Google Gemini originally focused on integrating AI into web searches, but the AI chatbot now offers far more. It performs capably across complex reasoning, creative writing, deep research, file processing, video generation, and web search tasks, while leading the pack in image editing and generation. Gemini also benefits from bundled cloud storage and close integrations with flagship Google apps. Better yet, its free version is comprehensive enough that you likely won't feel the need to spring for a paid plan. Gemini’s robust data collection can feel invasive, and, like all chatbots, it sometimes gets things wrong. But thanks to its seamless connection with core Google apps and top-notch response quality, Gemini is our Editors' Choice winner among AI chatbots. 

What Is Gemini?

Gemini is an AI chatbot you can talk to via text or your voice, similar to ChatGPT or Copilot. You can use Gemini to analyze documents, answer questions, generate images and videos, pen creative writing, research, search the web, and solve math problems, among many other things. Think of Gemini as an advanced virtual assistant.

Gemini also offers a range of features for coders, including Gemini Code Assist and the Jules asynchronous coding agent. You can use Gemini to do everything from creating a custom WordPress plug-in to debugging troublesome code. These features are outside the scope of this review, but there are ways you can test Gemini’s coding ability for yourself.

I find AI chatbots like Gemini most useful for answering questions and conducting research. Googling something can take longer than simply asking Gemini, for example. I prefer to use Gemini’s deep research as my starting point for solving more complex problems, rather than spending an hour or two combing through search results.

However, it’s important to remember that chatbots are fallible. Gemini will get things wrong, so you simply can’t trust everything it says. Chatbots are trustworthy enough when it comes to satisfying idle curiosities or troubleshooting, but make sure you double-check whatever you learn from Gemini against a reputable source for anything serious.

How Does Gemini Work?

At its core, Gemini receives prompts and returns responses. It's powered by large language models (LLMs) composed of artificial neural networks trained on vast datasets. These models provide Gemini with access to data on every imaginable topic, and it can also search the internet for up-to-date information.

When you work out at the gym, you train yourself to get stronger, and Gemini works similarly. By using Gemini, you help train its underlying models. Over time, even without new features or models, Gemini can return more accurate responses and make fewer mistakes. This is a gradual process, however.

Gemini uses two primary lines of models: Flash and Pro. Gemini’s Flash line is its conversational, flagship line. The Pro line specializes in complex reasoning, making it ideal for coding, math, and science. Gemini’s newest line of models is the 3 series, including 3 Flash and 3 Pro, which is what my testing focuses on.

For image generation, Gemini has Nano Banana. Nano Banana is a nickname for the 2.5 Flash Image model, while Nano Banana Pro is another name for the 3 Pro Image model. You can think of Nano Banana as an extension of Gemini's mainline Flash and Pro models. I used Nano Banana Pro for the image generation tests in this review.

Plans and Pricing: The Best Value Chatbot

You can use Gemini for free, but premium plans unlock more features.

Free users get access to the 3 Flash model and limited access to the 3 Pro model. Voice chat, called Gemini Live, is freely available, and you also get limited use of deep research as well as Flow, Gemini’s filmmaking-focused video generation tool that uses Veo 3.1. Limited access to Gemini’s Whisk animation tool, Gemini’s NotebookLM research and studying tool, and 15GB of Google Drive cloud storage round out the offerings. As you might expect, premium plans give you access to more features and expand usage limits.

The AI Plus tier ($7.99 per month) gives you higher usage limits than the free tier and unlocks Gemini integrations with Chrome and Workspace apps, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and more. It also increases your Google Drive cloud storage to 200GB.

The AI Pro tier ($19.99 per month), which offers a one-month trial, gives you even higher usage limits across the board. Google Drive cloud storage increases to 2TB, and you get access to Deep Search in Google Search’s AI Mode, as well as the opportunity to try out Google Search’s latest features.

Gemini’s AI Ultra plan ($249.99 per month) has everything in the AI Pro plan, but it increases usage limits to the max and adds in a couple of new features: 30TB of Google Drive cloud storage, access to cutting-edge Gemini features (such as Deep Think mode and Gemini Agent), and YouTube Premium. Considering this plan's prohibitive cost, I recommend AI Plus or AI Pro if you are interested in a premium Gemini plan. For this review, I tested the AI Pro and AI Ultra tiers.

If you sign up for a Google One subscription, a service that primarily focuses on providing cloud storage, you can get the features of Gemini AI Plus with 2TB of cloud storage (the same amount you get with Gemini AI Pro) for $9.99 per month. In effect, you can just pay an extra $2 per month over what Gemini AI Plus costs to go from 200GB to 2TB of cloud storage. This also saves you $10 per month versus subscribing to Gemini AI Pro if all you wanted was more cloud storage.

It's outside the scope of this review, but premium Gemini plans get you a variety of coding-focused features, such as the AI coding agent, Jules, and higher daily request limits in Gemini Code Assist. Think of Jules like a tool you can use to code for you, whereas Code Assist helps you code yourself. You can use Code Assist for free, just with lower request limits.

Most major chatbots charge around $20 per month for their introductory premium plans, including Claude ($17) and Perplexity ($17). Both Gemini ($8) and Copilot ($10) start lower and offer significantly more features, including integrations with Google and Microsoft 365 apps, respectively. ChatGPT also starts at $8 per month, but it doesn’t offer anywhere nearly as many features. Although Gemini and Copilot are similar in many ways, Gemini costs less, offers excellent video generation features that Copilot doesn’t, and is more generous with cloud storage, so it’s the best value among chatbots.

Where Is Gemini Available?

Gemini is accessible on the web and via mobile apps (Apple and Android). Google Search also has a range of Gemini-powered AI functionality, including AI overviews and Search’s AI mode. The Google app for Windows isn't just about Gemini, but you can use AI Mode when searching to ask questions and find links. Chrome also has a Gemini integration (which I discuss later). As mentioned, you can use Gemini in Google apps, including Calendar, Docs, Drive, Gmail, Maps, Keep, Photos, Sheets, and YouTube Music. 

Other services and sites use Gemini’s models, like Perplexity, but those aren’t part of the official Gemini package that Google develops, operates, and owns. You can also expect to see Gemini’s models appear in more places over time, such as with Siri, which already has the ability to tap into ChatGPT. Stick with Google’s first-party apps or web client if you want Gemini’s full set of features.

Ease of Use and Interface: It's Simple to Get Started

Gemini doesn’t require an account, but you must sign in to change models, use deep research, save your chats, and more. I recommend doing so.

The interface is uncluttered, and your dashboard is pretty much just an Ask Gemini text field. Recent chats appear on the left-hand sidebar, and a drop-down menu at the top of the screen lets you change the model. Gemini puts clickable sample prompts above the central field to help give you an idea of what it can do, which I appreciate.

(Credit: Google/PCMag)

From your dashboard, you can ask Gemini anything, and responses are almost always quick, especially if they involve image generation. After you receive a response, you can choose to copy, listen to, regenerate, or share it using the buttons underneath the response. Responses sometimes hang, forcing you to ask your question again, but this also happens with ChatGPT and Copilot. 

Whereas ChatGPT is more conversational, Gemini is more direct and somewhat formal. You can’t personalize Gemini as much as you can ChatGPT, but you can save certain information about yourself that Gemini will always remember. ChatGPT can be annoying at times, but I generally prefer its tone to Gemini's.

Gemini can remember details about your past conversations, like Copilot, but its memory isn’t quite as robust as ChatGPT’s. For example, if you ask Gemini what the first message you ever sent it was, it can’t answer, but if you ask ChatGPT the same question, it complies. However, Gemini also has Personal Intelligence. Personal Intelligence allows you to connect various Google apps to Gemini, giving it a storehouse of information to pull from as needed. For example, if you connect Google Photos to Gemini, you can ask the chatbot for your license plate number, and it can automatically source that information from a photo.

Gemini also offers Project Mariner, exclusive to AI Ultra users. Mariner is an AI agent that performs tasks on your behalf, such as finding jobs or locating an apartment. When you assign a task to Mariner, a window opens that lets you observe Mariner complete the task by piloting a virtual web browser. In my case, I watched Mariner search for jobs on an instance of Google Chrome. However, the first result it selected was Indeed, which presented it with a Cloudflare verification that it could not pass, even when I took control.

Voice Chat: Relatively Lifelike

On the web interface, the microphone icon to the right of the text field enables speech-to-text input, but that’s not the same as Gemini’s voice mode, Gemini Live. Like ChatGPT’s voice mode or Copilot Voice, you can choose between different lifelike voices and simply talk to Gemini naturally. Currently, Gemini Live is available only on Gemini's mobile apps and in Chrome, unlike ChatGPT and Copilot, which support voice chat on the web.

Gemini Live supports both camera and screen sharing, allowing you to discuss something happening on your phone or what's in front of you in real life. This functionality is dependent on Gemini’s image recognition capabilities, which are generally competent, making the feature potentially useful. However, you could simply send a Gemini a picture alongside a question, making it a more time-saving approach than anything else.

Gemini's voices sound reasonably human, and I didn't experience any distortion during testing, but they still don't quite escape the uncanny valley. Their cadence and intonation are just robotic enough that you never feel like you're talking to a real person, but they're close enough to be a good approximation. This puts Gemini Live roughly on par with ChatGPT and Copilot, and behind services such as Sesame (which won a Technical Excellence award for the quality of its AI voice chat).

Web Search: Competent Responses

Every chatbot searches the web. As you might expect, Gemini (3 Fast), ChatGPT (GPT-5.2 Instant), and Copilot (Quick Response) all had little trouble answering questions on everything from the latest details on Trump and Greenland to if production has already begun on the second season of Pluribus. Gemini and ChatGPT were even able to tell me what the Warframe Incarnon weapon rotation was at the time of writing, which most chatbots (including Copilot) can’t manage to get right.

Overall, the details and response length are similar across all three chatbots. Gemini and ChatGPT generate responses at a similar pace, and both outpace Copilot. I appreciate how Gemini highlights relevant portions of text when you hover over a linked source, unlike ChatGPT, which doesn’t, and unlike Copilot, which does. On the other hand, ChatGPT and Copilot show much more information when you hover over a link than Gemini. Gemini and Copilot also lack the clickable article tiles for further reading that ChatGPT includes in responses.

Gemini can include images in its responses, but it doesn’t do so automatically, unlike ChatGPT and Copilot, which makes its responses less engaging overall. Although all three chatbots include tables in responses as needed, Gemini and Copilot do so more often, which often results in a cleaner presentation of information.

Gemini in Google Search: Deep Search Is Intriguing

AI Overviews are arguably the biggest Gemini feature in Google Search. When you search, Google sometimes displays an AI overview of your search results at the top of the page. This can be incredibly useful, but AI Overviews don't show up as often as Copilot’s equivalent feature in Bing. Furthermore, Copilot’s summaries in Bing have a cleaner interface, which makes it easier to connect claims to evidence at a glance.

You can also search the web with AI Mode on Google’s regular search page, which Gemini powers. This feature puts an AI Mode button on the right side of Google’s central search field, and clicking it opens a new interface where you can ask questions you want Gemini to answer based on web results. Answers are, as expected, in line with what you get by asking Gemini directly, but I prefer some elements of the AI mode interface.

(Credit: Google/PCMag)

For one, related article tiles appear on the right, and AI Mode includes relevant images in responses, like ChatGPT and Copilot. It also takes only a single click to pull up a Google search or image search of your query, which is convenient. Sources are clickable marks at the end of sentences that pop out connected articles in a sidebar on the right and highlight relevant portions of the response, similar to Copilot in Bing. Unlike Copilot in Bing, I appreciate that AI Mode lets me switch models and upload files, which makes it feel more like an extension of Gemini than a lesser version.

AI Mode also features Deep Search, which falls between web search and deep research. If you toggle Deep Search on, Gemini asks you some follow-up questions, as ChatGPT does before doing deep research, and then scours the web to respond to your prompt, accessing a truly mind-numbing amount of sites (I’ve seen it consult over 1,000). These responses are shorter than the lengthy reports of deep research, and they don’t take quite as long to generate. These two features overlap meaningfully, but Deep Search is preferable when you need significant sourcing without a big report, such as when you want a list of the best espresso machines under $500.

Lastly, AI Mode has some agentic functionality, though it’s currently an experiment at Google Search Lab. This feature, for now, focuses on bookings and reservations. I was able to ask Gemini in AI Mode to find open reservations at a nearby restaurant, and it let me book a table directly via OpenTable. Although it works as described, it’s more of a subtle time-saver than genuinely new functionality.

Shopping With Gemini: The Try-On Tool Is Unique

Like ChatGPT, Gemini can help you shop. If you prompt it for buying advice, Gemini provides clickable Google Shopping product tiles with user reviews, links to retailers, price tracking, and more. This is undeniably convenient, but all of the above information is just a Google search away, too.

Shopping results don't disappoint, but they don’t impress, either. When I asked Gemini to recommend recent laptops to buy, it didn’t offer terrible suggestions, but it also didn’t recommend many of the machines I expected to see. Do additional research if you are shopping for products that cost a considerable amount of money.

The most interesting tool Gemini has for shopping is Try-On. It lets you upload a picture of yourself, select a clothing item, and generate an image of you in that clothing item. Try-On is a bit finicky about the kind of picture it wants from you and whether it can generate an image of you in every clothing item you select, but it generally works as advertised. That said, its usefulness is limited because it’s only for evaluating look, not fit. Gemini assumes everything fits perfectly, which isn’t realistic.

Deep Research: Generate Reports On Anything

Deep research is my favorite feature of AI chatbots. It lets you ask a question or suggest a topic for Gemini to research and create a report on. These reports can run dozens of pages and cite over a hundred sources, depending on the prompt. You won’t have to wait too long for a report, either, as most generate in around 10 minutes.

I used Gemini, ChatGPT, and Copilot to research a variety of topics, including a comparison of two espresso machines, a gear progression guide for my Ironman account in Old School RuneScape, which hairstyling products would be a good fit for my hair, and more. 

Gemini and ChatGPT routinely took longer to generate reports than Copilot, but their reports were longer and more in-depth. I appreciate how Gemini always reads through the most sources during its research process, but it ultimately cites a similar number of sources as ChatGPT and Copilot. The actual information in these reports is generally consistent, but I prefer Gemini’s and ChatGPT’s longer reports since I want the most comprehensive look at a topic possible when I use deep research.

Gemini stands out is its quality-of-life features. Reports include a menu at the top of the screen that lets you quickly jump between report sections, and you can generate flashcards, infographics, quizzes, and web pages based on reports in just a click. Like Copilot with Microsoft Word, Gemini lets you export reports to Google Docs. ChatGPT doesn’t do anything similar. I also prefer Gemini’s report interface, which pops out in a sizable sidebar. This lets me look at the conversation I was having before and the report at the same time.

However, Gemini isn’t perfect. It doesn’t highlight relevant text in its reports when you hover your cursor over linked sources, and the formatting of its sources makes them a little more difficult to see versus the competition. Gemini also doesn’t ask you follow-up questions before starting its research; rather, it provides you with a research plan you can edit. This is useful, but I generally prefer answering targeted follow-up questions, as ChatGPT asks.

The tone of these reports also differs, just like the tone of the underlying LLMs differs. Gemini and Copilot are more formal, and their reports read a little like academic papers. ChatGPT’s reports read closer to elaborate forum posts. I generally prefer the latter, but you might feel differently.

Although it's not a deep research feature, Gemini also offers the NotebookLM tool. Rather than generating research reports for you, this lets you upload your documents, along with audio files, Google Slides presentations, websites, YouTube videos, and more. Then, NotebookLM connects and summarizes everything. This tool is intuitive and can be useful, but its core functionality is largely already possible in a regular Gemini chat.

Image Generation: Best-in-Class Image Tech

Image generation is a staple feature of AI chatbots. To start, I tested how well the chatbots could make photorealistic images without errors or distortion. I used the following prompt in Gemini (Nano Banana Pro), ChatGPT (GPT Image 1.5), and Copilot: “Generate me an image of a cozy suburban home with an open floor plan. I want to see a nice living space with a dining room, kitchen, and living room. Nothing too fancy.” Below are the results from Gemini (first slide), ChatGPT (second slide), and Copilot (third slide):

Gemini’s image looks excellent. It’s lifelike, richly detailed, and free of major errors or distortions. ChatGPT’s image is similarly high-quality, but it’s slightly less detailed than Gemini’s. Copilot’s image doesn't have any serious problems, but the apartment it depicts looks more like a stock photo than one where actual humans live. 

Next, I tested the chatbots’ ability to generate complex illustrations: “Generate me a six-panel comic image of a high fantasy kingdom where wizards have replaced spellcasting with PowerPoint presentations. Make sure there’s a major twist in the final panel.” Here are the results from Gemini (first slide), ChatGPT (second slide), and Copilot (third slide):

Gemini’s comic is, again, the best of the three. Not only is it illustrated well and packed with detail, but its text generation is flawless and borderline amusing. ChatGPT’s comic doesn't have any major issues, and it tells a reasonably coherent story, too. Copilot’s comic lacks a twist, has a nonsensical story, and uses a simplistic art style.

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My final test was to generate a technical diagram with the following prompt: “I've got an Ethernet switch, a modem, and a router. I want to connect my PC, PlayStation, smart light hub, and smart TV via Ethernet. I want the modem to connect to the router, and then the router to connect to the switch. Then, I want the switch to connect to the devices. Generate me a diagram showing this.” You can find Gemini’s (first slide), ChatGPT’s (second slide), and Copilot’s (third slide) results below:

Gemini’s and ChatGPT’s diagrams are both high quality, but they also have some minor issues. For example, Gemini’s PC connection arrow is backwards, and ChatGPT has a strange connector to the right of its Ethernet switch. Copilot’s diagram is passable, but its art style is simpler. It’s also missing a connection between its modem and router.

Image Editing: Gemini Just Barely Beats ChatGPT

Beyond image generation, Gemini offers AI image editing. Simply send Gemini a photo and describe the edits you want. AI-edited images often look seriously distorted or obviously AI-generated, but Gemini generally performs better than other chatbots in this regard.

I asked Gemini (Nano Banana Pro), ChatGPT (GPT Image 1.5), and Copilot to remove my hand from an image I provided in testing. You can see the results from Gemini (first slide), ChatGPT (second slide), and Copilot (third slide) below:

No chatbot handled my prompt perfectly. Gemini stood out for its ability to match the original image’s aspect ratio, which ChatGPT and Copilot didn't, and its image had the highest resolution of the bunch. However, Gemini’s image is somewhat grainy and washed out. ChatGPT’s image, on the other hand, was almost too vibrant, and tessellation across its finer details was distracting. Copilot's image matches the color of the original well, but it’s fairly grainy.

Editing goes beyond making simple alterations to images. AI chatbots can also blend images. To test this feature, I took a picture of my kitchen, and then provided images of a table and some chairs from Amazon. Next, I prompted the chatbots to add the chairs and table into the photo of my kitchen, making it look as realistic as possible. Gemini’s (first slide), ChatGPT’s (second slide), and Copilot’s (third slide) edits are below:

Once again, no chatbot did a perfect job. Gemini’s image matches the original’s aspect ratio, which no other chatbot managed, and its lighting feels the most realistic of the three. However, Gemini also distorted the background and added a window above the sink for no apparent reason. ChatGPT did a serviceable job, but it also introduced distortion. The lighting of its table and chairs is slightly uncanny, too. Copilot’s image shows the most distortion of the three, resulting in overall poor image quality. 

Unlike ChatGPT, Gemini doesn't integrate directly with Adobe Express and Photoshop. Still, you can prompt Gemini to adjust the same aspects (brightness, contrast, saturation, and more) of an image with just as good (or better) results. Either way, chatbots aren’t a viable replacement for photo editing software.

Video Generation: On Par With the Best

AI video generation is a rapidly growing feature of AI chatbots. Gemini has the Flow filmmaker tool, the Veo 3 video generation model, and the Whisk AI animator. Gemini also generates audio with its videos. While Veo 3 used to be exclusive to Gemini’s top-end plan, you can now access it (albeit in a limited fashion) with Gemini’s AI Pro plan ($20 per month). 

Veo 3 can produce some genuinely breathtaking results, but are Google’s Veo 3 demo reels and viral Veo 3 clips on social media indicative of Veo 3’s actual performance, or are they carefully selected outliers that give the wrong impression? To find out, I gave Gemini (Veo 3.1 Quality) and ChatGPT’s Sora 2 a series of prompts. I started by asking for a video of “Somebody going about their daily life in a trendy apartment with rustic decor.” 

Veo’s video looks good until you notice that the spoon the subject grabs ends up in both his hands and the place where he originally grabbed it. Furthermore, there’s a record player on the kitchen counter for some reason. ChatGPT’s video has similar problems. It treats a levitating cup as if it were a pour-over, and its subject weirdly crouches in front of a table instead of sitting on the couch behind it. The audio doesn’t perfectly sync with either video.

To test how the video generators handle complex motion, I gave Gemini and ChatGPT the following prompt: “Show me a pro Rubik's Cube solver solving a cube.” Results are, once again, mixed. Neither cube manages to avoid distortion. Veo’s camera zoom is distracting, and ChatGPT’s timer doesn’t align with what's happening on-screen. The voice of ChatGPT’s person is also distorted in a way that really makes him sound like AI. 

My final test evaluates text generation. I gave Gemini and ChatGPT the following prompt: “Generate me a video of a teacher in front of a class writing down y = mx+b on a whiteboard while explaining the concept.” These videos aren’t amazing, either. Veo’s video oddly begins with half the equation on the whiteboard, with the teacher filling in the other half. More importantly, the teacher speaks total nonsense. Meanwhile, ChatGPT’s teacher’s voice sounds distorted. 

As mentioned above, Gemini’s Veo 3 model can generate some truly amazing things. However, as my testing shows, achieving this requires careful calibration across multiple generations. This isn’t necessarily a big deal, but you only get so many generations per month. For example, the AI Pro plan gives you 1,000 credits per month, and each video you generate costs 100 credits. That seems quite restrictive for a premium feature. 

Flow is another essential component of Gemini’s video generation feature set. Flow lets you trim video clips you generate and even extend them with a new prompt. Continuity between the clip you start with and the extension is generally good in my experience, but extensions suffer from the same issues I mentioned above. That said, with enough credits, you could conceivably make a movie entirely with Flow, something no other video generators can currently do.

You also get access to Whisk, Google’s experimental AI animation tool. It lets you upload pictures of a scene, style, and subject, and then accepts a prompt. Once it generates an image you like, you can use Whisk to animate it via another prompt. I uploaded a picture of myself, my desk area, and a still from an anime to Whisk for testing.

(Credit: Google/PCMag)

Like with a good Snapchat filter, it’s amusing to see myself as an animated character. But, as an AI image, this one has obvious errors and distortions, so it doesn’t impress on a technical level. When I asked Whisk to animate this image by having me turn around and work on the computer, the results were similarly awkward and uncanny. I don’t recommend using Whisk for anything beyond creating something strange to show your friends.

Uploading and Processing Files: A Strong Performer

Gemini can analyze and understand files you upload, meaning it can critique a resume, interpret an image, or translate some text, among other things. Complex document processing and image recognition are especially tough tasks for a chatbot, so I put the bots to the test. I provided an image of my computer (pictured below), complete with troublesome reflections the chatbots would have to interpret around, and asked Gemini (3 Thinking), ChatGPT (GPT-5.2 Thinking, Extended thinking), and Copilot (Smart Plus) to identify as many components in my computer as they could with as much specificity as possible.

(Credit: Ruben Circelli)

Gemini excelled at image recognition, identifying a variety of components, including my Aqua Computer Leakshield, G.Skill Trident Z5 RGB DDR5 RAM, Lian Li O11 Dynamic EVO XL case, and more. ChatGPT did a similarly good job, managing to point out my Aqua Computer D5 Next pump, ASUS ROG Hero motherboard, and black G1/4” compression fittings, among other things. Copilot didn’t name any specific components in its answer, opting for vague descriptors like “ATX motherboard” or “likely includes NVMe SSDs."

For document analysis, I asked Gemini (3 Thinking), ChatGPT (GPT-5.2 Thinking, Extended thinking), and Copilot (Think Deeper) to tell me if my Leakshield (a computer watercooling device) needed Windows to work, if my motherboard supported USB pass-through power, and how I could enable USB pass-through power on my motherboard based on the relevant manuals I provided.

All the chatbots answered my questions correctly, telling me that I didn’t need Windows to use Leakshield, that my motherboard supported USB pass-through power, and how to enable it in my BIOS with step-by-step instructions. However, Copilot didn’t include references to specific pages in the manuals I provided, whereas ChatGPT and Gemini did.

In terms of image recognition, no chatbot identified every component correctly, and I’ve seen chatbots make stuff up before in document analysis. You shouldn't rely on chatbots for anything too important, but Gemini is very capable when the stakes are lower.

Creative Writing: Minor Trouble With Instructions

AI chatbots can do all kinds of creative writing, whether you’re looking for a joke, monologue, personalized message, story, summary, or anything else. But as chatbots get more advanced and their underlying models mature, testing their creative writing ability goes beyond judging if they can generate a coherent story.

I gave the following prompt to Gemini (3 Flash), ChatGPT (GPT-5.2 Instant), and Copilot (Quick Response): “Without referencing anything in your memory or prior responses, I want you to write me a free verse poem. Pay special attention to capitalization, enjambment, line breaks, and punctuation. Since it's free verse, I don't want a familiar meter or ABAB rhyming scheme, but I want it to have a cohesive style or underlying beat.” 

Gemini’s poem meets most of my criteria, except that it reads the most like prose of the three in terms of punctuation and structure. Copilot’s poem follows the instructions in my prompt reasonably well, but it doesn’t stand out. ChatGPT’s poem was the most successful, as it included the widest variety of punctuation and read the least like prose. Furthermore, ChatGPT was the only chatbot to include a title for its poem, which I appreciate.

Complex Reasoning: Keeps Pace With Competitors

Complex reasoning is another important aspect of chatbots. To test this, I gave Gemini (3 Pro), ChatGPT (GPT-5.2 Thinking, Extended thinking), and Copilot (Think Deeper) exam questions from undergraduate courses in computer science, math, and physics from Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. I provided these questions in PDF form and compared their responses with the solutions afterward.

Gemini did well, getting one math question and one physics question wrong. ChatGPT performed almost flawlessly, getting only one physics question incorrect. Copilot struggled in comparison, getting four math questions and two physics questions wrong. With computer science, none of the chatbots missed even a single question.

Even though the above results are impressive, I still don’t recommend using a chatbot to do your homework, if for no other reason than they can still get things wrong. Chatbots can be useful as a studying tool, but you still risk getting incorrect explanations of concepts. As such, I suggest double-checking their responses.

Gemini in Google Chrome: Ask It Anything

Gemini is an increasingly large part of Chrome. You can click the Gemini icon in the top right of the browser to open up a sidebar or pop out a chat window. Here, you can chat with Gemini as you would normally, as well as share tabs with it. Though no Gemini desktop app is available, Gemini in Chrome can fill that role, assuming you don't mind missing out on some features, such as deep research. You can also use Gemini Live in Chrome if you want to talk to it over voice. Using Gemini in Chrome feels a lot like using Copilot in Edge.

(Credit: Google/PCMag)

Text responses are impressively fast, routinely answering questions in a second or two, even when summarizing web pages I gave it access to a moment before. Gemini in Chrome also connects with some Google apps to enable certain functionality, such as sending emails from your Gmail account, summarizing YouTube videos, and more. Personal Intelligence is coming to Gemini, too, so Gemini will be able to automatically access relevant information from just about every Google app and service, assuming you connect them to Gemini, to respond to your prompts.

I find Gemini in Chrome useful. It eliminates the need to open a new tab to ask Gemini a question. And if I have a question about something I see on a web page, I don’t need to copy and paste the text or take a screenshot to share with Gemini. However, unless you use Gemini all the time, the time you save having it a click away might not be a big deal. 

An agentic, auto-browse mode is coming to Chrome, as well, but I haven’t been able to test it as of this writing. Don't get too excited about the prospect of having an AI pilot your browser to do tasks for you. Usually, AI agents just don’t work that well and fail to save you significant time.

Gemini in the Google Suite: Endless Integrations

When you sign up for a premium plan with Gemini, you get AI features across Google’s apps. As mentioned, this includes Calendar, Docs, Drive, Gmail, Maps, Keep, Photos, Sheets, and YouTube Music. Each app has different (and powerful) Gemini features.

I suggest looking at the overview on Gemini’s site for a fuller picture of the integrations because there are too many to cover here. For example, you can add events to Google Calendar based on a picture of a flier, generate grocery lists in Google Keep, or let Gemini curate playlists in YouTube Music. Gemini in Docs, Gmail, Sheets, and Slides does what Copilot does in Microsoft 365 apps with a Copilot Pro subscription: create slides based on prompts, draft emails, generate text, and suggest formulas. Features aren’t precisely the same across Gemini and Copilot, but deciding between them partially comes down to which office suite you prefer. 

Gemini in Gmail stands out as one of the more novel integrations. You can certainly use Gemini to help you sound professional in an email to your boss, but Gemini also gets full access to your entire email history. In my case, that means over 16 years of emails. If you click the Gemini icon at the top of your screen, you can ask Gemini anything about your emails. You can get it to find a product key from several years ago, for example, or ask for advice on cleaning up your inbox.

It’s not an all-powerful feature, though. Gemini refused to suggest email addresses I should unsubscribe from, for example, and couldn’t simply list all the product keys in my email history. Yes, this integration feels like an invasion of privacy, but it’s hard to deny the many conveniences that come with letting a chatbot access your email.

Depending on which Google apps you use, as well as how you use them, all of Gemini’s integrations likely won’t matter to you. But considering how many there are and their depth, you are likely to find at least some useful.

Gemini Gems: Worse Custom GPTs

Google describes Gems as “custom AI experts” you can use for help with any topic. Essentially, Gems are custom versions of Gemini you can build for a specific purpose by giving them instructions and adding files to their knowledge bank. For example, if you want help with your first time building a computer, you can create a PC Builder Gem. Its instructions can provide helpful advice for a beginner PC builder, and you can upload the manuals for your different parts.

(Credit: Google/PCMag)

This works, but the responses I get from a Gem aren’t so different from what I get simply talking to Gemini. If you have a specific topic you plan to talk to Gemini about regularly, you can save yourself some time writing instructions in prompts by creating a Gem. But Gems don’t feel like they truly deliver on Google’s promise.

ChatGPT’s custom GPTs do everything that Gems do, but they go a step further. You can add Actions to Custom GPTs to let them source outside information or take actions outside of ChatGPT, and you can also use custom GPTs from third parties. Canva has a Custom GPT, for example, that you can use to generate a logo and then edit it in that app.

What Can’t Gemini Do?

First, it’s important to understand that Gemini is not conscious. Gemini can’t truly think for itself or understand things like a human can, which means it can’t be your friend, romantic partner, or therapist. Gemini is an extremely complex prompt-response machine and nothing more.

Adult content, help with anything illegal, realistic images of people, and taboo subjects like hate speech are against Gemini’s policies. However, it’s easy to get responses from Gemini that violate its policies. Between Gemini, ChatGPT, and Copilot, Gemini is the least restrictive, while Copilot is the most restrictive. However, Gemini isn't quite as permissive as Grok when it comes to filtering.

You should also keep in mind that Gemini's context window limits the amount of information it can process at once. Think of a context window like short-term memory. However, Gemini’s context window on its AI Pro plan can handle up to 1,500 pages of text or 30,000 lines of code at once, so you likely won’t run into any roadblocks as a paid subscriber. If you’re a free user, though, you might need to break up complicated tasks into multiple prompts.

Google is cagey about Gemini’s exact consumer usage limits, and chatbot usage is usually dynamic based on server load. Anecdotally, I never hit a usage limit while chatting or using deep research with Gemini’s paid AI Pro plan. If you plan on using the free version extensively, you will eventually hit usage limits.

Is Your Data Safe With Gemini?

According to Google’s privacy policy, Google collects a variety of data when you use Gemini, like any files you share with Gemini, location information, related product usage information, and your chats (including voice chats). Google uses the data it collects to “provide, improve, and develop Google products and services and machine-learning technologies, including Google’s enterprise products such as Google Cloud.” 

If you don’t want Google to use your chat data to train Gemini’s models, you can turn off Gemini Apps Activity in the settings. By default, Google collects your chat data and stores it for 18 months. You can adjust how long Google stores your data, from three months to three years.

As for Gemini’s Google Workspace integrations, such as in Gmail, Docs, Drive, Sheets, and Slides, Google promises not to use this data to train Gemini’s models, sell it, or use it for targeted ads. I appreciate these guarantees, but I wish Google had asked me first whether I wanted Gemini in my cloud storage or email when I signed up for the AI Pro plan, instead of automatically granting Gemini access to everything.

Gemini doesn’t necessarily have a worse privacy policy than other chatbots, but because it has access to all your web browsing, web search, and Google app data, its collection behavior can feel invasive at times. On the other hand, your data is in Google’s hands either way if you use Google products, so whether Gemini also has access to it might not matter to you.

Google’s history with data privacy is a mixed bag. In recent memory, malicious actors exploited a Google Chrome flaw to spread spyware; Italian regulators criticized Google for its data practices; and Texas received a payout of over a billion dollars from Google for collecting biometric data without consent. This is to say nothing of Google’s long-term track record, either. Considering all this, I recommend not sharing anything too sensitive with Gemini.