Google's Circle To Search Is Getting A Massive AI Upgrade

Google's Circle to Search is a brilliant feature that first arrived on Android phones with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. As one of the first big AI-driven features that smartphone users could turn to, the feature lets you easily highlight and search up details about almost anything in videos, social media posts, and more. However, it has almost always relied on Google's default image search for most of the heavy-lifting. That is about to change, though, as Google is now rolling out an update that utilizes its AI Mode when following up on Circle to Search queries.

According to reports from Android Authority, the feature is already hitting people's phones, allowing them to dig deeper than ever before using Google's AI Mode search. If you aren't that familiar with AI Mode, it's a system that Google has slowly been pushing more and more, and it operates somewhat similarly to ChatGPT — allowing you to look up things in Google and then view an AI breakdown with accompanying links to the sources of information. AI Mode appears in almost all default Google searches now, so it isn't really that surprising to see Google pushing it out to Circle to Search.

The supposed goal here, at least as far as anyone can tell, is to let you have deeper conversations with Google about the things that you're using Circle to Search for. Google teased the changeover back in July, but this is the first time we've seen it actually being pushed out. The rollout appears to be tied to version 16.47.49 of Google's app on Android. While it isn't the first time we've seen AI Mode being used in Circle to Search, it is the first time that it is doing all of the heavy lifting for the images, the follow-up questions, and everything else to do with searching on your device.

Previously, the feature was there, but you still had a search bar that let you ask questions directly the old-fashioned way. Now, though, everything appears to be handled specifically by AI Mode, as detailed in a video captured by Android Authority. The Google app on my Galaxy S25 Ultra is still showing the original method and search box, so it seems like the rollout is happening gradually. As such, there is no exact timeline for when everyone with an Android phone will receive the update. Earlier this year, Google released a new Circle to Search translation feature, which makes it easier to find translations of menus and other items on your phone.