Gemini Is Connecting to More Everyday Apps—and Becoming a Control Centre

The next phase of the AI assistant race may be decided by connections rather than conversation.

Google is expanding the services that can work with Gemini, including productivity tools such as Granola, Otter and Wix; travel and ticketing services including Fever, GetYourGuide, OpenTable in the UK and Ticketmaster; entertainment providers such as iHeartRadio and Pandora; and service platforms including Angi, Thumbtack and Zocdoc.

From chatbot to coordinator

A standalone chatbot can explain how to plan a trip. A connected assistant can potentially bring together the reservation, tickets, notes and follow-up tasks. That difference turns AI from an information window into a control layer across services people already use.

For users, the attraction is convenience. Instead of opening several apps, repeating the same details and manually moving information between them, a person may be able to describe the intended outcome once.

Why this matters for businesses

• Apps that integrate early may gain discovery inside a new AI-driven interface.
• Small businesses could spend less time moving between calendars, notes, booking systems and content tools.
• Service providers will need accurate data and reliable APIs because an assistant can only act well when the underlying connection works.

The shift also creates competitive pressure. If an AI assistant becomes the place where a customer starts a purchase, the assistant may influence which providers are seen, compared and selected. That makes ranking, permissions and transparency increasingly important.

Convenience needs boundaries

Connected apps naturally raise questions about privacy and control. Users should know what information Gemini can read, what it can change and when an action requires approval. A useful assistant must be powerful without becoming unpredictable.

Businesses should therefore treat connected AI as an operational tool, not magic. Start with low-risk workflows, review permissions and keep a human confirmation step for payments, medical decisions or other sensitive actions.

Google says the new connections are rolling out over several weeks. The larger signal is already clear: the most valuable assistant may not be the one that writes the longest answer. It may be the one that can safely coordinate the greatest number of useful actions.

Source: Google’s official Gemini connected-apps announcement.