Google Unveils AI-Powered Search For Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa

Google has launched AI Mode in Search for users in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa, introducing a new era of AI-powered search that is more intuitive, comprehensive, and helpful.

AI Mode, it said, helps users tackle complex, multi-part questions with more intuitive responses, multimodal inputs, and deeper ways to explore topics. It added that AI Mode transforms how people interact with Search by allowing them to ask nuanced and exploratory questions that would previously require multiple searches. Powered by a custom version of Google’s latest Gemini 2.5 model, AI Mode brings advanced reasoning and context understanding to Search.

“We’re incredibly excited to bring AI Mode to our users in the region. We know that people in this region are curious and have complex questions about everything from planning a trip to understanding a new concept. With AI Mode, Google is reimagining the Search experience. Users will find the information they need more easily and be empowered to explore a wider range of content from across the web,” said the managing director of Google Africa. Alex Okosi.

Okosi said, AI Mode is especially useful for longer, more detailed queries, noting that the key feature of AI Mode is its advanced reasoning, which uses a query fan-out technique to break down a user’s question into subtopics and simultaneously search a multitude of queries on their behalf.

To the MD, “this allows for a deeper dive into the web, uncovering hyper-relevant content. Furthermore, AI Mode is designed to be truly multimodal, allowing users to interact in the most natural way for them, whether through text, voice, or even images.”

Simply tapping the microphone icon or uploading a photo, he said, allows users to ask questions using their voice or camera, adding that, “a core principle of AI Mode is to help users find the best of the web. The AI-powered response includes prominent links to web sources, expanding the types of questions people can ask and opening up new opportunities for content discovery.”

Google, he pointed out, remains committed to supporting the open web and ensuring that its AI-powered features are rooted in its core quality and ranking systems, noting that, “with AI Mode, web links are prominently displayed, ensuring users can easily click through to discover more. Data from AI Overviews shows that AI-powered results lead users to visit a greater diversity of websites and spend more time engaging with them. While AI Mode aims to provide a reliable AI-powered response, in cases where confidence is not high, the system will default to a set of traditional web search results.”