As OpenAI goes into “Code Red” over competitive pressures, Google announced it has begun testing a new feature that merges its AI Overviews with AI Mode in Search. That means that users who are provided with the now common AI-generated snapshot of key information on a topic or question above their search results can choose to go deeper by asking follow-up questions in a conversational interface.
Google calls this conversational feature AI Mode. It launched to U.S. users this May, and to global users this August, allowing for back-and-forth chats with Google’s Gemini AI, in an experience similar to ChatGPT.
However, accessing the experience so far has required you to think ahead about what type of question you were preparing to search for. If it were a more traditional search query, or one where you could expect to get a quick answer, you’d likely stick with typing into the search box as usual.
But if you expected to ask more questions or explore a topic in more detail, you’d have to click over to the AI Mode tab to start chatting with the AI instead.
Google now wants to test whether or not it makes sense to differentiate the two experiences. After all, the process of information seeking can often lead to a desire to learn more. You may have thought you were starting a simple query, only to find yourself delving deeper into the topic.
With the new test, announced on Monday, Google says users will be able to “seamlessly go deeper” in AI Mode directly from the Search results page. While the test is rolling out to users globally, it’s only available on mobile devices for the time being.
The rollout comes alongside a push inside Google’s AI rival, OpenAI, which is now delaying other products to focus on improving the chatbox experience. Thanks in part to the release of Gemini’s Nano Banana image model and other Gemini improvements, Gemini has grown to over 650 million monthly users as of November. Merging the conversational mode with AI Overviews, which has 2 billion monthly users, could give Gemini an edge in consumer adoption.
Notes VP of Product for Google Search Robby Stein, in a post on X, “You shouldn’t have to think about where or how to ask your question.” Instead, he explained, users will continue to get an AI Overview as a helpful starting point, but will then be able to ask conversational follow-up questions in AI Mode from the same screen.
“This brings us closer to our vision for Search: just ask whatever’s on your mind – no matter how long or complex – and find exactly what you need,” Stein wrote.
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