Gemini in Google Docs can now use your linked files as a source of truth for writing help

The “Collaborate with Gemini” side panel in Google Docs is a powerful tool for writing and brainstorming. However, getting it to focus on your specific information—like a research paper or a project brief—required you to manually add each source file to the prompt field, one by one. It was a clunky process that was easy to forget.

In a fantastic new update, Google is rolling out source-grounded writing help in Google Docs, a feature that makes this process automatic, intuitive, and far more powerful.

Grounding Gemini in your trusted content

Here’s how it works: As you work on a document, Gemini will now automatically curate a list of all the sources you’ve hyperlinked directly within your doc. When you open the Gemini side panel, you’ll see a new option to ground your query in these “Document links”.

By selecting this, you’re telling Gemini to only pull details from those specific, trusted sources when providing writing assistance. This is a massive improvement for several reasons:

• It saves time: You no longer have to manually hunt down and add each file to the prompt. If you’ve already linked it in your doc, Gemini sees it.
• It ensures accuracy: It keeps Gemini’s suggestions focused and grounded in your own trusted content, rather than pulling from the wider web.
• It’s more reliable: It’s perfect for querying available knowledge on a specific topic, ensuring you get accurate answers that are tailored to your needs and source materials.

You can still add files individually if you want to ground Gemini on a file that isn’t linked in your doc, but for most workflows, this new “Document links” feature is a far quicker and more intuitive solution.

This fantastic new feature is currently available and rolling out now to most paid Workspace subscribers (Business Standard/Plus, Enterprise Standard/Plus), as well as Gemini Business/Enterprise, Google AI Pro for Education, and Google One AI Premium subscribers.