Summary

  • Google introduced AI Mode for Search results in a new tab, separating AI-generated summaries from regular search results.
  • Users will be able to access AI Mode by tapping the magnifier icon with Google’s AI logo in the Android app, offering a dedicated query field and summary display.
  • The integration of Google Lens into AI Mode allows for refining results with imagery, making the feature more interactive and user-friendly.

After a long testing phase, Google rolled out AI Overviews for Search results widely, but they showed up atop your results on the main results page for most queries. However, Google seems to have realized that not everyone appreciates a summary, or AI prefacing your standard results. So, it is moving all that AI-generated information to a dedicated tab in the results, called AI mode. Well, the first sighting of this new mode just popped up on video, and it looks like the need of the hour.

Google logo on top of the Android Police logo


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AI Mode for Search was first spotted in December last year, featured as a neater way to include Gemini in your results without cluttering up the main page. Last week, we got more clarity on what this mode will look like, through an animation meant for the Google One AI Premium subscribers who can test this feature in the US. However, popular app researcher AssembleDebug shared a video with Android Authority, detailing how the Google app for Android would behave once the feature rolls out.

The video shows off how you can jump right into receiving answers in AI Mode if you tap the encircled magnifier icon with Google’s AI ✨ logo. The query field resembles Gemini, taking up your entire screen, and displaying placeholder text “Ask AI Mode”. The results page shows your query at the top, followed by the sources used to gather data, with the summary below. At the bottom of the screen, just above the Google app’s tabs, you’ll see a persistent search bar for follow-up questions, voice prompts, and a Lens button to refine results with imagery.

Google Lens UI integrates seamlessly into AI Mode

Hopefully coming to users soon

When you tap the camera icon to supply an image for refining results, you’ll notice a unique new animation as well. This one creates a cloud-like blur in Google’s colors that floats up and swells to fill your screen before fading away to reveal the camera feed. It’s worth noting that you can also use this option to upload images from your device storage to get more AI Mode results.

With the UI component for the Google app on Android seemingly finished in this version (16.9.39.sa.arm64 beta), the rollout shouldn’t take much longer. Presently, it’s just a test available through the Google Labs experience on mobile and the web.