Your custom Gemini ‘Gems’ are now accessible in the sidebar of Workspace apps

When Google introduced “Gems” for its Gemini app, it marked a significant step forward in personalizing AI. The ability to create your own custom AI experts, tailored for specific tasks and workflows, meant you could spend less time writing repetitive prompts and more time getting things done. Until now, however, that power was confined to the standalone Gemini app.

Today, Google is breaking down that wall and bringing the power of Gems directly into the side panel of the Workspace apps you use every day: Google Docs, Slides, Sheets, Drive, and Gmail.

A quick refresher on Gemini Gems

For those who haven’t used them yet, Gems are custom-built versions of Gemini that you can create to help with specific goals. You can ground them in your own information and give them a specific persona or task, essentially creating a personalized AI assistant. Google also provides pre-made Gems for things like a writing editor, a coding partner, or a sales pitch ideator. It’s like having your personalized AI, right where you work.

This new integration is a huge deal for productivity because it means you no longer have to switch between your work and the Gemini app to access your specialized AI agents. You can now call upon your custom Gems right from the side panel of the application you’re in. Google highlights a few powerful use cases this unlocks:

• Leverage a custom copywriting Gem to create content tailored to your target audience, right inside the Google Doc you’re writing.
• Create and use a sales assistant Gem that is grounded on specific information about a company, prospect, or industry while you’re drafting an email in Gmail.
• Use a Gem designed to “pressure test” your writing from a specific persona (like a CEO) to help make your message more compelling before you share it.

Both your own custom Gems and the pre-made ones will appear in the side panel, and they can even leverage other Workspace capabilities like @mentioning files in your Drive.

Availability and how to get started

To access your Gems, you can simply click on the “Ask Gemini” sparkle button in the top right corner of Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive on the web to open the side panel.

This feature is rolling out to Google Workspace customers who already have access to Gemini in the side panel and the Gems feature in the main Gemini app. According to Google, it will be an extended rollout, potentially taking longer than 15 days to become visible for everyone, starting July 2, 2025.

This is a fantastic step in making AI feel less like a separate tool and more like an integrated, ambient part of our daily workflow. By bringing these powerful, personalized AI agents directly into our documents and emails, Google is making it easier than ever to get customized help right where you need it most.