Google Ads Sitelink Assets: Limits, Levels and Dynamic Sitelinks

Google Ads sitelink assets are extra links shown under your ad, each with its own short link text and its own landing page URL, so a searcher can jump straight to a specific page such as pricing, a product category or a contact form. You add them at account, campaign or ad group level (or asset group level in Performance Max), and Google decides per auction which ones to show.

Everything below comes from Google's own Ads Help and advertising policy pages: the character limit, how many links can show, how the levels interact, what dynamic sitelinks are and how to switch them off. Where Google does not publish a number, this guide does not invent one.

What sitelink assets are and where they show

A sitelink has three parts you control: the sitelink text people see, two optional description lines, and the URL the link points to. Sitelinks appear with ads at the top and bottom of Google search results, and they are compatible with Search campaigns, Video campaigns on YouTube, AdSense for Search, Performance Max and Demand Gen.

How many can appear depends on the campaign type and the device:

• Search and Performance Max on desktop: up to 6 sitelinks, shown one below the other or side by side on one or two lines.
• Search and Performance Max on mobile: up to 8 sitelinks in a swipeable carousel on a single line.
• Video campaigns on YouTube: up to 4 sitelinks, mobile only, and not on Google video partners.
• Demand Gen: up to 4 sitelinks, on mobile and desktop.

There is also a minimum. Search and Performance Max ads need at least 2 sitelinks for desktop and at least 2 for mobile before any sitelinks appear, and Video campaigns need at least 2. On mobile, when an ad is in the very top position, its sitelinks can show in a more prominent layout with one sitelink per line.

Adding sitelinks costs nothing. On Search and Performance Max you pay for clicks, and a click on a sitelink costs the same as a click on the headline of the same ad. Google charges no more than 2 clicks per ad impression, and rapid repeated clicks are treated as duplicate or invalid clicks.

Account vs campaign vs ad group level

On levels, sitelinks do not behave like callouts or structured snippets.

How the levels combine

Account-level sitelinks may appear in all eligible campaigns. Campaign-level sitelinks may appear in every eligible ad group or asset group in that campaign. By default, an ad group or asset group uses the sitelinks of its campaign and account. Google describes the hierarchy as branches: account, then campaign, then ad group or asset group. Sitelinks defined anywhere within the same branch are eligible to serve together, and Google picks the best combination from that pool. Sitelinks in one campaign never appear with ads in another campaign.

Google also says sitelinks created at higher levels are eligible to serve alongside lower-level ones when that is predicted to improve performance. So if you have account-level and campaign-level sitelinks, the account ones can show next to the campaign ones.

Which level to use

Google's rule of thumb is to add a sitelink at the level where it makes sense for everything underneath. A "Contact us" link that fits every campaign belongs at account level. A link to a product category that only fits one campaign belongs on that campaign. Google suggests starting at account level to reach full coverage faster, but only with links relevant to every campaign, asset group and ad group. If an account-level sitelink does not suit a campaign, remove it from the account and add the sitelinks you prefer at campaign, asset group or ad group level instead.

One asset can be associated with several levels at once. When you edit a sitelink, the change applies everywhere that asset is shared, and editing does not reset its performance statistics.

How many to add and the text limits

Sitelink text is limited to 25 characters in most languages, or 12 characters in double-width languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Shorter link text means more links can fit, which is why Google tells advertisers to keep it short.

Google's help page does not state a character limit for the description lines, so check the counter in the sitelink form as you type. What Google does say: descriptions are optional but strongly recommended, they are required to unlock some ad formats, and adding them does not reduce the number of links that can show. If you fill in both description lines, the sitelink may be eligible to show with those details. Google can also supplement sitelinks with descriptions you have provided or with other information from your account.

On quantity, Google recommends at least 6 sitelinks with descriptions for every high-volume campaign, ad group and asset group, and at least 4 at account level. Adding 6 or more also improves Ad strength.

Adding sitelinks step by step

1. Go to Assets within the Campaigns menu.
2. Click the plus button, then Sitelink.
3. In "Add to", choose the level: account, campaign or ad group.
4. Choose Create new, or Use existing to attach sitelinks you already have.
5. Fill in "Sitelink text", the description lines and the URL. Use Add sitelink to create more before saving.
6. Click Save.

Under Advanced options when editing, you can set a start and end date and an asset schedule by day and time. Make sure a sitelink's schedule does not exclude the hours your ads run, or it will never serve.

Sitelinks vs callout and structured snippet assets

All three sit under your ad text, but they do different jobs and follow different level rules.

The override rule matters. For callouts and structured snippets, adding even one asset at ad group level stops the campaign-level and account-level ones of the same type from serving in that ad group. Sitelinks work the other way: lower-level sitelinks do not automatically block higher-level ones in the same branch. Structured snippets show up to 2 headers on a computer and one header on mobile and tablet, and the header must match the values, such as "Destinations" with a list of places. A mismatch is the most likely reason a snippet gets disapproved.

In practice, use sitelinks for navigation (where to go next), callouts for selling points that need no click, and structured snippets for the range of what you offer.

Automated (dynamic) sitelinks and how to control them

Dynamic sitelinks are one of Google's account-level automated assets. Google Ads creates them automatically and shows them when they are predicted to improve performance, alongside or instead of your manual sitelinks. They have the same format as manual sitelinks and can come from several sources, including your landing pages. They work with Search and Performance Max campaigns, and with Video campaigns only when the campaign uses the Sales, Leads or Website traffic goal. You are not charged when they show, only when someone clicks through.

Once you opt in to dynamic sitelinks, Google Ads can also automatically provide descriptions for your existing sitelinks.

Find dynamic sitelinks in your account

1. Go to Assets within the Campaigns menu.
2. In the Associations view, open the Sitelink summary card.
3. Select Add filter, open Attributes and choose "Added by".
4. Select Google AI, then Apply.

Pause, remove or turn off

You can pause or remove an individual dynamic sitelink you do not want. A paused one can be re-enabled later; a removed one disappears from your assets and cannot be re-enabled. To stop all of them, go to Assets, switch the table view to Association, open the three-dot menu and select Account-level automated assets, open the three-dot menu again and choose Advanced settings, expand the Dynamic sitelinks card, select Off and save. This turns off dynamic sitelinks for the entire account, so it suits advertisers who need strict creative control, for example where every link must point to an approved page.

A related behaviour is enhanced flexibility: unused responsive search ad headlines and descriptions may now serve in space that only sitelinks used to occupy, within the same ad or ad group. Assets pinned to headline position 1, headline position 2 or description position 1 keep their pinned positions.

Reading the assets report

Google lets you see how many clicks occurred while sitelinks appeared, broken down by campaign, ad group, asset group or ad. You can also segment the statistics to separate clicks on an individual sitelink from clicks on another part of the ad, such as the headline or another sitelink.

Read the report with the serving rules in mind. Google chooses which sitelinks to show per auction, so a sitelink with few impressions may simply be losing to better candidates in the same branch, not broken. Before rewriting it, check three things: that its schedule overlaps your ad schedule, that it is attached at the level you intended (the Association view shows this, and the pencil icon lets you change it), and that its text is not too similar to another sitelink. Google suggests adding new sitelinks if existing ones are not getting the impressions you expect.

For clicks to mean anything, the landing pages behind your sitelinks need conversion tracking too. Google recommends optimizing those pages for lighter conversion events such as a page visit or an add to cart.

Common mistakes: duplicate URLs and generic text

• Reusing link text. Google's sitelink requirements do not allow the same link text on more than one sitelink, even when each points to a different page. Separately, sitelinks with the same or similar text will not serve together, so only one of them would show.
• Pointing at another domain. Sitelink URLs should match the domain of the ad's final URL. Google allows some exceptions, such as a link to your page on a select online retailer, a social media profile or a video, but then the link text must describe the destination and include its full domain name.
• Attention-grabbing symbols. Exclamation marks, punctuation at the start of the text and symbols like arrows that only exist to draw attention are not allowed in link text or descriptions.
• Generic text that misdescribes the page. Google's relevance policy requires link text to describe what is at the destination. "Click here" or "Learn more" tells the searcher nothing; "Pricing plans" or "Book a demo" does.
• Too few sitelinks. With fewer than 2 eligible for a device, no sitelinks appear on that device at all.
• Everything at ad group level by habit. Because levels combine within a branch, duplicating the same links at every level adds clutter without adding coverage.

Sitelinks only pay off when the pages behind them are built for the visitor they receive. If your category or offer pages are thin, see our landing page design service.

What this means for advertisers in Thailand

Google's help page names Chinese, Japanese and Korean as the double-width languages with the 12-character limit; Thai is not on that list, so check the counter in the sitelink form as you type Thai link text.

If you run Thai and English campaigns side by side, keep each campaign's sitelinks in the campaign's language and point them at pages in that same language. Because sitelinks in one campaign never appear in another, separate Thai and English campaigns already keep the two sets apart. Account-level sitelinks, on the other hand, can appear in every eligible campaign, so an English account-level link can surface under a Thai ad. Put language-specific links at campaign level.

If you would rather have a team handle sitelinks, asset reporting and the rest of the account, see our Google Ads management service or the Relevant Search Google Ads service.

FAQ

How many sitelinks can a Google ad show?

A Search or Performance Max ad can show up to 6 sitelinks on desktop and up to 8 on mobile. Video campaigns on YouTube and Demand Gen campaigns show up to 4.

What is the character limit for sitelink text?

Sitelink text is limited to 25 characters in most languages and 12 characters in double-width languages such as Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Google's help page does not publish a description line limit, so use the counter in the form.

Should I add sitelinks at account or campaign level?

Add a sitelink at the highest level where it is relevant to everything underneath it. Links that fit every campaign go at account level; links specific to one campaign's products go on that campaign.

Can I stop Google from creating sitelinks automatically?

Yes, you can turn off dynamic sitelinks in the account-level automated assets settings, under Advanced settings. That switches them off for the whole account; you can also pause or remove individual dynamic sitelinks instead.

Do sitelink clicks cost more than headline clicks?

No, on Search and Performance Max a sitelink click costs the same as a headline click in the same ad. Google charges for no more than 2 clicks per ad impression.

If you want a second pair of eyes on your sitelink setup, our Google Ads team can review the levels, the dynamic sitelink settings and the asset report with you.