I tried Google Search’s new AI Mode, and I might not search any other way again

I’m not going to lie — I’ve hesitated to embrace the AI-powered overhaul of Google’s search tools. Sure, I’ve come across a helpful AI Overview here and there, but I’ve also received terrible advice, like adding non-toxic glue to pizza cheese to make it stretchier. And, when that’s the level of bad information you can get from an AI model, you’re probably not going to give it too many chances to get the answer right.

However, I’m also a bit of a glutton for punishment — I mean, I used Rabbit’s R1 more than once in the few months after it launched. So, when Google announced a new AI Mode would be coming to its Search Labs program, I signed up for the waitlist. I figured it couldn’t be any worse than Google’s error-filled AI Overviews, and if I was lucky, it might be an AI-powered feature I actually use. I guess today is my lucky day, and here’s why.

Before we discuss what’s good about Google’s AI Mode and what’s not, I should explain the feature. At this point, Google has so many AI-powered tools that it can be difficult to tell them apart. To me, though, AI Mode slots in as the top-level search feature of the bunch. It’s equal parts AI Overview and Gemini chatbot, but also not exactly either one. It runs on a search-specific version of Google’s Gemini 2.0 model, meaning you can ask in-depth, multi-stage questions and get back long, detailed answers that incorporate all the information in Google’s search index.

On the AI Overview side, AI Mode is pretty much exactly that — a very detailed summary to answer your question. It looks and feels like Google’s AI Overview interface, boiling your search down into several bullet points pulled from related sources around the internet. Unlike a standard AI Overview, though, which tends to create your answer using quotes and paraphrasing from various sources, AI Mode generates its summary entirely on its own, shifting further and further from the sources on which the information is based.

From a Gemini chatbot perspective, AI Mode makes it easy to ask questions and add follow-ups to your conversation without losing the original context. Unlike the personality-filled Gemini Live, which will talk you through your entire conversation, Google’s AI Mode is just a vessel for information — skipping the fun voices to present a lot of information at once. I think I prefer the silent approach, as I’m not sure I’d ever get to the end of an AI Mode result at the rate at which it generates information.

However, there are a few hoops to jump through before you can try Google’s AI Mode. Currently, it exists as a Search Labs experiment (sign up here), meaning there’s a waiting list to get access. You’ll also have to be subscribed to Google One AI Premium (basically, you have to pay for Gemini Advanced) to even put your name on the list, which costs a cool $20 per month. Google One AI Premium comes with several other perks, like access to NotebookLM Plus, 2TB of Google One storage, and access to Gemini in your Google Workspace programs, so you might find that the monthly fee is worth it even if you have to wait a while for access to AI Mode.

Now that you have a basic idea of how Google’s powerful new search tool works, let’s dig into whether or not it’s any good. I’ll readily admit that I hoped it wouldn’t be — I’m a writer who ultimately contributes to Google’s search index whether I want to or not, and so for AI Mode to begin generating answers all on its own with less of a link back to where the information came from doesn’t sit right with me. Do I recognize that it’s probably still helpful for people who don’t want to spend chunks of their day doing research? Yes, but I don’t have to like it.

To give Google’s new search tool a proper test, I decided to use AI Mode to find information entirely outside of my area of expertise. I have a fresh seven-on-seven soccer season starting in just a few weeks, and it feels like the right time to start researching tactics. I watch a lot of Premier League and NWSL soccer throughout the year, but that’s a much different beast to sprinting up and down a field that’s one-third the size of a high school football field (American football, that is).

So, I opened up the Google app on my Pixel 9 Pro, toggled over to AI Mode — it exists within its own tab — and typed out “How do tactics for small-sided soccer differ from 11-on-11 and which formations work best?” Within just a few seconds, Google had pulled information from 27 sites (AI Mode tells you how many sites it uses) and split my answer into two sections — one for the tactical differences and one for which formations to use, as well as ways to settle on a formation. If I were a youth soccer coach woefully out of my depth, this probably would have saved me from several angry parent emails. Instead, I’m just here to avoid looking silly while yelling instructions to my friends.

Granted, my AI Mode results weren’t perfect, as the long, detailed explanation defaulted to five-on-five formations rather than the seven-on-seven setup that my team needs, but that’s as much my fault as it is Google’s. Thankfully, because AI Mode feels more like a chatbot than a simple Google search, I was able to tailor my follow-up question for the correct number of players, with Google pulling from 34 more sources to both help me understand 7v7 ball and how to choose from a few basic formations depending on whether my crew wants to attack more or defend more. AI Mode also gave me tips on developing effective training sessions for my team, which would be perfect if I didn’t have to coordinate the schedules of more than a dozen working adults.

I don’t know how long it would have taken to do all of that research by hand, but I can say one thing — it wouldn’t have been a single Google search. I probably would have gone to one site for the tactical differences, another for the formations, and a third for ways to practice. Instead, AI Mode put everything I needed into one place, boiled it down into bullet points, and gave me a helpful link or two where it thought I might want to learn more. As a writer, I hate it, but as a wannabe soccer coach with a busy schedule, AI Mode is excellent.