Understanding Recommendations
Quick answer
Agency AI analyzes the last 7 days of your account data and posts optimization recommendations. In the Shopify app they're on Home → Ad Performance Recommendations. In the AI Dashboard the same engine has its own page, Growth Plays. Nothing changes in your ad accounts until you act. In the AI Dashboard, Apply executes the change on Google and Meta. In the Shopify app, Apply works for Google; Meta changes you make yourself on Manage Ads. The AI Strategist can also carry out any recommendation you ask it to.
What's on a card
- The action: for example Decrease tROAS or Increase Budget, with the campaign or ad set name
- Channel, campaign and date
- The proposed change: old value struck through, new value beside it (tROAS 5.26 → 4.73, $30/day → $45/day)
- The evidence: Spend, ROAS, CPA, CTR, Conversions for the period
- The reasoning, referencing your break-even and target ROAS
View details opens the full breakdown. Dismiss removes a card you disagree with.
Applying
Google: click Apply recommendation and Agency AI makes the change in Google Ads. Most Google recommendations adjust target ROAS rather than budget; Google's bidding responds faster and more predictably to a target change, and moving Performance Max budgets disrupts learning. Your daily budget is a ceiling.
Meta, AI Dashboard: click Apply and Agency AI makes the change in your Meta ad account.
Meta, Shopify app: the card tells you exactly what to change. Go to Manage Ads, find the campaign or ad set, and make the change; Agency AI prompts you with the pending adjustment when you arrive.
Applied changes are visible in Manage Ads and in Ads Manager or Google Ads right away.
Recommendation types
Decrease tROAS (Google). Beating target with room to grow. Lower the target so Google bids for more volume while staying profitable.
Increase tROAS (Google). Running below break-even. Raise the target so Google bids only on higher-value conversions.
Increase Budget (Meta). An ad set well above target ROAS with real conversion volume. Scale it, by at most 20% per step.
Pause (Meta). Spend with zero or near-zero conversions past the point where it's noise. Red bar on the left edge.
Creative refresh. Frequency up, CTR down. Fatigue. Time to test new creative: A/B testing.
Where break-even and target ROAS come from
Both live on Brand Info. Break-even is 1 divided by your gross margin; target is the return you actually want. Every recommendation is judged against them, so keep them accurate. Details.
Why do I have no recommendations?
Two normal reasons. Learning phase: after a launch or a significant edit, Meta needs roughly 3 to 5 days and a volume of conversions before delivery stabilizes; Agency AI waits it out. Statistical confidence: one bad day isn't a signal. An empty list in week one is usually correct.
Why the same recommendation on several dates?
Cards are generated against a trailing 7-day window and dated. A campaign that has needed the same change for several days gets a card per day. Act on the most recent one.
FAQ
Will Agency AI change my ads without asking? No. Every change requires a click from you, or an instruction to the AI Strategist or connector that you confirm.
Can I undo an applied recommendation? Change the value back on Manage Ads, or email hello@agencyai.app.