Google AI Mode: what it is, how to use it, and when it's worth it

Open it at

google.com/ai, or the AI Mode tab on any results page

Price

Free. Gemini 4 Argon option for AI Pro and Ultra

You can ask with

Text, voice, images, PDFs, files and web links

Saves history?

Yes, and you can delete it

AI Mode is a separate tab in Google Search that answers like a chat. You type the whole question, Google runs a batch of searches for you, and you get one written answer with its sources listed on the right. Unlike AI Overviews, which show up on their own above some normal results, AI Mode only runs when you open it.

How AI Mode works

Google calls the technique query fan-out. AI Mode "divides your question into subtopics" and runs a search for each one at the same time, then combines what it finds. A question such as "best way to get from the airport to downtown Lisbon late at night with two suitcases" would be split into several searches (night transport, taxi prices, metro hours, luggage rules) that you would otherwise run one by one.

When the answer is on screen you can keep going: ask a follow-up, narrow it down or change one detail, and AI Mode keeps the context of the earlier questions.

How to open AI Mode

1. Go to google.com/ai and type your question in the "Ask anything" box.
2. Or search as usual and click the AI Mode tab, the first one on the left above the results.
3. On a phone, tap AI Mode on the Google app's home screen.
4. When an AI Overview appears, its Dive deeper in AI Mode button carries your question over.

What it looked like in our test

We asked AI Mode to "compare caffeine in espresso vs black tea vs energy drink." The answer came back as a table rather than paragraphs: serving size, average caffeine per serving and caffeine per ounce for each drink, about 63 mg for a one-ounce espresso, 48 mg for eight ounces of black tea and 79 mg for an eight-ounce energy drink. A note under the table pointed out that energy drinks are often sold in 16-ounce cans, which doubles the dose.

The sources panel listed Mayo Clinic, the European Food Information Council and a coffee site, and sentences in the answer carried small source chips linking to the pages behind them. Those chips were the most useful part of the page. Each one opens the page a sentence came from, and that's where we'd check a caffeine number before relying on it.

What you can ask and attach

• Text or voice, including long questions with several conditions
• Images, PDFs and files from your computer or Google Drive
• Web links, and in Chrome, your open tabs
• Interactive visuals: ask for a simulation or a diagram and you may get one with sliders and toggles (signed-in users, in English)
• Your own data, if you opt in: AI Mode can use your Search history and connect to Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Photos

Which Gemini model answers

By default AI Mode uses a model Google labels "Auto" or "Fast" for everyday questions. Subscribers to Google AI Pro or Ultra can switch to Gemini 4 Argon from the menu in the "Ask anything" bar for harder, multi-step questions. Argon in AI Mode needs a personal Google Account and an age of 18 or over, has daily limits and is available in fewer countries than AI Mode itself.

AI Mode vs AI Overviews vs the Gemini app

If AI Overviews get in your way more than they help, there's no setting to remove them, but there are reliable workarounds. We tested four in our guide to turning off AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Tips for better answers

• Put every condition in one question. AI Mode splits it up for you, so you can ask for the "cheapest way to ship a 20 kg box from Chicago to Toronto this week" instead of starting with "shipping to Canada" and narrowing down.
• Say what format you want. We didn't ask for a table in the caffeine test and got one anyway. If you'd rather have a checklist or a short paragraph, put that in the question.
• Change one thing at a time in follow-ups, such as "same, but for two boxes."

Privacy: what AI Mode saves

AI Mode keeps a history of your conversations. On a computer, open AI Mode, click AI Mode history and delete single conversations from the More menu, or use Delete all at the top. They can also be deleted from your Search history. Turning off Web & App Activity stops future searches from being saved to your account, but it doesn't remove the history you already have.

AI Mode questions