Google launched its AI Mode, a Q&A-style search tool, for users in India today. The company stated that this feature is currently in the experimental stage and that users must opt in through Search Labs.
Google said in a blog post that the functionality will allow users to ask longer “enquiries” and is designed to better handle exploratory queries and complex tasks.
Additionally, Indian users can search using voice and photos.
Once a user opts in, they can submit “enquiries” in English. Google did not specify whether it plans to support local languages or when such support might become available.
Google began testing AI Mode with premium subscribers in the U.S. earlier this year. Following the Google I/O event, the company gradually rolled out the capability to all U.S. customers. Over time it introduced a shopping feature, voice-search and picture-search support and advertisements.
Given the popularity of voice search in India, the company confirmed that both voice-search and picture-search functionalities are supported. It also stated that AI Mode is powered by a customised version of Gemini 2.5. Furthermore, the company noted that early AI testers are submitting queries two to three times longer than average.
With over 870 million internet users, India is one of Google’s major markets. It also serves as a testing ground for the company to observe how multilingual customers interact with its products.
While Google continues to dominate the search industry, users are increasingly adopting chat-based AI products like ChatGPT and Perplexity in their daily lives. Google’s AI Mode encourages those who prefer such interfaces to use its product.
AI Overviews
In addition to AI Mode, Google has been promoting products like AI Overviews, which summarise query results directly in Search. In April the company announced that over 1.5 billion people worldwide are using AI Overviews. Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google’s AI features are affecting publishers, with many experiencing significant declines in organic search traffic.
“This launch aligns with our long-term goal of making it easier to find and utilise information on Search. With our latest AI advancements, we’ve observed users leveraging Google Search to address increasingly complex and nuanced questions. AI Overviews, currently used by over 1.5 billion people monthly, exemplify this evolution. In our largest markets, such as the U.S. and India, they have already driven a more than 10 % increase in usage for searches where they appear.
This indicates that once users start using AI Overviews, they are likely to engage in more of these types of searches, and what’s particularly intriguing is how this growth is expected to accelerate over time. AI Mode enhances the reasoning, thinking and multimodal capabilities of AI Overviews.”
