Google is bringing connected apps to AI Mode in Search, letting you send a search straight into services like Instacart, Canva, and YouTube Music. The connections are starting to roll out in the U.S. this week.
Google announced the change in a blog post by Chips Mistry, a senior product manager on Search, and Biharck Araújo, an engineering lead on Search. App connections have been available in the Gemini app, and this brings them to Search.
What The Connections Do
Google published three examples, one for each launch app.
If you connect Instacart, AI Mode can add ingredients to your Instacart cart while you work through a grocery list. Google says you then check out on Instacart’s app or website.
With Canva connected, you can ask Canva to show template options for something like a flyer.
AI Mode can also curate a playlist and save it to YouTube Music, which Google owns. Instacart and Canva are the outside companies in the launch set.
Google didn’t name other partners, though the post says the company is working with a range of them and expects to launch more apps soon.
Connected Apps Are Not Personal Intelligence
Google uses similar language for two features that do different work.
Personal Intelligence uses your connected Google apps as context for responses. It launched in January with Gmail and Google Photos, and Google connected Calendar to it this week.
The new connections send requests out. AI Mode asks Canva for templates or puts items in your Instacart cart, on services Google doesn’t run.
What Came Before This
Google added connected apps to the Gemini app earlier this year, with OpenTable, Canva, and Instacart among the first. Google built them on Model Context Protocol, the open standard for linking AI systems to outside tools. Gemini Spark picked up Canva, Dropbox, Instacart, OpenTable, and Zillow Rentals at the end of June, along with support for custom MCP connections.
That history sits in the Gemini app. Today’s Search rollout is U.S. only at launch.
Why This Matters
Recipe sites, template sites, and music roundups all rank for the kinds of searches Google used as examples. In Google’s examples, AI Mode hands part of the task to a connected app rather than only returning links.
Nothing in Google’s post ties that set of apps to search rankings, and the post doesn’t say how an app becomes eligible. In categories where AI Mode can pass a task to a connected app, being on that list becomes a second visibility question sitting alongside whether your page ranks.
Looking Ahead
The next few launches will show which categories Google is adding connected actions to, and that list is worth watching more than any single integration.
Google hasn’t publicly explained, as of publication, how a company joins that set, or whether a broader integration route is coming. Those details will show whether you can put yourself forward, or wait for Google to get to your category.