With so many AI companies launching chatbots, Google is leveraging its biggest competitive advantage to make Gemini stand out: Search. With personalization enabled, Gemini can now automatically analyze your query to see if referring to your Search history can “enhance” its response.
The feature is powered by the Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental model, and it will only reference your search results if its AI model finds it “helpful.” For instance, if you ask Gemini about restaurant or travel recommendations, the chatbot will refer to your recent food-related searches to provide a suggestion.
This is part of the broader personalization feature Google is rolling out, which will eventually connect Gemini to other apps like YouTube and Google Photos, allowing the chatbot to “provide more personalized insights, drawing from a broader understanding of your activities and preferences.”
Google notes that you can disconnect your search history from Gemini at any time. When you receive a response, you’ll see an outline of how Gemini got its answers, as well as whether it referenced your saved information, past conversations, or Search history. It will also display a “clear banner” with a link to disconnect your Search history.
Gemini and Gemini Advanced subscribers on the web can enable the feature by selecting “Personalization (experimental)” from the model drop-down menu. It’s gradually rolling out on mobile, and is available in more than 40 languages in a “majority” of countries.
Google is releasing some other updates as well, including a way for all Gemini users to create their own personal AI assistants — called Gems — for free. The company also announced that it’s bringing its Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking Experimental model to its Deep Research feature, which the company says improves the chatbot’s capabilities “across all research stages.”
