Search Reinvented: Google’s Web Guide Promises ‘More Powerful Search Capabilities’

Google has introduced Web Guide, a new experiment in Search Labs that promises “more powerful search capabilities” by helping users find information that is more relevant and easier to explore.

According to Google, the feature is designed to surface information more effectively and support deeper discovery. Web Guide is part of the company’s ongoing efforts to modernize its products and services.

Built for broad, open-ended questions

Web Guide is built for open-ended and multi-part queries spanning several topics. This includes anything from travel planning and personal projects to complex family or lifestyle questions.

Instead of returning a simple list of links, it uses artificial intelligence (AI) to organize results into distinct groups based on different aspects of the question. The goal is to simplify scanning and allow users to explore parts that are most relevant to the search.

Google said that Web Guide uses a version of its Gemini model to understand both the query and the web content it surfaces. It then pulls in related searches and arranges them in a way that is intended to be more helpful than traditional rankings.

Users can try the feature by opting into Search Labs and accessing it through the Web tab. The AI giant says it may expand Web Guide to other areas of Search over time, depending on feedback.

Major intelligence upgrades to the Google ecosystem

Web Guide marks one piece of a broader transformation underway within Google’s ecosystem, as it integrates AI more deeply into how its products function and connect.

In May, Search began testing a new capability that allows it to contact local businesses for pricing and availability — shifting it from a tool for finding information to one that can act on users’ behalf. 

Plus, AI-powered features such as Gemini 2.5 Pro and Deep Search support complex questions by assembling long-form, cited content for more demanding queries. 

Security is also now embedded across key services. Advanced classifiers in Search now block 20 times more fraudulent pages than before, reducing impersonation and fake service results by over 70%. On Chrome and Android, on-device intelligence like Gemini Nano flags malicious sites, suspicious messages, and questionable app activity in real time.

Can Google keep users from searching somewhere else?

Generative AI search is gaining momentum, especially among Gen Z. GWI reports that up to 31% of their searches now happen on platforms like ChatGPT. With this popular AI tool attracting hundreds of millions of users weekly, Google faces a new kind of competition — not from another search engine, but from an entirely new way of searching.

Innovations like Web Guide show that Google is paying attention. But can adjusting how results are organized and leaning into how people phrase their queries keep users from going elsewhere? Or is the search habit already starting to break?

From visibility to viability, explore how AI-generated news snippets might be reshaping the rules for content creators and publishers alike.
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