Google Search is moving beyond the list of blue links and simple answers. With the rollout of Google AI Mode, you can start conversations, share files, and interact with information that’s more like an AI chatbot experience and less like the Google Search we know so well.
What Is Google AI Mode?
Google AI Mode brings advanced generative AI right into Google Search, but in a more advanced manner than its existing AI Overviews. The Gemini-poweredAI Mode started as a Google Labs experiment, but is available to anyone in the US who’s at least 18 and has enabled their web search history.
If you belong to this demographic, you will spot a dedicated AI Mode tab in Search as the first item on the left.
You can also click theLabsicon on the Google Search page and enableAI Mode.
With AI Mode, you’re no longer limited to short, simple queries. Instead, you can ask questions using text, voice, or images and get the chatbot’s replies. Furthermore, your searches can be deeper and more contextual, with follow-up questions allowing you to explore topics with greater scope using the linked web-sourced information. Your AI Mode History lets you easily resume past conversations.
One of the biggest changes in Google AI Mode is how results are displayed. The list of links is pushed to the right in a separate panel, and the main answer to your prompt or search query takes up the page. Like everything generative AI,crafting a great promptis the difference between a precise and fuzzy answer. Of course, you can use it for one-sentence search queries, too, but where’s the usefulness in that?
AI Mode brings together real-time information, such as ticket prices, product details, real-time prices (with the latest promotions), etc., and presents it as a unified answer. Google says most of the data comes from its Shopping Graph, which has over 45 billion product listings from local businesses.
Google has also added a history of past queries on a sidebar to revisit past searches and pick up where you left off. This is especially useful for ongoing projects like planning a trip or researching a big purchase. You don’t have to start from scratch every time; your previous questions and answers are right there, ready for the follow-up.
As Gemini has the feature to save information and reference past chats, I assume the AI Mode has the same facility. However, you must haveGemini Apps Activityswitched on.
If you are outside the US and want to experience AI Mode before its global rollout, use a VPN and connect to a US-based server.
How AI Mode Differs From Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Overviews
With so many AI tools, how does Google AI Mode stack up?
AI Mode, to me, seems to combine the best features of many of the AI chatbots we know and love, bringing them into regular internet search.
What AI Mode Means for the Future of Google Search
Google AI Mode is a sign of where internet search is headed. The days of typing keywords and clicking through endless links are fading. Instead, you’re able to ask questions in natural language, get answers that pull together everything you need, and even interact with those answers to dig deeper or change direction.
This means less time spent searching and more time getting things done. Planning a trip, shopping for a new laptop, or fixing something at home becomes easier and more intuitive. You can upload images, ask questions, and get personalized and up-to-date results. Maybe we are looking at the first stages ofagentic AI that will even execute tasks for youright from the search page.
The shift is more complicated for publishers and the web. Google says it hasn’t seen a big drop in traffic to external sites so far, but there’s no doubt that traffic has dropped significantly for most websites. A lot of it has to do with AI tools and the rise of social search. AI Mode can help surface information that might otherwise stay buried, especially for complex or niche questions.
Google is still evolving the AI Mode, adding new features and expanding access. You should take the “experimental” label seriously and avoid treating its answers as the last word. According to Google’sThe Keyword blog, it is listening to user feedback and promises to keep improving the experience. As AI Mode moves from Labs to the main Search experience, expect even more ways to interact with information-whether you’re shopping, planning, or just poking your curiosity.
