Google Search’s AI Mode gets chatty with its new Search Live feature

Google previewed a new voice search experience called Search Live at I/O this year. Like Gemini Live, this new feature lets users have a natural, back-and-forth conversation with Google Search and ask follow-up questions. Search Live rolled out to a few users in the Google app for iOS earlier this month, and Google has now announced broader availability for US users on Android and iOS.

Search Live is available as part of the AI Mode experiment in Labs. You can try it out by tapping the new “Live” icon in the Google app and asking questions like, “What are some tips for preventing a linen dress from wrinkling in a suitcase?” Search Live will offer an AI-generated audio response, and you can ask follow-up questions if you need additional information. The feature also gives you access to relevant links from across the web, making it easy for you to delve deeper.

You can even continue your Search Live conversation after switching to another app, view transcripts of the conversation, and resume previous conversations by heading to the AI Mode history. Google says Search Live uses “a custom version of Gemini with advanced voice capabilities” that offers “reliable, helpful responses no matter where, or how, you’re asking your question.” The feature also uses Google’s query fan-out technique to show you “a wider and more diverse set of helpful web content.”

Currently, Search Live does not offer the Project Astra-powered camera capability that Google showcased at I/O, which lets you ask questions about what’s in your camera’s viewfinder in real time. Google plans to roll it out in the coming months.