Google replaced the Google Chat side panel with Ask Gemini on August 20, 2026 — a unified AI command that lets Workspace users search Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar; generate images; and draft content from any ongoing Chat conversation, with rollout starting August 26, 2026.
What Ask Gemini Does in Google Chat
Ask Gemini is an AI command embedded directly in Google Chat that Workspace users activate with Ctrl+G on Windows or Cmd+G on Mac. From that single shortcut, users can search across Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Calendar; generate images; draft message updates; manage scheduled events; and organize ongoing work into sessions — all without switching to a separate tab or application. Google describes Ask Gemini as “a unified command line for your work, powered by Workspace Intelligence.”
The 6 confirmed capabilities, as announced by Google on August 20, 2026, are: search Gmail, search Google Drive, search Google Calendar, generate images, draft content updates, and organize work sessions within a single Chat flow.
What the Side Panel Replacement Changes for Workspace Teams
The Google Chat side panel — a fixed secondary pane present in Google Chat for several years — is being retired with the Ask Gemini rollout. Previously, Workspace users had to open the dedicated side panel to invoke Gemini; the replacement makes the AI assistant a keyboard shortcut away from any conversation thread. The structural change reduces the steps between a user’s question and a Gemini-powered answer within their existing Chat workflow, removing the context-switch cost that a separate panel creates.
Google confirmed the change on its Workspace Updates blog: “Starting August 26, 2026, Google Chat becomes the place where you can bring the power of Gemini into your flow of teamwork.”
How Ask Gemini in Google Chat Compares to Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft 365 Copilot has offered cross-app AI within Microsoft Teams since early 2025, allowing users to search email, calendar, and files from within a Teams conversation. Ask Gemini in Google Chat now gives Google’s offering comparable functional depth for businesses choosing between the two productivity stacks.
One distinction applies to both platforms: neither Ask Gemini nor Copilot in Teams currently connects to third-party applications such as Asana or Jira within this AI command layer — both remain limited to their own first-party Workspace data. For businesses comparing the two ecosystems, the differentiating factor is therefore the depth of integration within each vendor’s own product suite, not cross-platform connectivity.
For an independent side-by-side comparison of Google Workspace AI against other enterprise AI productivity platforms, see 15 Best AI Tools for Business in 2026 — witho2.com’s continuously updated analysis of business AI tool categories.
Which Workspace Plans Get Ask Gemini and When
Google Workspace customers on all paid tiers receive Ask Gemini as part of their existing subscription: Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, and Enterprise are all included. No pricing change was announced for any tier.
Rollout begins August 26, 2026. Google is providing Workspace customers promotional access to higher Ask Gemini usage limits through October 1, 2026; standard per-tier limits apply from that date forward. Rollout timing may be phased — the announcement states “starting August 26” without specifying a single-day global deployment.
The update is relevant to small and mid-size businesses that rely on Gmail, Drive, and Calendar as their primary productivity environment. For teams evaluating Google Workspace against Microsoft 365, Ask Gemini changes the AI-in-chat comparison in Google’s favor for organizations already embedded in the Google ecosystem.
For Context: No prior witho2.com coverage of Ask Gemini in Google Chat exists at time of publication. This is the site’s first report on this feature.
Our Take: Google is tightening its hold on businesses that already live in Gmail and Drive. The Ctrl+G shortcut is a small UX change — retiring a panel, embedding a shortcut — but the workflow implications are material for teams that treat tab-switching as a productivity cost. For businesses currently comparing productivity stacks, Ask Gemini gives Google Workspace a concrete, day-to-day AI argument that matches what Copilot in Teams has offered since 2025.
