Google is giving its AI-powered search experience a more browser-native feel by letting users explore websites side-by-side with AI Mode in Chrome.
The update means that when someone clicks a link from AI Mode on Chrome desktop, the webpage can now open next to the AI panel instead of forcing a jump away from the search context.
The goal is to make it easier to compare details, ask follow-up questions, and keep the original query in view. Google described the feature as a way to get fast, seamless help while exploring the web without switching tabs.
Google wants AI Mode to feel less like a detour
In Google’s own announcement, Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search, and Mike Torres, vice president of product for Chrome, said the new experience is designed to solve what they called the constant problem of tab hopping.
They wrote that users often begin searching in one tab, open another to follow a topic, and then have to switch back to Search to continue. The new side-by-side layout is meant to break that pattern by keeping both the webpage and AI Mode visible at once.
TechCrunch described the same feature as a new way to explore the web side-by-side with AI Mode, noting that Google is trying to preserve the context of a search while someone visits relevant pages.
The publication gave the example of shopping for a coffee maker: a user could review options in AI Mode, open a retailer’s site beside it, and then ask a question such as how easy the machine is to clean. Google said AI Mode can answer using context from the open page and from across the web.
New tab search pulls in your own open pages, images, and files
Google is not stopping at side-by-side browsing. It is also adding a way to search across the tabs a user already has open.
According to Google’s blog, users on Chrome desktop or mobile can tap the new plus menu in the search box on the New Tab page, or the existing plus menu inside AI Mode, and then select recent tabs to include as context.
The company said users can mix and match multiple tabs, images or files (like PDFs) and bring that material directly into AI Mode searches.
That makes AI Mode look more like a working assistant than a standalone search box. Google’s examples included researching local hiking trails with several related tabs already open, or studying for a statistics midterm by bringing in class notes, lecture slides, and academic papers.
In those cases, the system can use the selected tabs and files to generate a more tailored response and suggest additional websites to explore.
Google says early testers wanted fewer tab switches
The company is also leaning on early user feedback to justify the rollout.
Google said its early testers loved that they did not have to keep switching tabs to get help with a long article or video, and that having Search and the web side-by-side helped them stay focused while exploring useful pages.
That framing suggests Google sees AI Mode not just as a search feature, but as a productivity layer built into browsing itself.
Available now in the US, with wider rollout to follow
The new AI Mode updates are now available in the United States, with the company saying it plans to expand to more regions later.
Google also noted that other AI Mode tools, including Canvas and image creation, can be accessed from the same new plus menu in Chrome. The bigger message is clear: Google wants AI Mode to live alongside the web, not apart from it.
