Google has announced new artificial intelligence (AI) features in search, extending AI Overviews to allow users to ask more complex questions in a variety of modes.
Elizabeth Reid, vice-president: head of search, outlines in a company blog that AI Mode in Search will be rolled out from today, starting in the US.
“AI Mode uses our query fan-out technique, breaking down your question into subtopics and issuing a multitude of queries simultaneously on your behalf. This enables Search to dive deeper into the web than a traditional search on Google, helping you discover even more of what the web has to offer and find incredible, hyper-relevant content that matches your question.”
For questions where users want an even more thorough response, Google is bringing deep research capabilities into AI Mode with Deep Search.
“Deep Search uses the same query fan-out technique but taken to the next level. It can issue hundreds of searches, reason across disparate pieces of information, and create an expert-level fully-cited report in just minutes, saving you hours of research,” Reid says.
Visual search with Google Lens has also been extended.
“Now, we’re taking the next step in multimodality by bringing Project Astra’s live capabilities into Search. With Search Live, you can talk back-and-forth with Search about what you see in real-time, using your camera.
“For example, if you’re feeling stumped on a project and need some help, simply tap the “Live” icon in AI Mode or in Lens, point your camera, and ask your question. Just like that, Search becomes a learning partner that can see what you see — explaining tricky concepts and offering suggestions along the way, as well as links to different resources that you can explore — like websites, videos, forums and more.”
Google has added the agentic capabilities of Project Mariner into AI Mode, to help save users time with tasks. Now, they can ask about the task they need completes, and AI Mode can search, analyse results and even fill in forms, presenting the user with a completed task.
This will start with event tickets, restaurant reservations and local appointments, partnering with companies like Ticketmaster, StubHub, Resy and Vagaro.
The new AI Mode shopping experience brings together Gemini model capabilities with Google’s Shopping Graph to help users browse for inspiration, think through considerations, and narrow down products.
“If you want to see how an outfit looks on you, you can try on billions of apparel listings virtually, just by uploading a single image of yourself. And when you’ve found the perfect item, you can ask our new agentic checkout feature to buy it on your behalf with Google Pay when the price is right, always with your guidance and oversight.”
For a more customized experience, AI Mode will soon offer personalised suggestions based on past searches. “You can also opt in to connect other Google apps, starting with Gmail, to bring in more of your personal context,” Reid adds.
To help with crunching numbers or visualising data, AI Mode can analyze complex datasets and create graphics that bring them to life, all custom built for the user’s query.