Google Adds Image-Based Search to Gemini-Powered AI Mode: Here’s What You Can Do With It

Google is quietly reshaping how we interact with Search-and it's not just about typing questions anymore. The company's Gemini-powered AI Mode, which rolled out last month, was already built to handle layered, multi-part queries. Now, Google is pushing things further by adding visual search capabilities to the mix.

This upgrade comes through Google Lens, but with a serious AI twist. Snap a photo or upload an image, and AI Mode will break it down-objects, context, materials, relationships between items-and give you thoughtful responses based on what it sees.

What Can You Actually Do With This?

Say you take a photo of your bookshelf. Instead of just identifying titles, AI Mode can suggest similar books you might like, pulling in reviews and links to buy. Or maybe you're at a store, unsure about a product-take a picture, and ask if there are better alternatives online. It's not just recognizing stuff anymore, it's understanding the scene as a whole.

This is thanks to multimodal AI, meaning it processes both images and language together, not separately. That gives it a more human-like way of figuring out what you're really asking.

More Users Are Getting Access

Until now, AI Mode was limited to Google One AI Premium subscribers, but that's changing. Last month, a handful of free users were invited in-and now, millions of Labs users in the U.S. are getting access. Google seems to be using this wider rollout to test how people engage with AI in real-world, everyday searches.

There is no information on when this feature will be available to Indian users.