Google has overhauled its Search product, making the Gemini 3.5 Flash model the new default in AI Mode for users worldwide. The changes, announced at the company's I/O 2026 developer conference and set out in a Search blog post on 19 May 2026, also cover a redesigned search box, conversational follow-ups inside AI Overviews, and a set of agents that act on a user's behalf. Some features are live now; others are scheduled for later in the year.
Gemini 3.5 Flash becomes the default
AI Mode, Google's AI-generated search experience, now runs on Gemini 3.5 Flash by default for everyone globally. Google describes the model as offering "sustained frontier performance for agents and coding", and positions it as the first in a series that pairs reasoning with the ability to take actions. The upgrade applies to AI Mode across all countries and languages where it is available.
A redesigned search box
Google called the change the biggest upgrade to the search box in more than 25 years. The box now expands dynamically and accepts multimodal input, including text, images, files, videos and open Chrome tabs, and offers AI-generated suggestions that go beyond traditional autocomplete. Google said the redesign is rolling out from launch across all countries and languages that have AI Mode.
Separately, AI Overviews — the summaries that appear above standard results — now support follow-up questions. Google said this conversational format is live on desktop and mobile worldwide, keeping context across a series of related queries while continuing to surface links.
Agents move into Search
Several of the new features are agentic, meaning they carry out tasks rather than only returning results. Information agents will monitor the web around the clock for changes related to a user's question — across blogs, news sites, social posts and real-time finance, shopping and sports data — and send back a synthesised update. Google said these will launch first for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in summer 2026.
Booking agents, which arrange appointments and reservations, are being expanded to local experiences, services, home repair, beauty and pet care, with the ability to place direct phone calls to businesses in selected categories. Google said this is scheduled for a United States rollout in summer 2026. A generative interface that builds tables, graphs, simulations and small dashboards on demand is planned for the same window, free for all users, with custom builds reaching Pro and Ultra subscribers in the United States first.
What is live and what is coming
- Live now: Gemini 3.5 Flash as the default in AI Mode, the redesigned search box, and follow-ups in AI Overviews.
- Summer 2026: information agents and custom generative dashboards for AI Pro and Ultra subscribers.
- Summer 2026, United States: expanded booking agents, plus a free generative interface for all users.
Scale and measurement
Google reported that AI Mode has passed one billion monthly users roughly a year after launch, with queries "more than doubling every quarter" since. The company also said its Personal Intelligence features, which can connect to apps such as Gmail, Google Photos and Google Calendar, are expanding to nearly 200 countries and 98 languages without a subscription.
Search Engine Journal reported further engagement figures attributed to Google, including that AI Mode queries run around three times longer than traditional searches and that a rising share use multimodal input. Google has not made most of these metrics available in its free webmaster tools, a gap that several SEO practitioners noted in response to the announcements.
The rollout timing leaves several questions open. Google has given a summer 2026 window for its agentic features rather than firm dates, and has not set out how the shift towards AI Mode and agent-driven results will change the traffic that publishers receive from Search. A separate May 2026 core update, which began rolling out on 21 May 2026 and is expected to take about two weeks, is running independently of the I/O changes.
