Google launches AI Mode in India, transforming search for complex queries.

Google has initiated a significant evolution in its search capabilities in India, rolling out an experimental "AI Mode" designed to handle long, complex, and layered user queries.[1][2][3] This move marks the first international expansion of the advanced search feature beyond the United States, positioning India as a crucial market for testing and refining the future of information discovery.[4] The new functionality, accessible on an opt-in basis through Search Labs on the Google app for Android and iOS, aims to provide users with comprehensive, AI-generated responses that synthesize information from across the web, moving beyond the traditional list of blue links.[5][6] This development signals a strategic shift for the tech giant as it seeks to retain its dominance in the face of growing competition from conversational AI platforms and fundamentally reshape how users interact with its core product.

The new AI Mode is engineered to tackle multifaceted questions that would typically require multiple, simplified searches.[3][7] Users can now pose intricate queries in a more natural, conversational style. For example, a user could ask, "My kids are 4 and 7 and have lots of energy. Suggest creative ways to get them active and moving indoors, especially on hot days, without needing a lot of space or expensive toys."[2][3][7] The system is designed to understand the nuances and multiple constraints within such a question, delivering a detailed, synthesized answer.[3] Early testing indicates a significant change in user behavior, with queries in AI Mode being two to three times longer than traditional searches, demonstrating that users are already leveraging it for their most challenging questions.[8][3] The feature also supports follow-up questions, allowing users to refine and explore topics in a conversational manner.[6][9] To achieve this, the system employs a "query fan-out" technique, breaking down a complex question into subtopics and issuing numerous queries simultaneously to gather a breadth and depth of information not possible with a single search.[3][9][4]

Underpinning this advanced functionality is a customized version of Google's latest and most powerful large language model, Gemini 2.5.[9][10][7] This model provides the advanced reasoning, thinking, and multimodal capabilities necessary to process and respond to complex user needs.[3][9][11] Recognizing the diverse ways users in India interact with technology, the AI Mode has been built to be multimodal from its launch in the country.[3][12] This means users can ask questions using text, voice, or even images.[13][11][14][15] The inclusion of voice and image search is particularly significant for the Indian market, where voice commands are a widely used input method and Google Lens sees more monthly users than in any other country.[8][3] A user could, for instance, take a photo of a plant and ask for detailed instructions on how to repot and care for it, receiving a step-by-step, AI-generated guide complete with links to relevant web articles.[3]

The decision to launch this experimental feature in India, a market with over 870 million internet users, underscores the country's strategic importance as a testing ground for Google's global AI ambitions.[8][2][13] The rollout is currently available in English, with users able to opt-in via Google's Search Labs.[3][4] While a Search Generative Experience (SGE) has been available in India with support for both English and Hindi, including a language toggle and text-to-speech, the new AI Mode is initially launching in English only, with no confirmed timeline for the addition of other Indian languages.[5][16][2][6][17] This experimental approach allows Google to gather feedback directly from a large and diverse user base, which will be crucial for iterating on and improving the experience.[5][3] The feature builds upon the company's existing "AI Overviews," which are already used by over 1.5 billion people globally and have driven a more than 10% increase in usage for the types of queries where they appear in key markets like the U.S. and India.[3][9][10]

The introduction of AI-powered summaries and direct answers at the top of search results carries significant implications for the digital ecosystem, particularly for content creators and publishers who rely on organic search traffic.[8] By providing comprehensive answers directly on the results page, there is a concern that users will have less incentive to click through to individual websites, potentially leading to a decline in referral traffic.[18][19] This shift could disrupt the primary revenue model for many online publishers.[20] However, Google maintains that its goal is to help users discover content from across the web and that AI Mode creates new opportunities for content discovery.[3] The company has stated that in cases where it does not have high confidence in an AI-generated response, it will default to showing a standard set of web results.[3][14] Early reports from some large international publishers suggest that the impact of AI Overviews on traffic has been negligible so far, but the long-term effects of this fundamental change to the search experience remain a critical point of observation for the industry.[21] As Google continues to integrate generative AI more deeply into its core services, the balance between providing instant, synthesized answers and driving traffic to the broader web will be a key challenge to navigate.