Google have recently launched Gemini AI within their Workspace plans, meaning that you no longer need to have it as an add-on. But how can Google Gemini be used to optimise your business operations? Find out below.
What is Google Gemini?
Gemini is an artificial intelligence (AI) powered assistant, designed to enhance your productivity and streamline workflows in Google Workspace. Google Gemini integrates with all aspects of Workspace, including Gmail, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Meet.
In addition to appearing within your different Workspace apps (Gmail, Docs, etc.), the Gemini star icon appears to the left of your Google profile picture – meaning you can quickly access a wealth of shortcuts at your fingertips.
How to Use Google Gemini
Gmail
Summarise Email
The new “Summarise email” feature allows you to quickly view a synopsis of the email without needing to read all of the content.
To use “Summarise Email” in Gmail:
- At the top of an email below the senders name, click the “Summarise email” button
- Gemini sidebar will open, with a brief sentence outlining the summary of your email
- You can prompt for a longer summary by clicking “Show me a longer summary” at the bottom of the sidebar

Help Me Write
When creating a new, blank email, you can use the “Help me write” feature to help form your email content.
To use “Help me write” feature:
- Compose new email
- Click the star pencil icon, three buttons to the right of the “Send” button
- Type in your prompt, and press “Create”. E.g. ‘Requesting updated contact details for records’
- Gemini will create a draft email. You can choose to “Insert” at the bottom, or click “Refine” to elaborate or shorten the content

Drafting Responses
Similar to “Help me write” for new emails, this feature can be used when responding to emails in your inbox.
To use “Help me write” responses feature:
- Open the email you want to respond to
- Click “Reply” or “Reply all”
- Click “Help me write” or the star pencil icon
- Enter a prompt and click “Create”
- Insert the drafted response, or click “Refine” for more options
Google Drive
Summarise Folder
Similar to summarising your emails, Gemini can also provide you with a summary of a Google folder, allowing you to identify the documents and PDFs in a folder, at a glance.
To use “Summarise Folder” in Google Drive:
- Open any Google Drive folder
- Click “Summarise this folder” in the filters
- Gemini sidebar will open, giving details of what the folder includes
- You can also click the three dots on a folder within Drive, and click “Summarise this folder”
Google Docs
Summarise Document
Save time reading long Google Docs, by using the “Summarise document” feature. This feature is available in Editing and Suggesting modes.
- Open a document in Google Docs
- At the top of the document, type @Summary
- Click “Gemini summary”
- The summary block will then appear for you to read. You can press the tick icon to accept and input the content into the document, the cross icon to discard, or the refresh arrow icon to update the summary
- You can also click the Gemini star icon next to your profile photo in the top right, opening the Gemini sidebar with a summary of the content

Help Me Write
Gone are the days where you need to stare at a blank page until an idea hits you, instead get an easy start with the help of Gemini. In addition to helping you compose your emails, Gemini also offers the feature in Google Docs.
To use “Help me write” in Google Docs:
- Open a blank Google Doc, or one that already has content in it
- Click anywhere on the page and click the star pencil icon
- Type in a prompt – be as niche as possible to get an in-depth response. You can also specify the tone of voice, for example “Short blog on why use WordPress, in an informal tone”
- Click “Create”
- Gemini will create content for you to use, which you can choose to “Insert”, or “Refine” should you want to shorten, elaborate, make informal/formal, or convert to bullets
Tip: When inputting a prompt into the Gemini sidebar, you can type @ to reference any Google files in your Drive
Google Sheets
Summarise This Table
Large Google Sheets got your brain in a tangle? It’s never been easier to see an at-a-glance summary for vast pieces of data. Gemini offers a “Summarise this table” feature, to help you quickly understand and interpret data.
To use “Summarise this table” in Google Sheets:
- Open a Google Sheets
- Click “Summarise this table” on the right hand side
- Gemini sidebar will open, with a short explanation to what the table is and the information that it includes
- You can click the “show more suggestions” button to get prompt actions from Gemini to help better understand the data, for example ‘write a formula that finds the total number of months in the table’
Create Formulas
If your formula writing isn’t quite up to scratch, you can use Google Gemini to create them for you.
To create a formula in Google Sheets:
- Open a spreadsheet from Google Sheets
- At the top right, click “Ask Gemini”. You can also click any cell and type “=”
- In the Gemini side panel, create your prompt using references from your sheet or cell names
- To add the formula to your spreadsheet, click the cell you’d like to insert this formula, click Insert. Alternatively, you can copy and paste the formula into the cell

Build Charts and Graphs
Summarise your Google Sheets data into charts and graphs easily with Google Gemini.
To build graphs with Google Gemini:
- Open a spreadsheet from Google Sheets
- At the top right, click Ask Gemini
- In the Gemini side panel, create a prompt with references from your sheet or cell names. E.g. ‘Create a chart with date on the x-axis and total on the y-axis.’ or ‘Make a line chart.’
- Press “Insert”
Meet
Capture Meeting Notes
Google Gemini can capture meeting notes for you, organising them in a Google Doc for you to share with your team. When new members join the call, they will be notified that meeting notes are being made. Additionally, you can stop taking notes at any time, to ensure that confidential discussions are not included in the summary.
To capture meeting notes in Google Meet:
- Join your Google Meeting
- In the top right corner, click the star pencil icon
- Choose to transcribe and/or record the meeting
- A new document will be created within the Drive of the Meeting owner, with the meeting transcription outlined. It will also be shared with meeting participants
- Click “Start taking notes”
- You’ll then receive an email at the end of the meeting, with a link to the meeting notes document in your Google Drive

Merge Audio
If you are taking a Meet call in the same location as others on the call, you can choose to merge audio.
To merge audio:
- Google will automatically acknowledge when there’s multiple people on a meeting, with a pop-up showing in the bottom right corner

Summary So Far
Additionally, if joining a Google Meet late, you can use the “Summary so far” feature to give you a brief summary of the discussion that you missed.
AI Chat
Similar to other AI models, you can talk to Gemini and Gemini Advanced to research and create ideas by inputting a prompt.
Speak Your Request
If you’re too busy to type, simply click the microphone icon in the prompt bar, and speak your request. Upon pressing “Submit”, Gemini will respond with a reply.
Upload Images
You can even add images to your prompt, to better mould the response you receive. Use the Upload file icon, and once uploaded you can type your request/prompt as normal, and click “Submit”.
Google It
Upon receiving a response, you can click the Google icon, which will highlight specific details, allowing you to visit the online source for the information – ensuring you can cross-check that information is correct.
Visit gemini.google.com to use the AI chat.

Benefits of Google Gemini
There are many benefits of using Google Gemini in your daily activities, including:
- Increased Organisation – Gemini suggests labels within Gmail and folders within Drive, to help you better file away important emails and content, and helping you to search for it at a later date
- Visualise Data – Particularly within Google Sheets, Gemini can help you to quickly visualise large volumes of data by suggesting graphs and charts to use
- Better Writing – Gemini works to provide suggestions for spelling and style, supporting you in your content and response writing to help you maintain professionalism in all written communications
- Save Time – Whether helping you start from scratch or reply to emails, Gemini makes it faster for you to create emails and content
- Fosters Collaboration – The new features allow you to share documents and spreadsheets easily and track changes with your team, ensuring your documents are high-quality
- Helpful Automation – Gemini automates repetitive tasks, to help free up your time to spend it elsewhere on your business
- Alter Responses – Within most of the above features, you are able to give thumbs up and thumbs down to rate the response Gemini gives you, to help better mould future responses given to you, and to also allow Google to continue to build and improve the AI assistant.
Boosting Your Business Productivity
Google Gemini is a powerful tool to help you work smarter (and quicker) rather than harder. By utilising AI such as Gemini, you can accelerate daily tasks, helping you to write better, organise workload, collaborate with your team and gain essential insights.
Interested in Google Gemini? Ballyhoo are Google Partners, meaning we have a wealth of knowledge and expertise of the platform, allowing us to administer accounts and troubleshoot any issues your team may experience. Contact us today for more information.