I wasn’t a big fan of Google’s AI Overviews when they debuted atop Google Search. I still don’t like the feature, even though it’s more reliable than it was early on and, supposedly, quite popular with fans. Some searches don’t need an AI summary at the top, especially one you might question. Others can really benefit from a deeper, more meaningful conversation with the AI.
That’s where AI Mode comes in. It’s a separate Google Search experience built around a conversation with the AI. Rather than being pushed in your face like AI Overviews, AI Mode gets its own tab, making AI interaction a deliberate choice.
AI Mode feels like having a chatbot right inside Google Search, and that can be immensely helpful. I talk to ChatGPT about most of my internet searches these days. OpenAI’s chatbot is my go-to, but I’d do the same with Gemini, Claude, or any other alternative that can browse the web in real time.
Having AI Mode in Google Search is a similar experience. For some people, it might be even better than using Gemini or ChatGPT. Come to think of it, AI Mode might be the one feature that gets me to return to Google Search, which I’d largely abandoned before ChatGPT gained internet search abilities.
The Gemini-powered AI Mode is about to get even better. A few weeks ago, Google announced several exciting features at I/O 2025, including new shopping experiences for AI Mode that really impressed me.
Google said the new features will start rolling out to Google Search users in the US soon, not just at I/O 2025. The first one is already available to AI Mode users: support for interactive graphs. You can tell the AI to make charts and graphs for you, and it’ll do it instantly.
The feature might not sound that exciting at first. But as someone who has asked ChatGPT to make graphs in the past, I think it’s an incredible tool to have on hand, especially for certain professionals. Being able to visualize data instead of just reading about it really helps with understanding complex topics.
Here’s how Google described the custom chats and graphs feature a few days ago:
When you need some extra help crunching numbers or visualizing data, Al Mode will analyze complex datasets and create graphics that bring them to life, all custom built for your query. Perhaps you want to compare the home field advantage for two different baseball teams. Search will provide an analysis and generate an interactive graph to address your specific question, using Google’s real-time sports information. We’ll bring this for sports and finance queries.
The first interactive graphs are here to handle finance data, not sports. If you’re working in finance or just want to see how your stocks are performing, you can ask AI Mode for graphs using simple, natural language. Say something like “compare the stock performance of blue chip CPG companies in 2024,” and AI Mode will create an interactive graph.
You’ll be able to hover over parts of the AI-generated chat, and the graph will react in real time so you can focus on specific data. And since this is a regular AI Mode chat, you can ask follow-up questions related to the graph data the AI just gave you.
The new AI Mode feature will be available to Labs users in the US at first. I expect it will eventually make its way into the standard Google Search experience.
If you’re just discovering AI Mode, Google’s blog at this link will give you a look at how it works and how it evolved from the initial AI Overviews rollout.
