Google AI Overviews Now Launch Direct AI Chats
▼ Summary
– Google now allows users to ask follow-up questions directly from AI Overviews in Search, enabling a conversational back-and-forth with its AI Mode.
– The company is making Gemini 3 the new default model for AI Overviews globally to provide a best-in-class AI response on the search results page.
– These updates are part of Google’s effort to transform Search from a static results page into an interactive, AI-driven experience.
– Google recently introduced “Personal Intelligence” to AI Mode, allowing it to use data from Gmail and Google Photos for more individualized responses.
– AI Overviews have also been expanded to Gmail, letting users search their inbox with natural language to find information without opening multiple emails.
Google is transforming its search engine into a more dynamic and interactive platform. The company has introduced a significant update that allows users to engage in a direct, conversational chat with its AI directly from the AI Overviews that appear at the top of search results. This move effectively turns a simple query into the starting point for a deeper dialogue, enabling people to ask follow-up questions and explore topics in greater detail without leaving the search page. Alongside this feature, Google has globally upgraded AI Overviews to use the more advanced Gemini 3 model as its default, promising users higher-quality, more comprehensive AI-generated summaries from the outset.
This development represents a clear shift in how Google envisions the future of search. The goal is to move beyond presenting static lists of links and toward providing an intelligent, responsive assistant that can handle both simple facts and complex, multi-layered inquiries. According to the company, internal testing indicates that users find this seamless transition from a quick answer to a full conversation to be a more natural and helpful way to find information.
The new interface is designed as a continuous experience. When you see an AI Overview, you can now click to enter a conversational mode, where the context from the initial summary is preserved. This means you can ask clarifying questions, request examples, or dive into specific subtopics, and the AI will understand the thread of the conversation. This functionality is part of Google’s broader “AI Mode,” which is tailored for tackling more complicated questions that benefit from a back-and-forth exchange.
These announcements follow closely on the heels of other major AI integrations from Google. Just days prior, the company revealed it is bringing “Personal Intelligence” to AI Mode. This feature allows the AI to access data from a user’s personal Google ecosystem, such as Gmail and Google Photos, to deliver highly individualized and relevant responses. This capability debuted earlier in the standalone Gemini app and is now being woven into the search experience itself.
Furthermore, Google recently extended the power of AI Overviews into Gmail. Users can now search their inbox using natural language queries. Instead of relying on traditional keyword matching and opening numerous emails, the AI can scan the content of messages to provide direct answers, such as summarizing an upcoming flight itinerary or finding a specific receipt. This feature was launched alongside a newly redesigned AI-powered inbox, highlighting Google’s strategy of embedding its artificial intelligence across all its core products to create a more intuitive and assistive digital environment.
(Source: TechCrunch)
