'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
7 ways to supercharge your Google searches with AI
Those of us who've used Google Search for years know the drill. Type your search word or term at the prompt, and the results show you tens or hundreds of thousands of links to related webpages. But who has time to check out all those links? Well, now you can fine-tune and focus your Google searches with a hefty dose of artificial intelligence (AI).
Thanks to Google's latest tricks, you can ask for an AI Overview to summarize the results. You can seek out recommendations for gifts, things to do, or TV shows and movies to watch. You're able to ask for help generating code and other content.
Also: How to sign up for Google Labs - and 5 reasons why you should
Further, you can request images and other artwork. And you can use the Google Search side panel to view a summary of an article or other page displayed in your browser. All you need is a Google account and a Chrome browser. Here's how to dive in.
1. Enable AI Tools
The new AI Overview and other features are currently being rolled out for everyone. But to ensure that you already have access, you can sign up for access through Google Labs.
Also: Meet Veo, Google's most advanced text-to-video generator, unveiled at Google I/O 2024
To do this, open Chrome on your PC and browse to the Google Labs page for Search. Scroll down to the AI Experiments section and click the Turn on buttons for "AI Overviews and more" and "AI tools while browsing".
2. Get an AI Overview for any search
The first feature you'll want to try is the AI Overview. Browse to Google's search engine and enter your request in the search field. This doesn't work with all queries, so you may have to try a few different searches to find the right kind. Your best bet is to type a question instead of a word or term. In response, you should see an AI Overview at the top of the search results. If the Overview doesn't appear automatically, click the Generate button to trigger it.
Also: The 4 biggest Google Search features announced at Google I/O 2024
The Overview typically displays one or more paragraphs summarizing the information. You may see corresponding images or videos as well.
3. Check out the sources
Click the down arrow at the end of any paragraph to see the name of the source that was used. Click a link to any source to view its web page with the related information highlighted. Click the three-dot icon for a source to view further details about it.
4. Get recommendations
You can narrow your request to receive recommendations for specific items. Maybe you're looking for the right gift for someone special. Maybe you're traveling to a new city and would like a list of things to do. Maybe you're spending a quiet evening at home and want suggestions for TV shows or movies to watch.
Also: How to use Google's AI-powered NotebookLM to organize your research
In the search field, type your request based on the information you seek. In return, Google's AI Overview should offer some hopefully helpful recommendations.
5. Generate code or other content
The name of the game is generative AI, so why not ask Google to generate content for you? You can request almost any type of content -- an essay, a poem, a haiku, a story, or computer code. Enter the specifics of the content you want created and see what Google cooks up.
6. Request an image
Next, you can ask Google to generate an image. At the prompt, describe the type of image you want. You can also specify a style, such as photorealistic or anime. In response, Google displays two or more images. Click a specific image and you're able to edit it, share it, and export it.
7. Get a summary of a webpage
Finally, you can request an AI-generated summary of many articles and web pages. For this feature, browse to a page you'd like to see summarized. Click the G icon on the toolbar. After the sidebar appears, click the Generate button. You'll now see a summary of the content from the current page. You can also select any of the related searches to explore the topic.