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Google Opens Connected Apps to AI Mode, Gemini Search
Google opened a public preview of its Connected Apps Platform, letting developers apply to have approved apps run inside AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app.
By Roomer Editorial · · 3 min read
What is Google's Connected Apps Platform?
Google opened a public preview of a platform that lets outside apps plug into AI Mode in Search and into the Gemini app. Robby Stein, VP of Product for Google Search, posted on X that Google "just opened the public preview." Google first announced the platform on October 28.
The idea: when someone searches or asks Gemini something, the AI can hand off part of the task to a connected app instead of handling it alone. Google has now published developer documentation laying out how an app qualifies.
How does an app get into AI Mode?
Developers connect through one of two routes. A remote MCP server (MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, an open standard for how AI models talk to outside tools) gives an app access to Gemini and Search users across web, Android, and iOS. The alternative, AppFunctions — which Google calls Android MCP — only reaches Gemini users on Android.
Registration happens through Google Connected Console. Developers pick a category for each app, which sets the minimum capabilities required and cannot be changed later. They must also list at least three capabilities that users will see when deciding whether to connect the app. The console collects country, language, and which Google product the app should appear in. Google reviews and tests every app before launch, and developers must supply test accounts with sample data for anything requiring sign-in. An app Google can't fully test may be rejected.
What rules govern connected apps?
Google's policy bars an app from referencing other tools or dictating when other tools should be used. It also prohibits apps from trying to "deceive or influence the model into performing an adverse action," including writing capability descriptions broad or misleading enough to get picked over a competing app.
Google's MCP server guide says the model relies on a server's own instructions to know when to hand off a task, and recommends developers write those instructions clearly so routing stays accurate.
The policy excludes third-party ads and promotional material from inside the integration, though apps can include their own brand information. Violations can lead to app rejection, suspension, removal, or termination of the developer's account.
On the user side, AI Mode may default to the last app someone used for a task, but users can name a different app or search generally and pick from a list of available options.
Which apps are live now?
Connected apps for Search currently work only in the US, in English. Google's help page lists Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, Yahoo Fantasy Football, and Sleeper Fantasy Football.
Across Search and Gemini combined, Google says it has launched more than 50 connected apps. Once an app goes live, developers can see traffic, latency, and error rate data for it, according to Google's blog post.
Google says the rollout is phased, with more developers, markets, and products added over the coming months. Partner apps already on Gemini — including Adobe, Experian, Localiza, and Peloton — are expected to reach Search in the coming weeks, along with a new Calm integration on both Search and Gemini.
Google Search Advocate John Mueller commented on LinkedIn that he's excited about connected apps as a search platform but called it "still extremely early," noting he doesn't work on the product himself.
Roomer Editorial's take
Roomer Editorial's view: this is a platform for apps, not creators, and it's worth watching for one reason — it shows where Google wants the booking action to happen next. If travel apps eventually get a lane into AI Mode the way Instacart and Canva have, that's one more place a traveler can finish a trip without ever landing on a creator's page.
That's exactly why owning your own site matters more, not less, as this kind of infrastructure expands. A creator's bookable page, built from their own videos, isn't competing to get selected by a model — it's the destination the content already points to.
The lesson for creators is narrower: when platforms open new routes for transactions to happen inside someone else's interface, the audience you built and the page you control are the parts nobody can route around.
If you post travel video, keep publishing to your own site, not just the feed.
Source: Search Engine Journal
