Gemini for Salespeople
Gemini is an app, side panels in Gmail and Docs, a voice mode on your phone, Gemini Notebook for working from your sources, and a set of decisions for your Google Workspace admin. We break down which parts actually help a B2B salesperson, with links to Google’s documentation.
As of August 12, 2026
In 30 seconds
The key facts about Gemini in B2B sales work: what needs Google Workspace, what works on which device and where you need your admin’s approval.
- You can build your own assistant (a “Gem”), attach knowledge files from Drive and share it with your whole team. Google always reads Drive files in their latest version, so replacing the price list on Drive updates the assistant for everyone at once.
- You can only build the assistant at a computer. In the mobile app, you can’t create, edit or delete Gems.
- Deep Research does the background research before a meeting, and you can change the research plan before it starts. With your admin’s approval, it can also search Gmail and Drive.
- Gemini Live voice mode works only on phones and tablets. It isn’t available in the browser, and on a work account it reaches only Calendar, Keep and Tasks.
- On a personal account with activity history turned on, your conversations are used to train Google’s models. A Workspace account runs under different rules.
Plans: individual and business tiers
Gemini is sold in two separate layers, and that’s the first thing to settle before you buy. The individual layer is Google AI subscriptions on a personal account. The company layer is Google Workspace, with an admin, data controls and the option to share assistants across the team. We don’t list prices because Google changed them several times in the past six months.
Individual plan
Google AI on a personal account
The free version gives you the Gemini app, image generation, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas and custom Gems. Above it are three paid tiers, AI Plus, AI Pro and AI Ultra, which differ mainly in usage limits and context window.
Google counts limits in compute used instead of messages sent and refreshes them every 5 hours, up to a weekly limit. AI Ultra comes in two variants with different multipliers over the Pro plan, so check the variant when you buy. The plan name alone won’t tell you.
The context window is how much material Gemini can hold in a single conversation. If you work with long specs, call transcripts and tender documents, it decides how much you can do without splitting the work into chunks.
| What you get | No plan | AI Plus | AI Pro | AI Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini app, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, custom Gems | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Context window in one conversation | 32K tokens | 128K tokens | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Usage limits vs. the free version | baseline | 2x higher | 4x higher | 5x or 20x higher than Pro, depending on the variant |
| Charts, diagrams and simulators in Deep Research reports | - | - | - | yes |
Google compares 1 million tokens to about 1,500 pages of text. Deep Research requires you to be 18 or older. A dash means Google’s documentation doesn’t list the item for that plan.
Business plan
Google Workspace on a work account
Workspace has four tiers: Starter, Standard, Plus and Enterprise, and Enterprise is sold only through Google’s sales team. A team that wants a shared assistant needs at least the Plus plan, because that’s where creating custom Gems starts.
There’s also a separate add-on, AI Expanded Access, announced in February 2026. On March 1, 2026, promotional free access to higher limits ended, and companies that want to keep it have to buy the add-on. It covers advanced image generation, video generation, the Gemini app, Gemini Notebook, Workspace Studio and speech translation. Google doesn’t publish the add-on’s terms for business plans, so ask a Workspace partner.
| What you get | Starter | Standard | Plus | Enterprise |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini in Gmail and Vids | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Access in the Gemini app | basic | broader | broader | broader |
| Gemini in Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet and Google Chat | - | yes | yes | yes |
| Gemini Notebook | - | expanded access | expanded access | expanded access |
| Creating custom Gems | - | - | yes | yes |
| Google’s most capable AI models for complex tasks | - | - | yes | yes |
| How you buy | self-serve | self-serve | self-serve | through Google’s sales team |
A dash means Google’s pricing page doesn’t list the item for that plan. Sharing ready-made Gems covers a much wider list of Workspace editions than creating them.
Gem sharing is on by default in the Admin console. Admins can turn it off for the whole domain, an organizational unit or a group. Your security team should check this right after rollout.
Google’s pricing pages carry no note on VAT, so when you budget, confirm with Google or a Workspace partner whether the prices include it.
Five use cases in sales
We picked five things that Google’s documentation backs up and that cut the work around a customer. For each one, we give the plan and the hard requirement.
Individual and business plans
A Gem with your sales process for the whole team
- What you do
- You put the way your company qualifies leads, builds proposals and handles objections into one assistant. You attach Drive files as its knowledge: the price list, product description, qualification criteria and objection list. Then you share the assistant with the team.
- Where you click
- gemini.google.com, Explore Gems, New Gem: name, instructions, Knowledge section, preview on the right, Save.
- Which plan
- Creating custom Gems: Workspace Plus and Enterprise. On a personal account, Gems are available in the free version too.
- Hard requirement
- Desktop browser only. If the Gem’s knowledge includes sources other than files from your device and Drive documents, the share button is grayed out.
A Gem always reads Drive files in their latest version. Replace the price list on Drive and every salesperson’s assistant works from the new one right away.
Individual and business plans
Deep Research before you talk to a customer
- What you do
- You type a research question and send it. Gemini shows a research plan, and you adjust it with “Edit plan” before it starts gathering information. You export the finished report to Docs.
- Where you click
- The text box, “Add files”, then “Deep Research”, and finally “Edit plan”.
- Which plan
- The free version gives access to the thinking model. AI Pro and Ultra give higher report limits and reports built with a more capable model, and in Ultra a report can include charts, diagrams, schematics and interactive simulators. You must be 18 or older.
- Hard requirement
- Google Search is the default source. For Deep Research to reach Gmail and Drive, Workspace apps must be connected to Gemini, and on a work account that’s your admin’s call.
The salesperson sets the research plan and corrects it before the start. You can make it check a specific market, competitor or regulatory issue.
Individual and business plans
Gemini Notebook as a knowledge base on a customer and an industry
- What you do
- You set up a notebook for a key account or a segment and add materials: product documentation, industry reports, meeting notes, regulations. You ask only about what’s in the sources.
- Where you click
- Gemini Notebook (NotebookLM until July 2026; the old address still works, and Google’s documentation uses both names interchangeably).
- Which plan
- Free version: 100 notebooks, up to 50 sources per notebook, up to 500,000 words per source, 50 chat queries a day and 3 Audio Overviews a day. For paid plans, Google mentions higher limits but doesn’t publish the numbers.
- Hard requirement
- Local files up to 200 MB. A copy-protected PDF won’t import.
Business plan
Side panels in Docs, Sheets and Drive
- What you do
- You work on a proposal in Docs or a lead list in Sheets and call up Gemini in the panel next to it, without pasting content into a separate app.
- Where you click
- The Gemini icon in the top right corner of Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive.
- Which plan
- Workspace Standard and up. Starter has the panel in Gmail and Vids.
- Hard requirement
- What you can do depends on your plan and on whether your admin has turned on Workspace apps for Gemini.
Business plan
The AI function in Sheets for lead lists and pipeline data
- What you do
- You clean up and classify contact lists, prepare pipeline summaries and draw conclusions from a CRM export.
- Where you click
- The AI function in a Google Sheets cell.
- Which plan
- Workspace Standard and up.
- Hard requirement
- Put the CRM export on the work account. The same file on a personal account falls under different data rules.
A custom assistant for the team
A Gem is a saved Gemini setup: a name, instructions and optional knowledge files. Its value comes entirely from how well you describe your own sales process.
How to build one
Go to gemini.google.com, click “Explore Gems”, then “New Gem”. Enter a name and write the instructions, with a preview window on the right, and finish with “Save”. A button can rewrite your instructions using Gemini. Google recommends four parts for instructions: persona, task, context and format.
The assistant’s knowledge
In the “Knowledge” section, you add files from your computer or with the “Add from Drive” button. Drive files are read in their latest version, so updating the document updates the assistant. You can also disable knowledge citations if you don’t want answers to point to specific sources.
We don’t give a maximum number of files. The figure circulating online comes from a November 2024 blog post, and Google’s current documentation doesn’t repeat it. Plan on a few knowledge files and check the limit on your own account before you build a team standard around it. Google doesn’t publish the maximum number of Gems per account or a size limit for a single file.
Sharing with the team
Gem sharing launched in September 2025 and runs on Google Drive infrastructure. The person you share the assistant with can use it, edit it or make their own copy. Sharing outside the organization follows your Drive settings.
Sharing covers a much wider list of editions than creating Gems: Business, Enterprise, Education and Frontline in their Starter, Standard and Plus variants, Essentials, Enterprise Essentials and Enterprise Essentials Plus, Nonprofits, and customers with Gemini add-ons.
Three limits to know before you start
- You can’t build, edit or delete Gems in the mobile app. A Gem created in the browser shows up in the app, and you can use it there.
- Gems don’t work in Gemini Live. You can’t run the company assistant that knows your process by voice.
- If the Gem’s knowledge includes sources other than files from your device and Drive documents, the share button is grayed out and you can’t hand the assistant over to your team.
You build a custom assistant at a computer. None of the four tools lets you build one from a phone.
On the road: phone and voice mode
Salespeople work from the car, the parking lot and the customer’s reception area. Here is exactly what Gemini can and can’t do in those moments.
Works on the phone
- The Gemini app for Android and for iPhone and iPad.
- All your Gems, including the ones your team shared with you.
- Gemini Live, which you can interrupt mid-sentence.
- Sharing your camera or phone screen in Live.
- On Android, the command “Hey Google, let’s talk Live”.
Doesn’t work on the phone
- Creating, editing and deleting Gems.
- Gems in Live. You talk to general Gemini, with no knowledge of your price list or process.
- On work and school accounts: Live access to Gmail, Drive and Maps. You’re left with Google Calendar, Google Keep and Google Tasks.
- Live on a locked screen unless “Gemini on lock screen” is turned on.
Gemini Live: what to know before your first conversation
You start voice mode with the “Live” button at the bottom of the screen or by swiping left. You must be 18 or older. Camera and screen sharing turn off automatically when you pause, lock the screen or leave the app, and screen sharing requires Live notifications to be on.
Live doesn’t work in the web app or in Gemini in Google Messages. On a computer, there’s no Live voice mode at all.
Google doesn’t publish a language list for Live itself. What Google does confirm is that the Gemini app works in more than 40 languages and in more than 230 countries. Live supports up to two languages on one device.
Computer: macOS and Windows are two different stories
Gemini has had a native macOS app since April 2026. It’s free, available worldwide, opens with Option + Space and requires macOS 15 or later.
For Windows, Google released a desktop app in April 2026 with an Alt + Space shortcut, search across the web, local files and Drive, and recognition of images on your screen. It gives access to Gemini, but it’s a search launcher. It launched in English, and Google hasn’t confirmed a native Gemini app for Windows like the one on macOS.
Dictation on macOS, by holding the Fn key, rolled out in late July 2026 in English only. The text goes in at the cursor in the active window.
Gems aren’t available in Gemini Live, and on a work account Live reaches only Calendar, Google Keep and Google Tasks. You can’t start the company assistant that knows your price list and process from the car.
In practice, Live is good for thinking out loud and for quick questions on the road. For a post-meeting note you plan to send the customer, typing at a computer in a Gem with your process works better.
Company data and admin decisions
“We use Gemini, so our data is safe” is false. Safety depends on which account the salesperson works in.
Google Workspace account
Google states that it doesn’t use customer data to train models without the customer’s prior permission or instruction, and that customer content isn’t reviewed by humans or used to train generative AI models outside the customer’s domain without permission. Data stored in Workspace services is customer data under the Cloud Data Processing Addendum. Google also publishes a guide to support data protection impact assessments and states that it complies with GDPR.
Certifications and authorizations Google lists: SOC 1, 2 and 3, ISO 9001, ISO/IEC 27001, 27701, 27017, 27018 and 42001, FedRAMP High authorization, and support for COPPA, FERPA and HIPAA workloads. ISO/IEC 42001 covers AI management systems, and it’s an argument that works well with a compliance team.
This page doesn’t describe EU data residency for Gemini features. Before anyone promises it to a customer or to your legal team, check it separately in the Data Regions documentation.
Personal account
With “Keep Activity” turned on, Google uses your activity to develop and improve its services, including training generative AI models. Trained reviewers, including people at companies that provide services to Google, check some chats. Those chats are disconnected from the account before they’re passed on and kept for up to 3 years.
Default activity retention is 18 months, and you can change it to 3 or 36 months. After you turn off “Keep Activity”, chats stay on the account for 72 hours.
For a company, this means the same proposal uploaded to a personal Gemini account and to a Workspace account falls under two different sets of rules. Settle this with the team before anyone starts testing AI on their own.
Four decisions your admin has to make
- Gem sharing. On by default. Check it and set it deliberately in the Admin console under Generative AI, Gemini app, Gems.
- Connecting Workspace apps to Gemini. Without it, Deep Research can’t reach Gmail and Drive.
- Automatic note-taking in Google Meet. Starting September 21, 2026, on Business Standard and Business Plus, it turns on by default for meetings with three or more participants, counting the host. You turn it off in the Admin console, in the Gemini settings for Google Meet, and users can override the setting for themselves. For customer meetings, this is a topic for your legal team.
- Chat history retention. The options are 3 months, 18 months, 3 years or indefinitely. On top of that, DLP applies to Gemini output inserted into Workspace services covered by DLP.
What Gemini won't do
Eight Gemini limits. Some follow directly from Google’s documentation, others from what the documentation doesn’t confirm.
Won’t translate a live customer call outside five language pairs
Speech translation in Meet works between English and Spanish, French, German, Portuguese or Italian.
Won’t run your company assistant by voice in the car
Gems don’t work in Live, and on a work account Live reaches only Calendar, Keep and Tasks.
Won’t let you build an assistant from your phone
Creating, editing and deleting Gems is available only in the browser version.
Won’t protect your data just because it’s Google
On personal accounts with activity turned on, conversations are used to train models, trained reviewers read some of them, and reviewed conversations are kept for up to 3 years.
Doesn’t guarantee EU data residency
Google’s privacy page for generative AI in Workspace doesn’t confirm it. Check residency separately in the Data Regions documentation.
Has no public, hard limits per feature
Figures like “this many Deep Research reports a day” circulate online with no backing in Google’s documentation. The official model is compute-based limits that refresh every 5 hours, up to a weekly limit.
Has no confirmed limit on a Gem’s knowledge files
The number repeated online comes from a blog post almost two years old and isn’t confirmed in current documentation.
Doesn’t give you an AI Inbox in Gmail to build a process on
In January 2026, Google gave trusted testers access to the feature and said wider availability would follow in the coming months.
Frequently asked questions
Will Meet take notes on our customer calls?
The feature exists and saves a document to the organizer’s Drive, in the “Google Meet” folder, in a subfolder for that meeting. Google recommends it for meetings from 15 minutes to 8 hours, and one meeting supports one language.
Starting September 21, 2026, on Business Standard and Business Plus, notes turn on by default for meetings with three or more participants, so settle this with your admin before it starts running without your decision.
Can I build one assistant for the whole sales team?
Yes. You build a Gem in the browser, attach knowledge files from Drive and share it with the team through Drive sharing, with permission to use, edit or copy it. Drive files are read in their latest version, so updating the price list updates the assistant for everyone at once.
Creating custom Gems requires Workspace Plus or Enterprise. Check the Gem sharing setting in the Admin console right away, because it’s on by default.
Can voice mode replace a salesperson’s post-meeting notes?
Gemini Live holds a voice conversation you can interrupt and supports the camera and screen sharing, but it works only on phones and tablets. It isn’t available in the browser.
Your company Gem doesn’t work in Live, and on a work account Live reaches only Calendar, Keep and Tasks. Google doesn’t publish a list of languages supported in Live itself. In practice, it’s a tool for thinking out loud on the road.
Our salespeople use Gemini on personal accounts. Is that a problem?
A personal account runs under different rules from a Workspace account. With “Keep Activity” turned on, conversations are used to develop Google’s services, including training generative AI models, trained reviewers check some chats, and reviewed conversations are kept for up to 3 years.
On a Workspace account, Google states that it doesn’t use customer data to train models without the customer’s permission, and the admin sets retention and DLP rules. Customer materials and proposals belong on the company account.
How we teach this in the workshop
We don't try to talk anyone into switching tools. Workshop exercises run in whatever the company already has: ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or Claude.
If you run on Google Workspace, the whole workshop moves to Gemini: we build a Gem with your sales process, attach knowledge files from your Drive, set up Deep Research for customer research and work in the side panels on a real proposal.
We agree on the modules before the training, based on what your salespeople do day to day. If part of the team does prospecting and part does account management, we split the material proportionally. The team leaves with working assistants they use from the first day after the workshop.
Sources
Every fact on this page comes from Google’s official documentation, which we checked again on August 12, 2026. If a link shows something different today, write to us and we’ll fix it.
- Google AI subscriptions for personal accounts
- Gemini Apps limits & feature availability
- Google Workspace pricing
- Get higher access to advanced AI in Google Workspace (February 2026)
- AI Expanded Access (Google Workspace Help)
- Tips for creating custom Gems
- Use Gems in Gemini Apps
- Introducing Gems sharing in the Gemini app, including admin controls (September 2025)
- Turn Gem sharing on or off
- New in Gemini: Gems with deeper knowledge and business context (November 2024)
- Supported languages for Google Workspace with Gemini
- Gmail is entering the Gemini era (January 2026)
- “Take notes for me” in Google Meet
- Manage automatic note-taking for Meet
- Speech translation in Google Meet now generally available for businesses
- Talk naturally with Gemini Live (Android)
- Talk naturally with Gemini Live (iPhone & iPad)
- Where you can use the Gemini web app
- Gemini Apps release notes (macOS app, dictation)
- Google app for desktop is available globally in English on Windows (April 2026)
- Use Deep Research in Gemini Apps
- Gemini Notebook Help: Frequently asked questions (free version limits)
- NotebookLM is now Gemini Notebook
- Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub
- Gemini Apps Privacy Hub
All sources accessed on August 12, 2026. We update this page when features that matter for sales work change.