Google Expands AI Overviews, Launches AI Mode for Advanced Search

Google is expanding AI Overviews with a Gemini 2.0 upgrade, improving response quality and speed for complex queries. Additionally, Google is launching an experimental AI Mode in Search, designed to offer more advanced reasoning and multimodal capabilities for users seeking deeper insights.

Expanding AI Overviews with Gemini 2.0

AI Overviews, one of Google Search’s most widely used features, has now been upgraded with Gemini 2.0 in the U.S. This update enhances responses for coding, advanced math, multimodal queries, and more allowing for faster and more accurate AI-generated answers.

Additionally, AI Overviews are now more widely accessible:

• Teens can now use AI Overviews.

• Users no longer need to sign in to access AI-generated responses.

Introducing AI Mode: A More Advanced Search Experience

For users seeking more in-depth AI-powered answers, Google is launching AI Mode, an experimental feature available through Google Labs. AI Mode expands on AI Overviews by incorporating:

• Advanced reasoning and problem-solving capabilities.

• Multimodal understanding to process text, images, and more.

• Follow-up question support for deeper exploration of topics.

AI Mode runs on a custom version of Gemini 2.0, enabling users to ask more complex, multi-step questions and receive structured, AI-generated responses with relevant web links.

For example, users can compare detailed product features—such as “What’s the difference in sleep tracking features between a smart ring, smartwatch, and tracking mat?”—and receive a well-researched summary. They can then refine their search with follow-ups like “What happens to your heart rate during deep sleep?”

How AI Mode Works

AI Mode combines Gemini 2.0’s capabilities with Google’s real-time information systems, including:

• The Knowledge Graph (Google’s structured database of facts).

• Live shopping data for billions of products.

• Google’s “query fan-out” technique, which issues multiple related searches simultaneously and compiles a comprehensive response.

This hybrid approach offers deeper and more reliable AI-powered insights while keeping web content discovery central to the experience.

Testing AI Mode in Labs

Google has conducted internal testing and gathered feedback from trusted users, who have praised AI Mode’s speed, accuracy, and fresh responses. Now, the company is expanding access through a limited, opt-in experiment in Google Labs, starting with Google One AI Premium subscribers.

Google acknowledges that AI-powered responses won’t always be perfect. If confidence in response accuracy is low, users will receive traditional web search results instead. The company is also working to improve factual accuracy, expand visual responses with images and videos, and refine formatting for better usability.

What This Means

With the expansion of AI Overviews and the introduction of AI Mode, Google is taking a major step toward making AI a core part of Search. By combining advanced AI reasoning with real-time information retrieval, users can expect more intuitive, insightful, and personalized search experiences.

As AI-powered search evolves, businesses that rely on traditional search traffic may need to adapt their strategies to ensure their content remains visible and accessible within AI-driven results.

As testing progresses, Google plans to refine AI Mode further, focusing on making AI-generated responses more useful while still helping users discover relevant web content.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.