Google's AI Mode: Revolutionizing Search with Gemini-Powered Conversational Responses

Google's AI Mode Is Changing How You Search. So What Is It?

Expertise Artificial intelligence, home energy, heating and cooling, home technology. A new tab is in your Google Search bar, and it feels a lot more like an AI chatbot than a traditional search engine. AI Mode uses a custom version of the Gemini generative AI model to give conversational responses and pull information from a variety of sources. Read more: Google I/O 2025 Liveblog: Gemini AI Updates, Android XR, Spotlight on AI and more At last year's I/O conference, Google introduced AI Overviews, which have driven a major shift in Google search and in the internet's information environment at large. AI Mode promises an even deeper, more chatbot-like experience right in the search bar. "AI Mode is where we will first bring our frontier capabilities into search," CEO Sundar Pichai said. AI Mode exists as an extra tab on your normal search bar and as new functionality within your search results. You can also access it directly at this URL. Google said AI mode uses a "query fan-out technique" to better break down your search question, including an ability to identify and process multiple searches at a time. Google said at I/O that it expects to integrate AI Mode with other Google apps, meaning the AI model will be able to get context around your searches from information in your email or calendar. If you ask for a restaurant in a city you're visiting, for example, it might suggest places that are near your reservations. Google says you can always disconnect it from your personal apps. A Deep Search function will be able to look at hundreds of different searches and use an AI reasoning model to provide an in-depth, cited response to a question in a matter of minutes, Google said. Other AI Mode features include shopping. The tool allows you to talk conversationally to narrow down products and even virtually try on outfits. For sports and finance questions, AI Mode will be able to generate graphs based on complex data sets. This feature is expected this summer. The new AI Mode comes as large language models are transforming how people get information on the internet. Questions are becoming more conversational. You may no longer search "best Father's Day gifts." You might instead go to a chatbot and say, "I'm looking for a Father's Day gift. My dad likes Roman history, puzzles and wood crafts." You'll then get a more detailed response, and a conversation, rather than just a set of links that have similar words in them. Elizabeth Reid, vice president and head of search at Google, said users coming to Google Search are asking longer, more difficult questions, and they're asking more questions. Integrating gen AI is one way to address that. "This is the future of Google search, a search that goes beyond information to intelligence," she said. While AI Overviews first brought this kind of technology into the main search results page, AI Mode is integrating it even more. And if you're thinking you can avoid these AI features for a bit longer by sticking with the standard search, think again. What starts in AI Mode might be everywhere soon. "Over time, we'll graduate many of AI Mode's cutting-edge features and capabilities directly into the core search experience," Reid said. A chat-forward AI Mode might be helpful for some search queries, but it isn't the best fit for everything. Eugene Levin, president of the marketing and SEO tool company Semrush, is skeptical that an AI tool is right for every search. "I think the percentage of people who willingly want to use AI Mode for everything is going to be surprisingly low," Levin told me. "I think right now you're going to have a lot of analysts who say this is the future, there's nothing but AI Mode moving forward, and I think that's not what's going to happen." Instead, Levin sees AI Mode as a specific tool that can best handle a specific type of search. Complex questions that might require a lot of follow-up questions might work well in a chat-style approach. But if you're just looking for a specific page, resource or basic facts about something like a movie, a standard search engine might offer quicker results, Levin said. This kind of breakdown of searches -- people using gen AI for one type of query and a standard search engine for another -- is already evident among heavy users of ChatGPT's search functions, Levin said. For certain types of questions, like finding financial information, even heavy ChatGPT users are more likely to turn to Google Search rather than asking the chatbots. "Essentially, there are different types of questions," he said. "And for each type of question, there is a best user interface, user experience."

I've been using Google AI Search mode for 4 months, and here are 5 tips to get the best results

Google made another major move to incorporate AI into everything it does this week when it featured its AI Mode as part of the famous Google Doodle, claiming that AI Mode will let you "search like never before." It is true that AI Mode can help answer complex topics and offers a distinctly different experience from traditional Google Search. AI Mode works by sending out multiple related questions based on your initial single prompt. The responses from AI Mode are more comprehensive because they are based on simultaneous hunts by Google's Gemini AI. I've been playing around with AI Mode for months, since it was a limited experiment. You don't need a long course to learn how to use it well, but I've definitely developed some tricks through trial and error. Since it now seems like Google has begun a major push to get more users to try AI Mode, I thought I'd share some of the lessons and shortcuts I've found that help when turning to the new Google Search star. The biggest mistake is to think that using AI Mode is like looking up things online in 2011. It's about more than just keywords; it's about laying out details and context for AI Mode to consider. Treat it like you're texting a friend. Don't just ask about the weather this weekend; put it in terms of the whole plan. "What's the weather like this weekend for a person who forgot they agreed to go hiking but also might cancel last minute?" You'll receive plenty of temperature and trail condition details, as well as several alternative indoor activities to suggest if you're reluctant to go out. Don't be shy. Let AI Mode see the real you to get the most out of it. AI Mode can handle more than just your writing. You can communicate with it using your voice, upload images, or both, in addition to typing a question. For instance, I've taken a picture of my vegetable drawer and asked about what to make from it by voice, describing the main dish I was planning and what would go well with it. The AI not only identified the plants without labels, but it even suggested which ones looked close to going bad that I should use up beforehand. The chard sautéed with garlic and miso went down a treat, and I didn't have to throw it out a few days later. Shopping is not my favorite activity, so I do appreciate any shortcut in the process. AI Mode is great for that. Want a suit for the summer you won't sweat through? Ask in AI Mode, and it will scan reviews, compare prices, and even check if it's on sale near you. It will also display numerous options on the right side of the screen. That said, be cautious about blindly trusting AI Mode's shopping ideas. I do like how it can help narrow my options and highlight some ideas I might not have thought of, but it can get derailed by the way marketing speak glosses over any issues. AI Mode doesn't act in a vacuum. If you're signed into Google, it uses information about your preferences and learns more about you as you use it. That can be great if you take advantage of its memory. You might be discussing some of your favorite meals one day, then find it suggesting restaurants with those kinds of food when you ask it to organize a vacation itinerary. If you include more about yourself in your early interactions, those can pay off in faster, more immediately useful responses months later. And if it gets something wrong about you or you discover a new favorite ice cream flavor, just let it know and it will adjust its memory of you to match. The best element of AI Mode, in my opinion, is that you don't have to hope your initial prompt is enough. The first thing you ask AI Mode might bring up things you hadn't considered, or be too focused on one aspect of your question. However, there's considerable power in follow-up queries. For example, I asked it, "Should I lease or buy a car in 2025?" It gave me a thoughtful answer, with charts and financial logic. However, it then added a small button at the bottom: "Want a cost comparison based on your driving habits?" I said yes and discussed my driving needs. The AI recalculated everything and spit out a monthly breakdown that made way more sense for my limited driving needs and seriously tempted me to start calling up dealerships. So, don't just ask a question and be done, talk back to it and guide it toward the answers you want. AI Mode can keep pace and keep up with the context.

Google AI Mode: What it is, how to try it?

Today, Google is celebrating its new "AI Mode" feature with a special Google Doodle. The Doodle - which pops up on Chrome's new tab page across devices - features Google's new gradient logo and directs the search engine's users to its improved AI Mode, one that Google calls its "most powerful AI search." Google first unveiled generative AI search results last year, to some strange results. In 2025, it's been no different, with AI Overviews still struggling to answer basic questions. But the new version of AI-powered search is meant to help users with their "toughest questions." Here's how it works. AI Mode is Google's new search feature that intends to provide direct answers to search queries. The answers are a blend of AI-generated responses with content from around the internet, which is summarized and linked to. The new feature uses Gemini 2.5, a modified version of Google's core AI model. Information gathered by the model is distilled into concise answers. Google AI Mode can take multimodal queries: while searching, users can ask any question using text, voice, or images. This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed. Robby Stein, Google's VP of Search, said AI Mode is "particularly helpful for questions that need further exploration, comparisons, and reasoning." "You can ask nuanced questions that might have previously taken multiple searches -- like exploring a new concept or comparing detailed options -- and get a helpful AI-powered response with links to learn more," said Stein. Google AI Mode is only available widely in the US so far, but is also being tested in India. If you're in the US, you can use the tool now. Users can either: A global rollout for the feature is possibly imminent, though Google hasn't made any announcements yet. Let's see how this new AI-powered search fares.