visibian.HQ
visibian.com

Research30 Oct 2026By Visibian Research

Google opens AI Mode and Gemini to company apps: what brands can do

On 28 October Google opened a preview that lets a business build an app for AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app. How it works, and what a brand can do.

On 28 October Google opened a preview of its Connected Apps Platform. It lets a business build an app that works inside AI Mode in Google Search, inside the Gemini app, or both (Google, 28 October). A person links the app to their account and then uses it in the conversation. In AI Mode, Google's examples are adding groceries to an Instacart cart, getting design templates from Canva and saving a playlist to YouTube Music (Google, 16 July).

Google says more than 50 connected apps are live across Search and Gemini. Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton work in Gemini now and come to Search in the coming weeks, and Calm is coming to both. In Search, connected apps run in AI Mode in the US. Google is letting developers in step by step and has not given a date for everyone.

Figure 1How a company's app gets into AI Mode and Gemini
  1. ApplySign up for the preview. Google is opening access in phases.
  2. BuildConnect the app through MCP, from a server online or from an Android app.
  3. TestRegister the app and test it in Google Connected Console.
  4. Choose wherePick Search, the Gemini app or both. Google then reviews the app.
  5. WatchAfter launch, see traffic, speed and errors, and show a verified logo.
From Google, 28 October, and Google's Connected Apps Platform documentation, checked 29 October 2026.

MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard for connecting AI assistants to other software, published by Anthropic in November 2024 (Anthropic). Apps in ChatGPT are built on it too (OpenAI). Google has not said how AI Mode or Gemini decides when to offer an app, or which one when several could help.

What a brand can do now

  1. Decide whether people would use you inside a conversation. The apps so far do things: order, book, plan, design, check an account. If people come to you to get something done, an app may suit you. If they come to read, your web pages still do that job.
  2. Talk to your developers about MCP. Google's platform and apps in ChatGPT both use it, so work for one can carry over to the other.
  3. Apply for the preview from Google's Connected Apps Platform page. Plan for sign-in too: the app acts for each person through their own account. People link it with OAuth, the usual way of letting one service use another.
  4. Try the apps that are live. In the US, use Instacart or Canva in AI Mode to see how an app appears in an answer.
  5. Keep your web pages in order. For everyone who has not linked your app, AI Mode and Gemini still answer from the pages they read. See how each assistant finds and credits websites.

The big changes in AI search since 2022 are in our AI search timeline.