Google updates Chrome AI Mode with side by side source links

In short: Google updated AI Mode in Chrome so you can open source links next to the chat and ask questions using your open browser tabs.

What happened

Google is upgrading AI Mode, its chat-style search tool that appears in a panel on the left side of Google Search. When you click a source link inside AI Mode, it no longer has to open a new tab.

Instead, the source page can open side by side with the AI chat on the same screen. This lets you read the website while also asking follow-up questions about what you are looking at, like having the article open while you talk to a helper in the next window.

Google is also adding a new way for AI Mode to use information from pages you already have open. In Chrome on desktop and mobile, you can press a plus button in AI Mode or in Google’s search box and choose from a list of your recent tabs. AI Mode will then answer based on those selected tabs, without you needing to copy and paste links. Google says you can also add images or files to these searches.

The company says these updates are available now for users in the US. A wider rollout to other countries is planned “soon.”

Why it matters

For everyday browsing, this could make it faster to check where an AI answer came from and to compare it with the original page. It also encourages people to look at the source, which is important as publishers and other websites have raised concerns that AI search features can reduce visits to their pages.

Source: The Verge AI