How to Use AI in Google Docs (2026 Guide)

Google Docs now has Gemini AI woven into the writing experience. You can draft content from a prompt, rewrite paragraphs in a different tone, summarize long documents in seconds, and (as of February 2026) listen to AI-generated audio summaries of entire documents.

If you want to learn how to use AI in Google Docs effectively, the key is that this is not a separate tool you switch to. Gemini lives inside the document, available through the toolbar, the right-click menu, and keyboard shortcuts. For anyone who writes in Google Docs regularly, these features cut drafting and editing time significantly.

Here is what is available, how to access it, and the techniques that produce the best results.

What You Need

Gemini AI features in Google Docs require an eligible plan:

• Google Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, or Enterprise Plus
• Google AI Pro ($19.99/month for individual users)
• Google AI Ultra (premium tier with expanded limits)
• Education plans with the Google AI Pro for Education add-on

Starting March 17, 2026, all Google Workspace Business and Enterprise plans will automatically include Gemini AI features, along with a price increase of $2-$4 per user per month.

If you are on a personal Gmail account without an AI subscription, you will not see these features. Check your plan status in Google Admin or your Google One subscription.

Help Me Write: Using AI in Google Docs to Draft and Rewrite

"Help me write" is the core writing feature. It handles two jobs: generating new text from a prompt, and rewriting existing text with different parameters.

Generating New Text

1. Place your cursor where you want the text to appear.
2. Click the Gemini icon in the left margin (the sparkle/pencil icon), or type the keyboard shortcut.
3. Enter your prompt. Describe what you want: "Write a project status update for Q1. The project is on track, budget is 5% under target, and the only risk is a delayed vendor delivery."
4. Review the output. Gemini generates a draft directly in the prompt panel.
5. Insert, refine, or regenerate. Click Insert to place it in your document, Refine to adjust it, or the regenerate button for a different version.

What works well: Meeting agendas, status updates, email drafts, standard operating procedures, project briefs, job descriptions, and any structured business writing where the content is straightforward but the formatting takes time.

What does not work well: Highly technical content, documents requiring specific data or citations, creative writing with a distinctive voice, or anything where accuracy is critical. Always review and edit the output; treat it as a first draft, not a final version.

Getting consistent, high-quality results from AI writing tools requires knowing how to prompt effectively. AI Academy teaches these prompting techniques with practical exercises you can apply immediately.

Rewriting Existing Text

1. Select the text you want to rewrite.
2. Right-click and select "Help me write," or click the Gemini icon that appears.
3. Choose a rewrite option:
   • Shorten: condenses the text while preserving key points
   • Elaborate: expands with additional detail and context
   • Rephrase: rewrites with different wording, same meaning
   • Formalize: elevates the tone to professional/academic register
   • Casualize: makes the tone conversational and approachable
4. Review and accept the rewritten version, or adjust further.

The tone adjustment options are particularly useful. A casual internal Slack message can become a formal client email in one click. Meeting notes can be expanded into a proper summary. A verbose paragraph can be cut to its essentials.

This pairs well with workflows where you dump rough ideas quickly and then polish, similar to how many people use ChatGPT for writing and content work. And if you also work with spreadsheets, our guide on using AI in Google Sheets covers Gemini's formula generation and data analysis features.

Document Summarization

For long documents, Gemini can generate summaries in two formats: text summaries you insert into the document, and audio summaries you listen to.

Text Summary (AI Summary Building Block)

1. Place your cursor where you want the summary.
2. Go to Insert > Building Blocks > AI Summary, or type @ and select "AI summary."
3. Gemini analyzes the entire document (including multiple tabs) and generates a concise summary.
4. Edit as needed. The summary appears as editable text that other collaborators can see and modify.

This is useful at the top of long reports, research documents, or meeting notes, giving readers the key points without scrolling through 20 pages.

Audio Summary (New in February 2026)

1. Go to Tools > Audio > Listen to document summary.
2. Gemini generates a spoken synopsis of your document, typically under three minutes long.
3. Use the audio player that appears with timeline scrubbing, playback speed controls (0.5x to 2x), and voice selection (narrator, persuader, coach, and other styles).

The audio summary feature rolled out in February 2026 and works with documents of any length. It uses a natural speaking style rather than robotic text-to-speech, making it genuinely useful for catching up on documents while multitasking.

Best use case: Review documents during your commute, catch up on team updates while doing other work, or get the gist of a long document before deciding whether to read it fully.

These AI-powered document workflows are becoming essential in every workplace. AI Academy covers Google Workspace AI features alongside ChatGPT and Claude so you can use the right tool in every context.

Gemini Side Panel: Research and Assistance

Beyond inline writing, the Gemini side panel (click the Gemini icon in the toolbar) acts as a research and brainstorming assistant that can reference your document.

What You Can Do

• Ask questions about your document: "What are the main action items in this document?" or "Does this document mention any deadlines?"
• Research topics: "What are the current best practices for employee onboarding?" Gemini searches the web and provides answers you can insert directly.
• Brainstorm ideas: "Give me 5 alternative titles for this blog post" or "What sections am I missing in this proposal?"
• Get writing feedback: "Is this argument well-structured?" or "What are the weakest points in this proposal?"

The side panel is context-aware; it knows what is in your document and can reference specific sections. This makes it more useful than switching to a separate AI chat window, because you do not have to copy-paste content back and forth.

For more advanced research workflows, you might want to use Perplexity AI alongside Google Docs for deeper source-backed research, then use Gemini in Docs for drafting and polishing.

Practical AI Workflows in Google Docs

Meeting Notes to Action Items

1. Paste or dictate rough meeting notes into a Doc.
2. Select all the notes and use Help me write > Elaborate to expand shorthand into full sentences.
3. Ask the Gemini side panel: "Extract all action items with owners and deadlines from this document."
4. Insert an AI Summary at the top for stakeholders who were not in the meeting.

Report Writing

1. Use the Gemini side panel to brainstorm your outline: "What sections should a quarterly sales report include?"
2. Use Help me write to draft each section with specific prompts: "Write the executive summary for a Q1 sales report where revenue was $2.3M, 8% above target, driven primarily by enterprise accounts."
3. Select sections that are too long and use Shorten.
4. Use Formalize on the entire document before sharing with leadership.

Content Repurposing

1. Start with a long-form document (a whitepaper, report, or blog post).
2. Select key sections and ask Gemini to "Rewrite this as a LinkedIn post under 200 words."
3. Use Casualize for social media versions.
4. Generate an AI Summary as the basis for an email newsletter blurb.

This works particularly well alongside a structured content creation workflow, where Google Docs serves as the writing hub and AI handles the format adaptations.

Tips for Better AI Results in Google Docs

Be specific in prompts. "Write a paragraph about our product" produces generic filler. "Write a 100-word description of our project management software for SaaS companies, emphasizing the Gantt chart feature and Slack integration" produces something usable.

Edit, do not accept blindly. Gemini's drafts are competent but generic. Your value is in the specific knowledge, examples, and perspective you add. Treat AI output as clay to shape, not a finished product.

Use rewrite iteratively. Formalize first, then Shorten if it got too wordy. Or Elaborate on a thin section, then Rephrase to match your voice. Stacking rewrites is often better than trying to get it perfect in one prompt.

Combine with existing Docs features. Use Gemini alongside comments, suggesting mode, and version history. Draft with AI, have a colleague review in suggesting mode, then use Gemini to incorporate their feedback.

If you want to go beyond basic prompting and develop a complete AI writing workflow, AI Academy teaches professionals how to integrate AI into their daily document work with real templates and exercises.

For teams already using AI for marketing content, adding Gemini in Docs to your workflow eliminates the copy-paste step between AI chat and your actual documents.

What This Means for Your Workflow

The pattern across all these features is the same: AI handles the mechanical parts of writing (formatting, syntax, structure, tone adjustment) while you handle the substance (what to say, what matters, what is accurate). This is not about replacing writing skill; it is about removing the friction between thinking and having a polished document.

For professionals who write daily (reports, emails, proposals, documentation), the time savings compound. A 30-minute writing task becomes a 10-minute task. Multiply that across a week, and you reclaim hours.

FAQ

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