Google expands AI features in Search with Gemini 3, AI Overviews, and AI Mode

Robert Hart, a London-based Verge journalist who covers AI and serves as a Senior Tarbell Fellow, notes that Google is reshaping how Search works by leaning into AI-driven interactions rather than just listing links. The search giant is rolling out major upgrades to its AI-powered features, including adding Gemini 3 to AI Overviews and enabling follow-up questions that flow naturally, bringing the experience closer to a chat with an AI than a traditional search session.

If you finish an AI Overviews summary still curious, you can dive straight into a dialogue with AI Mode. Google describes this as “a quick snapshot when you need it, followed by a deeper conversation when you want it.” The transition between the two modes appears seamless—scrolling to reveal more and typing to prompt, as demonstrated in a video Robby Stein, Google Search’s VP of Product, shared last year.

Overviews have also received a boost: Gemini 3 now powers AI-generated summaries by default on a global scale. The model, which drew widespread attention when it debuted, is billed as delivering “best-in-class” answers, addressing earlier mixed results with prior versions.

This push sits within a broader Google pivot away from traditional link-first search toward AI-driven interactions. Google has not commented publicly on a timetable for phasing out standard Search entirely.

Disclosure: Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company, has filed a lawsuit against Google over antitrust-related ad tech practices.

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