Google AI Mode comes to SA, Kenya, Nigeria

Google has launched AI Mode in Search for users in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria. The feature helps users tackle complex, multi-part questions with more intuitive responses, multimodal inputs, and deeper ways to explore topics.

AI Mode was initially available only in the United States in June, followed by India and the United Kingdom in July. It has now been rolled out globally, to 180 countries.

AI Mode enables users to ask nuanced and exploratory questions that would previously require multiple searches. Powered by a custom version of Google’s latest Gemini 2.5 model, AI Mode delivers advanced reasoning and context understanding to Search.

“We’re incredibly excited to bring AI Mode to our users in the region,” said Alex Okosi, managing director of Google Africa. “We know that people in this region are curious and have complex questions about everything from planning a trip to understanding a new concept.

“With AI Mode, Google is reimagining the Search experience. Users will not only find the information they need more easily but will also be empowered to explore a wider range of content from across the web.”

Advanced reasoning and multimodal inputs

AI Mode is useful for longer, more detailed queries. A key feature of the mode is advanced reasoning, which uses a query fan-out technique to break down a user’s question into subtopics and simultaneously search a multitude of queries on their behalf. This allows for a deeper dive into the web, uncovering hyper-relevant content. AI Mode is designed to be multimodal, enabling users to interact in a natural way through text, voice, or images.

To ask questions using voice or camera, users can tap the microphone icon or upload a photo. Google says a core principle of AI Mode is to help users find the best of the web. The AI-powered response includes prominent links to web sources, expanding the types of questions people can ask and opening new opportunities for content discovery.

Balancing AI with the open web

Google says it remains committed to supporting the open web and ensuring that its AI-powered features are rooted in its core quality and ranking systems. With AI Mode, web links are displayed, ensuring users can click through to discover more.

Google says data from AI Overviews shows that AI-powered results lead users to visit a greater diversity of websites and spend more time engaging with them. While AI Mode aims to provide a reliable AI-powered response, in cases where confidence is not high, the system will default to a set of traditional web search results.