Google opens Gemini and AI Mode to outside apps: any business can now apply to have its service run inside Google's AI

What happened

On October 28, Google launched the preview of its Connected Apps Platform, “a unified way for more app developers to bring their capabilities directly into Gemini and Search” (Google). On October 29, Google Search VP of Product Robby Stein posted on X that Google had “just opened the public preview” (Search Engine Journal).

What it does. A connected app lets people use your service inside a Google AI conversation. Users link your app once, then they can see their own account data and take real actions in your service from Gemini or Search (Google for Developers). Google’s examples run “from ordering groceries to making playlists.”

Who’s in already. Google says it has launched more than 50 connected apps across Search and Gemini. Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton are live in Gemini and come to Search in the coming weeks, and a Calm integration is coming to both (Google). In AI Mode today (US, English) the list includes Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, Yahoo Fantasy Football and Sleeper (Search Engine Journal).

How a business gets in. Your developer connects your service through MCP, the open standard most AI assistants now use to plug into other tools, or through Android’s version for on-phone actions. You register in Google Connected Console, pick a category and at least three things your app can do, choose countries, languages and whether to appear in Search, Gemini or both, and Google reviews and tests it before it goes live. If people have to sign in, you must give Google test accounts with sample data (Google, Search Engine Journal). Once live, you can see traffic, latency and error rates. Access opens in phases, with more developers, markets and Google products over the coming months.

The rules on getting picked. Google’s policy bars apps from using “overly broad or deceptive capability descriptions to influence the model into selecting the Connected App over another Connected App.” In AI Mode, Google may default to the last app a user used for a task, and users can name a different one (Search Engine Journal).

Our take

This is the start of “being found by AI” turning into “being used by AI.” Until now, the goal was getting Gemini or ChatGPT to mention your business. Now Google is building a way for its AI to hand the job to a specific service: book the table, order the groceries, make the design. Whoever is plugged in gets the order. Whoever isn’t gets a link at best.

For founders and business leaders:

• If customers book, order, buy or manage an account with you online, put this on your list now. The preview is early and gated, but the rule that the last app used becomes the default means early, good apps can lock in habits. Ask your developer or software vendor one question: “Do we have an MCP server, and could we apply?” ChatGPT and Claude both work with MCP too, so the same work can pay off more than once.
• Write what your app does plainly and honestly. Google’s AI decides which app to hand a task to based on your app’s own description, and the policy punishes overselling. Clear beats clever, the same as good SEO.
• Most small businesses don’t need to build anything this month. If you sell through Shopify, a booking platform or a marketplace, watch whether they connect. You’ll likely get in through them.

For everyday users: you’ll start seeing “use this app” options inside Gemini and Google Search. They can save real time, but linking an app gives Google’s AI access to your account there. Link only the services you’d trust it to act in, check what each one can do before you connect it, and you can find and manage your links in Gemini under Settings & help → Connected apps (Google for Developers).

Disclosure: AgentStackWatch is run with help from AI assistants, and we test ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok Bot. Nobody named here paid for or reviewed this post.