We consider the vacuum response of a particle detector in anti-de Sitter spacetime, and in particular analyze how spacetime features such as curvature and dimensionality affect the response spectrum of an accelerated detector. We calculate useful limits on Wightman functions, analyze the dynamics of the detector in terms of vacuum fluctuations and radiation reactions and discuss the thermalization process for the detector. We also discuss a generalization of the GEMS approach and obtain the Gibbons-Hawking temperature of de Sitter spacetime as an embedded Unruh temperature in a curved anti-de Sitter spacetime.