Google has launched Search Live with voice-input, a two-way conversational query function for exploring online resources. Presently available via the Google app for Android and iOS to U.S. users enrolled in Google Labs’ AI Mode experiment, Search Live is designed to handle complex, multi-part questions. Google suggests the new feature is “perfect for when you’re on the go or multitasking, like if you’re packing for a trip.” The discursive voice feature follows Google’s general rollout of AI Mode, recently launched to compete against products such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT Search and Perplexity AI.

“Users will be able to access the feature by opening the Google app and tapping the new ‘Live’ icon to ask their question aloud,” explains TechCrunch, adding that after they hear  the AI-generated audio response “they can follow up with another question.”

In a blog post, Google explains that in preparing for a trip, “verbally ask your question, like, ‘What are some tips for preventing a linen dress from wrinkling in a suitcase?’” You can build on that thought by following up with “What should I do if it still wrinkles?” In addition to the generative AI voice response, “links will appear onscreen so you can dig deeper with content from the Web,” Google notes.

“Because Search Live works in the background, you can continue the conversation while in another app,” TechCrunch adds, pointing out that a “transcript” button offers the option of viewing a text response while continuing to type questions. “You can also revisit a Search Live response by navigating to your AI Mode history,” according to TechCrunch.

A CNET writer reports having “a lively chat with Search Live about war, mortgage rates and more while testing out this new conversational Google function.” You can interrupt the audio anytime to request clarification or digress to a tangent. “Search Live takes a couple of seconds to respond — once it has, it will go on mute if you don’t speak again when it’s finished.”

Because Search Live lives in the Google app for smartphones, “it takes things a step further by giving you the ability to point your camera at something and ask questions about it out loud,” The Verge explains. It “currently doesn’t support camera-sharing, but Google plans to add the capability in the ‘coming months.’”

According to eMarketer, conversational search as it relates to “conversational ads” was a topic of interest among advertising executives attending the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity this month.

Related:
Google Is Testing ‘Hosted’ GenAI Audio Summaries in Search, ETCentric, 6/17/25