Google has begun testing a new voice-powered search feature called Search Live, integrated within its AI Mode, for Android and iOS users in the United States. The experimental rollout is available through Google Labs, offering users a more interactive and hands-free search experience powered by the company's custom Gemini AI model.

This new feature aims to transform how people interact with Google Search by allowing verbal queries and delivering AI-generated audio responses in real time. The service is designed with mobility and multitasking in mind and is particularly helpful when users cannot type or read.

What is Search Live with AI Mode?

Search Live is a voice-first feature that Google is introducing as part of its AI-powered enhancements to search. Users can simply open the Google app, tap a “Live” icon now visible under the search bar within AI Mode, and ask their query verbally.

For example, users can say:

“What are some tips for preventing a linen dress from wrinkling in a suitcase?”

The system then replies via a spoken, AI-generated response, simulating a voice assistant but with far deeper capabilities, supported by the Gemini large language model and real-time web links for further exploration.

The voice interface also supports follow-up questions, allowing users to continue the conversation naturally. For instance, a follow-up might be:

“What should I do if it still wrinkles?”

This makes the experience feel more fluid and conversational, similar to interacting with a personal assistant.

Key features of Search Live in AI Mode

The new functionality introduces several innovations:

• Hands-free interaction: Ideal for multitasking situations like cooking, driving, or packing

• Audio replies: Real-time voice answers using Google's AI-generated speech

• Transcripts: A button allows users to switch between audio and text-based transcripts

• History access: Users can return to their earlier queries and responses through AI Mode history

• Multitasking support: Continue chats while using other apps in the background

The interface combines Google’s AI response engine with standard search capabilities, allowing a seamless blend of voice-driven discovery and traditional content browsing.

Powered by Gemini and query fan-out

Search Live runs on a customised version of Gemini, Google’s latest multimodal AI foundation model that can handle text, audio, and images. The voice capability in this use-case is specially tuned for natural interactions and rapid comprehension of verbal inputs.

It also uses a query fan-out technique. This means that a single user query is expanded into multiple related queries, each of which is answered or explored separately to present diverse perspectives and content types – such as articles, videos, or product links – enriching the results page.

Upcoming enhancements: Camera support

Google has confirmed that Search Live in AI Mode will soon support camera input, allowing the AI to:

• Understand the real-world context of what the user is looking at

• Accept image-based queries in addition to voice

• Offer visual search replies in real time

This feature will take advantage of Google’s multimodal capabilities, essentially allowing users to say things like:

“What is this plant?” or “Can you help me fix this part of the faucet?”
while pointing the camera at the object in question.

Availability and rollout

As of now, Search Live with voice support is available only in the United States, and exclusively for:

• Android and iOS users

• Who are enrolled in Google Labs

• With the latest Google app update

Users can opt into AI Mode via Google Labs, where Search Live appears as a distinct new icon under the search bar.

There is no official timeline for:

• Global rollout

• Support for non-English languages

• Integration into standard Google Search outside of Labs

However, judging by past Google experiments, features that receive positive user feedback in Labs often become mainstream within months.

How it compares with existing voice tools

Google already has Google Assistant, a widely used voice interface for smartphones and smart devices. However, Search Live differs in that:

• It is focused on AI-driven responses, not command-based interactions

• It is integrated directly into Google Search, not a separate assistant

• It includes transcripts, links, camera integration, and query chaining

• It is built on Gemini, not traditional NLP-based Assistant models

This positions Search Live as more of a smart conversational search system rather than a digital butler.

Google’s broader AI push in Search

This voice AI test is part of Google’s broader initiative to modernise Search, especially in the face of rising competition from platforms like Microsoft Bing with OpenAI integration, Perplexity AI, and Anthropic’s Claude-powered tools.

Some of the key recent AI upgrades Google has tested or launched include:

• Search Generative Experience (SGE): AI summaries at the top of search results

• AI Overviews: Automatic answers to complex questions

• NotebookLM and Bard integrations: AI-based productivity tools

• AI-generated summaries for web content and shopping comparisons

Search Live, however, is the first attempt to make search conversational and mobile-first at the same time.

Implications for content creators and publishers

For content creators, SEOs, and publishers, this innovation could shift:

• How users discover information

• Where traffic is routed (from text clicks to audio follow-ups)

• The need to optimise for spoken queries and voice search ranking

As Google increasingly summarises content via AI, maintaining visibility may require ensuring that structured data, authoritative content, and diverse media types (e.g., video, FAQs) are well implemented.

Conclusion: Search enters a new voice-led era

Search Live with AI Mode marks a significant evolution in Google’s strategy to blend AI, voice, and mobility into a seamless experience. With Gemini powering natural language understanding and response delivery, this feature may eventually redefine how people ask questions and consume information.

For now, it remains experimental and U.S.-only, but as with many of Google’s past innovations, a broader global rollout is likely if feedback remains positive.

Stay tuned for more updates as Google expands this capability — potentially adding language support, visual search, shopping assistance, and more.

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