Google has opened an application process letting developers request that their apps be connected to AI Mode in Search and to the Gemini app. It's a preview program, not a general rollout, and Google has already published a rule aimed at keeping developers from gaming the selection: no misleading descriptions written just to get an app chosen.
What happened
AI Mode is Google's conversational search experience, the one that answers questions directly instead of just listing blue links. Gemini is Google's general-purpose AI assistant app. Connecting third-party apps to either means that, in theory, a user could ask AI Mode or Gemini to do something and have it hand off to or pull data from an outside app, rather than the user leaving to find that app themselves.
Google's announcement describes this as a preview, meaning a limited, invite-or-apply group of developers will get access before any broader opening. The company has laid out a policy explicitly prohibiting developers from writing deceptive app descriptions designed to improve their odds of being surfaced. That detail matters more than it might first appear: it signals Google expects developers to try to game the system, and is setting ground rules before that happens at scale.
Details on selection criteria, categories of eligible apps, and any cost to participate have not been made public in depth. What's confirmed is the application mechanism itself and the anti-manipulation policy — the rest is still taking shape.
Why it matters
This fits a pattern playing out across the AI industry: platforms that started as pure chat interfaces are building out ecosystems where outside developers can plug in. OpenAI did this with plugins and later the GPT Store. Perplexity has pursued publisher and action partnerships. The common thread is that AI assistants are evolving from answer boxes into app-discovery layers, competing for the same role that app stores and search results pages have long played.
That shift raises the stakes for visibility. For more than two decades, businesses have optimized for search rankings and, more recently, app store placement. If AI assistants start recommending or launching specific apps during a conversation, being the app that gets chosen could become its own competitive battleground — one with far less transparency than traditional SEO, at least initially.
What this means for small businesses
If your business has an app or app-like tool, this preview is worth noting but not worth rushing. Early developer programs from major platforms often favor well-resourced partners first, and selection criteria tend to firm up — and sometimes tighten — only after the initial rollout. Applying early could position you for visibility later, but it could also mean investing development time into a program whose rules are still being written.
There's also a cost-and-control trade-off familiar from app store history: platforms that open ecosystems for free in the early days have, in many past cases, eventually introduced fees, stricter review processes, or ranking systems that favor larger players once the ecosystem matures. Nothing announced here confirms that path, but the anti-manipulation policy suggests Google is already thinking about how developers will try to influence placement — a sign that visibility within AI Mode and Gemini may become something businesses actively compete over.
For now, the practical move is informational rather than operational: understand what the program requires, decide if your app is a fit, and weigh the dev time against the uncertainty of an early-stage preview.
What to watch
Watch for Google to publish actual selection criteria, any fee structure, and the first wave of approved apps — that will reveal what kinds of businesses are actually getting chosen. Also watch whether Google treats this as an extension of existing Search ranking signals or builds a separate evaluation system, since that will shape whether traditional SEO work carries over.
The bottom line
Google has opened the door for developers to apply, not guaranteed anyone a spot — treat this as an early-stage opportunity to monitor, and get your app's description and functionality in order before applying, since Google has signaled it's watching for manipulation from the start.