Google makes Search proactive with Gemini 3.5 Flash and new 'Search agents'

Google is remaking Search into a more agentic AI service, moving new model capabilities and task-taking behavior into the core search experience rather than a separate chatbot. At Google I/O on May 19, the company said Gemini 3.5 Flash is now the default model in Search AI Mode globally, starting Tuesday, and that a redesigned “intelligent AI-powered Search box” is beginning to roll out in all countries and languages where AI Mode is available.

The practical shift is that Search is being positioned to do more than generate summaries. Google said it is introducing “Search agents” that can monitor information in the background, track fresh data across the web — including news, blogs, social posts, and real-time finance, shopping and sports information — and send users synthesized updates. In the same push, Google said Search will increasingly complete tasks, including placing calls to businesses and helping make bookings in some categories.

Google framed the move as a foundational overhaul. In a May 19 blog post, “A new era for AI Search,” Elizabeth Reid, Google’s vice president of Search, wrote: “We’re bringing our advanced model capabilities to Search with new AI features, enabling you to use agents just by asking a question.” Google also described the redesign as “the biggest upgrade [to the Search box] in over 25 years.”

The rollout is staggered. Gemini 3.5 Flash became the default in AI Mode on May 19, and the redesigned search box starts rolling out Tuesday globally wherever AI Mode is already offered. The new information-monitoring agents are slated to launch first this summer for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. Google also said Search will gain agentic coding features this summer that can generate user interfaces, visual tools, simulations, and small apps or dashboards inside Search; those will arrive first for Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S. Separately, Google said it is expanding booking features so users can ask Search to call businesses on their behalf in selected categories including home repair, beauty and pet care. Those calling and booking features are set to roll out to everyone in the U.S. this summer.

Google also said it is expanding Personal Intelligence in AI Mode to more people in nearly 200 countries and territories across 98 languages, with no subscription required. The feature lets users securely connect apps including Gmail and Google Photos, with Google Calendar to follow soon. Even as Search adds AI Overviews, conversational follow-up questions and persistent context, Google said users “will continue to get a range of results from Search, just like you do today.”

The company also used the announcement to underscore the scale of the shift. Google said AI Mode has surpassed 1 billion monthly users, a company-reported figure, and that queries in the product have more than doubled every quarter since launch. Those numbers were not independently verified.

The announcement marks the latest step in a multiyear effort to push generative AI deeper into Search. Google first previewed its Search Generative Experience, or SGE, at I/O 2023, then evolved that work into AI Overviews in 2024. It introduced a dedicated AI Mode for Search in 2025. This week’s changes go further, shifting Search from an engine that returns links and AI-written answers toward one that can proactively watch for information and complete tasks inside the same interface.

That matters because Search remains central both to Google’s business and to how people navigate the web. As AI answer features have expanded, publisher groups and traffic-measurement firms have reported declines in search referrals, while Google has argued that AI responses can reduce low-value “bounce clicks” that do not help users or websites much. Major changes to how Search intermediates traffic, answers and commercial actions may also draw added attention as Google continues to face U.S. antitrust litigation and appeals over its search business. In Reid’s words, “This is the next chapter of Google Search: intelligent AI that puts the world’s information to work for you.”