Google has launched AI Mode in India as its first international expansion of the AI-powered search experience, making it available to all users in English after a successful two-week testing period. This marks a significant milestone in Google’s global AI strategy, bringing advanced conversational search capabilities to one of the world’s largest internet markets following the feature’s US debut at I/O 2025.
What you should know: AI Mode offers a more sophisticated search experience than traditional Google Search or AI Overviews, powered by a custom version of Gemini 2.5.
- The feature uses a “query fan-out technique” that breaks questions into subtopics and issues multiple queries simultaneously on behalf of users.
- It supports longer text prompts (2-3x the length of traditional searches), voice input with visual waveforms, and image uploads via Google Lens.
- Users can ask follow-up questions after receiving initial responses, creating a conversational search experience.
How it works: AI Mode leverages multiple data sources and advanced reasoning capabilities to provide comprehensive answers.
- The system draws from “fresh, real-time sources like the Knowledge Graph, info about the real world, and shopping data for billions of products.”
- Response surfaces show what links were used to answer questions, maintaining transparency.
- The multimodal experience is available through the Google app for Android and iOS, as well as at google.com/aimode.
Real-world example: Google demonstrated AI Mode’s capabilities with a plant identification scenario where users can upload an image and ask complex questions.
- A user could ask: “What’s this plant and give me instructions on how to repot and take care of it.”
- AI Mode identifies the plant visually and provides detailed, step-by-step responses with relevant article links.
- Follow-up questions like “Where should I place it in my home for best growth?” are seamlessly handled.
User adoption: Early testing results in India showed positive reception among users exploring diverse use cases.
- Google noted “encouraging” response rates, with users appreciating the speed and quality of responses.
- The company observed users “diving deep into topics for learning to understanding complex how-tos.”
- The feature transitioned from Search Labs experiment to full availability within two weeks.
Access methods: Users can access AI Mode through multiple entry points within Google’s search ecosystem.
- A new shortcut appears in the Search bar for direct access.
- AI Mode appears as a filter option alongside “All,” “Images,” and “News” on search results pages.
- A shortcut to launch AI Mode is available at the bottom of AI Overviews.
Why this matters: India represents a crucial testing ground for Google’s AI expansion strategy, serving as the gateway to international markets beyond the US while demonstrating the company’s commitment to making advanced AI search accessible globally.
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