ChatGPT might dominate headlines (and yes, I use it constantly), but Google’s Gemini still has a permanent tab open on my laptop.
As someone who tests AI tools for a living, I know no single chatbot does it all. And while ChatGPT-4o may feel smoother and smarter in conversation, Gemini quietly outperforms it in a few key areas; especially when it comes to deep research, certain aspects of productivity and getting things done inside Google’s ecosystem.
Here are three things I still turn to Gemini for — and why I don’t plan on quitting anytime soon.
1. Multimodal brainpower in NotebookLM and Google Workspace
We’ve seen how Gemini can help declutter Gmail, which is a huge help personally and professionally. But, more so, Gemini’s multimodal integration with Google Docs, Sheets and Gmail makes a huge difference in numerous ways.
When I’m working on a big project, I can feed Gemini PDFs, images and raw data — and it can actually handle them all at once.
In NotebookLM, Gemini not only remembers key information from uploaded files, but it summarizes and connects ideas better than ChatGPT in a research context.
While ChatGPT-4o has impressive multimodal abilities, it’s Gemini’s Workspace integration that truly sets it apart. As someone that uses Google Workspace every day, using Gemini when I’m working across docs, emails, and spreadsheets is a no-brainer.
2. Contextual awareness inside my Google life
Gemini has an unfair advantage over ChatGPT: it lives inside my Google account. That means it knows my Calendar, understands my inbox and helps manage tasks across Gmail, Docs and Calendar without me having to paste anything in.
If I ask it to summarize a meeting invite, draft a follow-up or find a file from last week, it can actually do it and faster than I can. ChatGPT, unless I upload everything manually, can’t offer that kind of personalized, integrated support (yet).
3. Real-time research, deep research and citation support
When I need to find fresh data, trends or breaking news, Gemini’s real-time web access often beats ChatGPT, especially for fact-checking and sourcing.
Gemini’s Deep Research feature makes diving deep into just about any subject fast and less daunting. The AI’s ability to cite Google Search results in context is helpful when I’m writing something that needs attribution.
Yes, ChatGPT can browse, too, but Gemini tends to surface clearer results with stronger formatting, and sometimes it just gets to the point faster.
Bottom line
ChatGPT is still my go-to for many tasks, but for real-world workflows inside the Google ecosystem, Gemini earns its spot.
To be clear, it’s not about picking a side. In fact, I’ve found that using ChatGPT, Google and other chatbots together gets the best results.
It’s all about having the right tool for the job. And sometimes, Gemini is that tool.
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