Google has further expanded its AI search strategy by including deep search in its Gemini 2.5 Pro and its long-standing market-dominated Google search platform. The move comes as it continues to face tough competition with Openai, which introduced ChatGpt agents on Thursday.
On July 16, the tech giant revealed that Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers can choose the Gemini 2.5 Pro multimodal model from the drop-down menu in the AI mode tab in Search. Subscribers now have access to in-depth research so that they can access Deep Search, a highly advanced tool from Google.
Google is also bringing new agent features into search. AI-driven calls to specific local businesses. Users can call searches to ask them to get pricing and availability. The Business Call feature is now available to all search users. Automated voice generated by the Google Duplex platform notifies businesses that an AI system is calling, and users receive information per text. According to Google, humans intervene in the process when necessary.
The new capabilities of AI modes and search are part of the continuous improvements of search strategies as Google-generated AI (Genai) Pioneer Openai and AI search vendor confusing, and are trying to disrupt the advantages of cloud providers. It also arrives in a market where users rely on large language models (LLMs) such as Openai's ChatGpt to answer questions rather than using Google as their main tool for search.
“We'll become increasingly comfortable with AI searching for us besides doing our search,” says Nikhil Lai, research analyst at Forrester.
A day after the Google release, Openai launched its ChatGpt agent. This allows users to ask them to manage tasks like personal assistants, such as planning and purchasing breakfast ingredients, analyzing competitors, booking reservations, and creating slide decks. ChatGPT also has a visual browser that interacts with the web via a graphical UI, and a text-based browser for simpler, inference-based web questions. Users can also connect it to Gmail, Github, or log in to any website and instruct them to dig deeper and wider.
If the Openai agent works as advertised, it will realize some of the possibilities that Apple, for example, flaunted when introducing Apple Intelligence over a year ago. Most of these agent functions are not yet working, and it is unclear when they will operate.
Trust and consistency
As AI vendors and confusion continue to slowly erode, ChatGpt agents represent the clear momentum of OpenAI. However, Google is still a major trusted resource, and when many users generate responses that seem to be wrong or questionable, they will return to search giants.
“Trust continues to be Google's superpower,” says Lai.
Google also has a better reputation among businesses for consistency with Gemini Genai products than Perplexity and Openai in terms of ensuring that technology is always running the same way regardless of cost, says Bradley Shimmin, an analyst at Futurum Group.
“They have a very generous free layer to seduce developers to buy into Google Cloud Platform and put gravity into that platform. When you do that, it's impressive that they provide high quality consistency without a lot of latency,” Simin said. He says Google's ultimate goal is because it's where you make money. Therefore, to seduce enterprise business users, they must match AI mode.
“Google expects high quality and customer engagement in AI mode,” he said. He added that users will be more involved in AI mode with the removal of sponsored ad content currently seen at Google's top of traditional search.
The gap between calling business and landfilling
Another feature that highlights AI mode is the business call feature.
“The new business call feature accelerates the path to agent search and is a way for Google to trust users to act on Google's behalf,” says Lai. He added that Business Call is searching for current prices only, but expects to be able to shop on behalf of users soon.
“That's really going to be a Jack Point for Google,” said Rai, referring to the point he says. “This is a step in that direction to mitigate the risk of counterparties between merchants and consumers and to make consumers more comfortable with Google acting on their behalf.”
Google has search expertise and legacy and is continuously innovating in AI mode, but there is still a gap that puts the confusion with Openai slightly ahead of the search giant in some areas.
One area where the search giant appears to be behind is that it has yet to find a way to develop shopping features so that users can shop directly on Google, Lai said. Meanwhile, Openai has partnered with Shopify, allowing you to bring Genai vendors closer than ever before and provide shopping capabilities directly from ChatGpt.
Openai is also reportedly working on a payment checkout system within the AI chatbot.
Meanwhile, French AI startup Mistral introduced new features to its LE Chat Chatbot on Thursday. The vendor has introduced a deep search mode that provides fast, structured research reports on complex topics, Mistral said. LeChat users can also try out Mistral's new voice model Voxtral while editing images directly in Le Chat. Other new features include the ability to organize multilingual reasoning and conversations.
Esther Shittu is an Informa TechTarget News Writer and Podcast host that covers AI software and systems.
