Google Initiates Internal "Dogfooding" for Advanced Search Feature

Google has officially begun the internal testing phase for a significant evolution of its core product: Search AI Mode. According to internal communications and reports from verified sources, Google employees are currently "dogfooding"—a tech industry term for using one's own product to test it before public release—this new capability. This move signals a decisive shift from the static, list-based search results of the past two decades toward a fully interactive, reasoning-based search experience designed to rival emerging competitors like OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search and Perplexity.

The initiative represents more than just an iterative update; it is a fundamental architectural divergence. While the existing AI Overviews feature injects summaries into standard search results, AI Mode is designed as a standalone, persistent environment tailored for complex, open-ended, and exploratory questions.

Unpacking the "AI Mode" Experience

The core promise of AI Mode is to transform Google Search from a retrieval engine into a research partner. Internal documents describe the feature as a tool that "intelligently researches for you," organizing vast amounts of information into easy-to-digest breakdowns.

Unlike standard search, which excels at navigational queries (like finding a website) or transactional queries (like buying a product), AI Mode is engineered for informational depth. It utilizes a custom version of Google's Gemini 2.0 model, which boasts advanced reasoning and thinking capabilities. This allows the system to handle multi-step logic that would typically stump traditional algorithms.

For instance, one of the example queries circulated internally illustrates this capacity for nuance: "How many boxes of spaghetti should I buy to feed 6 adults and 10 children, and have enough for seconds?" A standard search might return a recipe blog or a generic serving size chart. AI Mode, however, can calculate the total portions required, adjust for the different appetites of adults versus children, factor in the "seconds," and output a specific purchasing recommendation, potentially even differentiating between box sizes.

Distinct Features and Interface

The user interface for AI Mode is reported to be a significant departure from the classic "ten blue links." Early leaks suggest a chat-centric interface where the AI-generated response dominates the screen.

• Conversational Flow: Users can ask follow-up questions via a text box at the bottom, maintaining context throughout the session.
• Source Integration: To maintain trust and drive traffic, the interface includes a dedicated module or card system that links to the source material used to generate the answer.
• Dedicated Access: AI Mode is expected to appear as a specific tab or "chip" alongside familiar filters like Images, News, and Shopping, making it an opt-in experience rather than a forced default.

Comparative Analysis: AI Overviews vs. AI Mode

To understand Google's strategy, it is crucial to differentiate this new mode from the currently available AI Overviews. While both utilize generative AI, they serve fundamentally different user intents.

Table: Strategic Differences Between AI Overviews and AI Mode

The Competitive Landscape

The development of AI Mode is a direct response to the shifting dynamics of the search market. Competitors have successfully carved out a niche by offering "answer engines" that prioritize synthesis over referral.

Perplexity AI and ChatGPT Search have demonstrated that a segment of users prefers a direct answer to a list of links, particularly for complex queries. By launching AI Mode, Google is effectively protecting its dominance by offering a native solution that negates the need for users to switch platforms for deep research tasks.

However, this shift raises critical questions for the digital ecosystem. Publishers and content creators have long relied on Google's referral traffic. While AI Mode includes source links, the "zero-click" nature of a comprehensive AI answer could further reduce click-through rates for informational websites. Google's implementation of source modules will be scrutinized heavily by the SEO community to see if it strikes a viable balance between user utility and publisher health.

Powered by Gemini 2.0

The "brain" behind AI Mode is reported to be a custom iteration of Gemini 2.0. This model generation is characterized by improved "thinking" time—the ability to pause and process a chain of thought before outputting an answer. This aligns with the broader industry trend towards reasoning models (similar to OpenAI's o1 series), which trade split-second speed for higher accuracy and logical coherence in complex tasks.

This technological backbone ensures that AI Mode is not just hallucinating plausible-sounding text but is grounding its responses in retrieved facts, verifying internal logic, and structuring the output for maximum readability.

Outlook and Release Expectations

As the feature is currently in the "dogfooding" stage, a public rollout is likely on the horizon, though no official date has been confirmed. Historically, features move from internal testing to public labs (such as Google Labs) within a few months.

For the AI industry, this marks a maturing of generative search. We are moving past the novelty phase of chatbots into an era where AI is integrated into the fundamental infrastructure of the web's most-used tool. Creati.ai will continue to monitor the performance of AI Mode as it potentially reshapes SEO strategies, user behavior, and the very nature of online inquiry.