Google sets rules for connected apps in AI Mode and Gemini

Google has published developer documentation and a written policy for its Connected Apps Platform, the system that lets third-party apps run inside AI Mode in Search and inside the Gemini app. Google announced the platform on 28 October, and Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search, said on 29 October that the public preview was open. Developers can now apply, and Google reviews and tests every app before it goes live.

The documentation answers a question Google left open when it first showed connected apps in AI Mode in July: how an app gets into the pool that AI Mode can hand tasks to. It also sets out what an app may and may not do to get picked ahead of a rival.

Connected apps in AI Mode are available only in the United States and only in English, so there is nothing for an Australian business to switch on today. The rules are still worth reading now, because any business that relies on a booking, ordering or design tool will want to know whether that vendor plans to apply.

Apps plug in through MCP or AppFunctions

A developer plugs an app into the platform in one of two ways. The first is a remote MCP server, using the Model Context Protocol, the open standard AI models use to talk to outside tools. Google says this route reaches Gemini and Search users on the web, Android and iOS.

The second is AppFunctions, which Google calls Android MCP. That route reaches Gemini users on Android only.

Google's MCP server guide says the model relies on the server's own instructions to work out when to delegate a task to it, and recommends clear instructions so requests route to the right place. In plain terms, AI Mode reads the app's server instructions and tool descriptions, what the app tells the model it can do, when deciding which app to call.

Google Connected Console fixes each app's category for good

Registration runs through a new Google Connected Console. The developer picks a category for each app, and that category sets the minimum capabilities the app must have. Google's prerequisites page says the category cannot be changed after registration, so the choice is permanent.

The developer must also list at least three capabilities. Google shows those to users when they decide whether to connect the app, so they are among the details a person sees before saying yes.

Developers also choose the countries, languages and Google products each app should appear in. Every app is checked and tested by Google before it is published. Apps that sit behind a login must come with working test logins loaded with sample data, and Google warns it may turn down any app it is unable to test in full.

Once an app is live, Google says the developer can see traffic, latency and error rates for it.

Can an app talk AI Mode into choosing it?

The section of the policy that matters most to anyone thinking about visibility is the one on deceptive behaviour. An app may not mention other tools or set rules for when or how the model should use them.

The same list says apps must not deceive or influence the model into an adverse action, and gives this example: "using overly broad or deceptive capability descriptions to influence the model into selecting the Connected App over another Connected App."

So the server instructions and tool descriptions an app gives the model are what AI Mode reads when routing a request, and the policy's honesty rules cover those and the user-facing description and capabilities in the console alike. Honest, specific instructions are the compliant path, and by Google's own account of how routing works they are also what gets requests to the right app.

AI Mode may default to the last connected app used

Google's Search help page describes three ways an app gets used. AI Mode may default to the last app a person used to complete a task. The person can name a different app in the request. Or they can run a general search and then choose from a list of available apps.

A default to the last app used means the first app a person tries can have an advantage on the next task, which is one reason for a vendor to apply early rather than wait for the Australian rollout. Other user controls have shown up in the same place, including a source preferences button that has appeared in AI Mode citations in what looks like a test, so who chooses what, the user or the model, is still being settled.

Five connected apps run in AI Mode

Google's help page lists Instacart, Canva, YouTube Music, Yahoo Fantasy Football and Sleeper Fantasy Football as the connected apps working in AI Mode in Search, in the United States in English. Across Search and Gemini combined, Google says it has launched more than 50 connected apps.

Google describes the rollout as phased. Over the coming weeks, apps already available in Gemini from partners including Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton are due to reach Search, along with a new Calm integration for both Search and Gemini. More developers, more countries and more Google products are promised over the next few months, with no dates attached.

Australia's position so far is that ads are coming before apps. Google said on 28 October that ads in AI Mode are coming to Australia, naming it among ten countries it is bringing them to, with Search, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns eligible by default and no Australian start date given. Separately, Google is testing ads for users with connected apps, shown to Personal Intelligence users who connect Gmail and Google Photos. That test covers Google's own apps, not the third-party Connected Apps Platform.

Alphabet's third-quarter results help explain the push on ads. Google Search and other revenue rose 12 per cent year on year to US$63.35 billion, down from 19 per cent growth in the first quarter and 17 per cent in the second. When an analyst on the earnings call asked why Search growth had slowed, Philipp Schindler, Google's chief business officer, put currency first, followed by retail and media, and then said the strong growth in AI Mode queries had an effect because AI Mode monetises at a lower rate. He did not say lower than what, or by how much.

John Mueller, Google's Search Advocate, said on LinkedIn that he is excited about connected apps as a search platform and called it "still extremely early". He added that he does not work on the product.

Restaurants can now switch off ordering providers

The same week brought a smaller change that Australian businesses can act on now, and it runs the other way. Google's Lisa Landsman said on 28 October that a restaurant can now switch off any single third-party ordering provider itself from its Business Profile dashboard, and a Google product manager confirmed the control works in every country.

Until now a restaurant had to submit a removal request and wait for the provider to act, and Google's help page gives providers up to five business days. Under Google's rules for ordering providers, every partner integration is switched on by default.

Put the two side by side. On Business Profile, third-party tools attach to a business by default and the owner has to switch the unwanted ones off. In AI Mode, a tool has to apply, pick a category, pass Google's testing and stay inside the policy before it can appear at all.

Ask your software vendors about the Connected Apps Platform

For an Australian business, the work this month is a short list of questions for the vendors it already pays, plus one check in Business Profile.

• Ask your booking, ordering, quoting or design software vendor whether it has applied to the Connected Apps Platform, which connection route it is using, and which countries and languages it has asked Google to list it in.
• If you build or commission your own app, read the category list before registering, because the category is permanent, and write the required capabilities (at least three) as plain statements of what the app does.
• If you run a restaurant, open Food ordering in each Business Profile, select each provider and use the pickup and delivery switches under "Show provider to customers" to turn off any provider you do not use.
• Watch for an Australian availability announcement from Google. It has committed to more countries without naming them or giving dates.

If connected apps do reach Australia, the businesses AI Mode can act for are the ones whose vendor applied, registered the right category and passed Google's testing, which makes the vendor question the one to ask now.