis‑sensitive, or highly specific clinical populations. |
| Misleading Targeting | AI can match your ads to unrelated or clinically inappropriate search queries, bringing in the wrong kind of contact or expectations. |
| Brand Drift | Over time, your therapeutic identity can become diluted by generic, off‑brand, or inaccurate AI‑generated copy that doesn’t sound like you. |
The Truth About Google Ads 'Optimization Scores' & Automation for Therapists
More advice that I say on coaching calls is that, one cost of rushing toward every new automation is that you lose the space to think.
If you never pause to review your own messaging, you confuse "getting more traffic" with "providing better care."
In my Google Ads Behavior Hub you can learn how Google’s incentives differ from clinical incentives.
Trying a new technology in an ad platform like Google Ads usually involves some early learning curves, and that is fine. That’s the cost of staying current. And that is why I can help as a coach.
But if a tool requires you to surrender your professional voice to an algorithm, the long-term regret of a misaligned brand for your therapy practice is too high a price to pay for a patient.
Final Verdict: Should Ohio Therapists Use AI Max?
As a Google Ads coach who works specifically with therapists in Ohio, part of my job is making sure you know what’s out there—what’s changing, what’s being pushed, and what deserves a second look before you ever click “apply.” AI Max is one of those features that therapists need to be aware of, but awareness is not the same as adoption.
My commitment is to help you run Google Ads in a way that protects your clinical voice, your boundaries, and the integrity of your practice. That means staying informed about every new automation Google rolls out, while also being honest about which tools support ethical, effective advertising for therapists and which ones don’t.
If you’re running your own Google Ads as a therapist in Ohio, you deserve clarity—not pressure, not hype, and not an algorithm making decisions on your behalf.
My stance on AI Max reflects that commitment: you should know it exists, you should understand what it does, and you should feel confident choosing not to use it when it doesn’t align with the clinical care you provide.
Takeaway for Therapists with AI Max
The next time a Google rep pressures you to adopt AI Max or "Auto-apply" recommendations, you have my permission to use this line:
"My practice requires 100% manual oversight of all ad copy to ensure ethical compliance and trauma-informed language. I am intentionally opting out of AI Max to protect my clinical brand and client safety."
If you want to book a call with me to talk more about running Google Ads for your Therapy practice I am here to help. You can also explore all my posts for therapists.
I work with therapists in Ohio to run Google Ads and all over the country and I am happy to take a look at your account as well.
