Gemini

Like Claude and ChatGPT, the name covers both models and an app. Google builds the Gemini models, offers them to people through the Gemini assistant, which replaced Google's earlier Bard assistant, and to developers through its cloud and API services. Gemini models also power AI features inside other Google products, including AI answers in Search.

Gemini is multimodal by design, meaning one model can work with several kinds of input, such as a photo and a question about it. Gemini is a separate thing from AI Overviews: the overviews are a Search feature that uses Gemini models, not the Gemini app itself.

How it works

The Gemini app sends your message, the conversation so far and any images or files to a Gemini model, which writes the reply. Because it comes from Google, it can draw on Google Search for current information and, when you allow it, connect to Google services such as Gmail, Docs and Drive to work with your own content.

The same models appear inside Google Workspace for writing and summarising, inside Android phones as a built-in assistant, and in Search, where they help generate AI answers. That spread is the main difference from rivals: many people use Gemini without opening the app at all.

For publishers, Google offers a separate robots.txt control called Google-Extended, which lets a site decline use of its content for training future Gemini models and for grounding answers in the Gemini app and Google's developer platform. It is a token read from robots.txt, not a separate crawler, and Google says it does not affect inclusion or ranking in Search. AI features inside Search follow Search's own crawling and controls. Developers reach the same models through Google's AI Studio and cloud platform, choosing between larger and smaller versions to balance quality, speed and cost. Because Gemini can be switched on inside tools a team already uses, administrators of a Google Workspace account can usually control which staff get access and which Google services it may read.

Example

A dentist photographs a handwritten supplier invoice and asks Gemini to turn it into a table with item, quantity and price. It does most of it correctly but misreads one smudged figure, which she catches because she checks the total against the paper copy.

She also asks Gemini which dental clinics in her city offer emergency appointments on weekends. The answer draws on Search results and Google Business Profiles. Her clinic is listed, but with old weekend hours, which leads her to update her Google Business Profile, the source the answer relied on. She then searches Google directly for the same question and sees that the AI answer, the map results and the Gemini app all used the same outdated profile. A single correction in one place fixed all three after Google refreshed the listing. She now reviews the profile whenever her hours change.

Why it matters for your business

Because Gemini models sit behind Google's AI answers, the basics of being found in Google, such as a complete Google Business Profile, clear pages and consistent details, also shape what Gemini says about you. If you use Google Workspace, Gemini may already be available to your team, so the decision is often about settings and data access rather than buying a new tool. The flip side is reach: many customers never choose to use AI, but they see Gemini-generated answers in Search anyway. Check what the Gemini app says about your business by name every few months, alongside a normal Google search.

Common mistakes

• Treating Gemini, AI Overviews and Google Search as one system with one set of controls.
• Blocking Google-Extended and expecting it to remove your site from AI answers in Search.
• Connecting Gemini to email and documents without reviewing which data it can read.
• Ignoring Google Business Profile details, which feed many of Google's AI answers about local businesses.

Questions people ask

Who makes Gemini?

Gemini is made by Google, developed largely by its AI research division, Google DeepMind. Google offers the Gemini models through the Gemini app, inside products such as Search, Workspace and Android, and to developers through its cloud and API services.

Is Gemini the same as Google Bard?

Gemini is the successor. Google's assistant was first launched as Bard and was later renamed Gemini, sharing the name of the model family behind it. People searching for Bard today will find the Gemini app instead.

Does Gemini affect my Google rankings?

Gemini itself does not decide your organic rankings, which come from Google Search's ranking systems. But Gemini models help generate AI answers in Search and in the Gemini app, which draw on the same web pages and business profiles. Clear, accurate, well-structured information helps in both.