I gave Google’s AI Mode a shot, however I’m nonetheless sticking with Perplexity

We’ve already seen AI creeping into Google Search, whether or not you appreciated it or not. AI Overviews began off as a irritating product that marred the unique Search expertise with sluggish responses, inaccuracies, and occasional partitions of unhelpful textual content. Nevertheless it slowly received higher, and for fast queries the place you didn’t need to scroll by means of boards or click on on 5 totally different hyperlinks, it truly turned helpful. That’s what made me hopeful when, at I/O, Google introduced a full-fledged AI Mode for on a regular basis use.

Now, I’ve relied on Perplexity for my AI-powered net searches for some time. I ended “googling” a whole lot of issues way back. So, if the identical type of AI capabilities might be baked into Google Search, why would I exploit one other app, proper?

Seems, it’s not that straightforward. As soon as I truly began evaluating the 2, the outcomes had been way more sophisticated.

To offer each instruments a good shot, I requested them the identical set of inquiries to see how nicely they carried out. With Google’s huge understanding of the net — and the truth that many of the web is principally designed to work round Search — I assumed AI Mode would wipe the ground with Perplexity.

However right here’s the factor: it’s not about how a lot information you have got, it’s about what you do with it.

Logical lapses loom

We discuss smartphones all day over right here, so after all that’s the place I began. I imagined a mean person who needs to improve their telephone with out doing intense analysis — studying lengthy evaluations, watching YouTube movies, and double-checking Reddit posts for credibility. So, I requested AI Mode to assist.

The immediate was merely to recommend the most effective telephones from Samsung and Apple beneath $1,000.

Google’s AI Mode confidently got here again with the Galaxy A56 and the iPhone 16e — strong telephones, positive, however they’re method beneath the price range. The remainder of its solutions weren’t any higher. It thinks the iPhone 14, a refurbished iPhone 13, Galaxy A35, and the Galaxy S23 Extremely are good telephones for that type of price range. It was principally a multitude with a complicated mixture of outdated and new, premium and price range handsets.

Anybody counting on this to do precise market analysis would stroll away misinformed.

I attempted to information it additional. I insisted on the most recent fashions and requested for a side-by-side comparability. I did get the comparability, however the solutions remained caught in price range territory. It simply wouldn’t budge.

Perplexity, then again, gave me a desk in its first response — clearly laid out, with every telephone’s standout options and who’s the telephone for. Extra importantly, it gave me what I truly anticipated for beneath $1,000: the Galaxy S25 Plus and iPhone 16/16 Professional. You recognize, the precise current-gen stuff.

Additionally, Google’s AI Mode felt prefer it was pushing for a sale. Your entire outcomes web page was suffering from procuring hyperlinks like an overeager salesperson — that’s after I was nonetheless making an attempt to resolve what I even wished.

I like that these AI instruments can save me from opening 20 tabs simply to get one clear reply or create an honest journey plan. I requested each AI Mode and Perplexity to assist me plan a price range seven-day journey to Vietnam, and AI Mode was once more a blended bag.

Google’s AI Mode was undoubtedly quick. It gave me a full day-by-day plan within the first end result itself. The outcomes from each AI Mode and Perplexity curiously felt too comparable, as in the event that they had been studying from the identical supply materials. However the presentation is the place the hole was truly obtrusive.

AI Mode gave me a protracted, exhausting block of textual content damaged up solely by bullet factors with their very own blocks of textual content. So many phrases power you to skim the data that’s already a abstract of much more textual content, defeating the very objective of intelligence, synthetic or in any other case.

Perplexity wanted one follow-up for an in depth plan, however the reply was so significantly better — clear tables, well-spread-out textual content, and a desk with itemized and complete estimated bills. I largely use Perplexity for work on my desktop, and the big-screen expertise was even higher. Every prompt resort had a photograph for reference, a map view of its location, and a few fast professionals and cons of the place (pictured beneath). That type of little contact goes a good distance. In the meantime, the world’s greatest search engine struggled to even embody photographs in its AI outcomes regardless of explicitly asking for them.

AI Mode = Awkward Implementation Mode

I’ve already talked about how text-heavy AI Mode feels, particularly on a telephone display. The format wants extra love from Google’s designers as a result of proper now, it seems to be dense and, actually, even a bit off-putting.

Past the visuals, the precise workflow is a tad clunky too. It’s a must to go to the AI Mode part from the Google Search web page or app, and solely then are you able to begin typing your question. You’ll be able to’t begin speaking to AI Mode straightaway like Perplexity permits you to. Add to that, the presence of AI Overviews and AI Mode on the Search outcomes web page, each making an attempt to serve the identical objective: including to the muddle.

And don’t get me began on chat historical past’s location — it’s once more a multi-step course of as a result of you must enter AI Mode first. AI Mode doesn’t offer you a straightforward solution to revisit previous threads, which is type of the entire level of AI search instruments that work round follow-ups and context, which might get misplaced in case you can’t proceed in the identical thread.

There’s a transparent distinction between a product constructed for AI from the bottom up, and one the place AI was simply an add-on.

Perplexity feels extra intentional and logically sound. The outcomes are higher laid out, the interactions are extra fruitful, and it doesn’t appear to have a hidden motive, like getting you to click on the “Purchase Now” button. It’s not excellent, however it feels mature, like an outdated wine.

Google’s AI Mode is a bit of tough across the edges, however given it’s nonetheless a brand new function, I can already see the place it might attain with some polish. Realizing Google and the tempo at which it’s iterating with its Gemini fashions and cross-app AI integrations, I wouldn’t be shocked if I got here again in a couple of months and converted utterly.