AI Mode is Google’s most powerful tool for online searches. Starting today, the tech giant is rolling out the feature, which crawls and summarises websites using artificial intelligence, to more than forty new countries.
AI mode builds on the so-called AI overview that Google added to its search engine earlier this year. It provides a rapid, artificial intelligence answer to some of your searches. This answer, written in natural language, typically appears at the top of the Google search page. This information is often sufficient, so you don’t necessarily need to click on any of the provided links.
Reverse side
This ease of use also has a downside: when fewer traditional links are clicked, organic traffic to websites drops significantly. And fewer visitors ultimately leads to lower revenue. Google partially counters this criticism by stating that clicks generated from AI-generated overviews are more valuable to the websites visited. According to the search giant, this means users spend more time on the sites they visit.
The criticism isn’t stopping Google from taking its search engine’s artificial intelligence to an even higher level. The next step is called AI Mode, and it has been available in the United States for some time. This week, the feature is rolling out to many more countries. Google is also supporting 38 additional languages, including Dutch, French, and German.
More nuanced
The main innovation in AI mode is that you can ask more nuanced questions that previously would have required multiple searches. Unlike the answers in AI Overview, these don’t appear on the familiar Google search page, but in a separate tab. The feature is also available in the Google app for iOS and Android, which released new versions this week.
According to Google, AI mode uses a modified Gemini 2.5 model. This technology can break down complex prompts into shorter questions and then merge the answers back together, or even present them in a clear table. It’s also possible to engage in conversational conversations with the chatbot, asking additional questions. Google found that early adopters of AI mode were asking questions that were two to three times longer than those in traditional searches.
Reliability
The AI mode supports more than just text input. You can also simply speak your search query into the microphone, or upload a photo or image and ask your question. Google says it aims to provide an AI-powered answer as often as possible.
“However, in cases where the reliability of the answer isn’t high, you’ll see a range of search results. And as with any early-stage AI product, we won’t always get everything right, but we’re committed to continuous improvement,” the tech giant says.