Beginner

Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)

Also: Notebook LM

In plain words

A Google tool for asking questions about sources you add. Check that each answer is supported by those sources.

The fuller definition

Gemini Notebook is Google's source-grounded research notebook, renamed from NotebookLM on 16 July 2026. It answers questions, summarizes, and generates overviews using only the sources you add to a notebook, and now syncs with the Gemini app.

Retrieval-augmented generation, step by step

Question“What is the notice period?”
RetrieveSearch the indexed documents; pull the best-matching passages.
GenerateThe model answers from the question plus those passages.
CiteEach statement points to the passage it came from.

Two things can still go wrong: the search misses the clause that matters, or the model misreads the clause it was given. The citation lets you check which happened.

A concrete example

A reader uploads a public report and three articles, then asks for a comparison that cites the uploaded passages.

The distinction that matters

Source-grounded does not mean verified: it can still misread a passage, and the sources you add are the only ones it will use. The rename changed the branding, not the product's data handling; check the current terms for your account.

Related terms

Products & model families

Gemini

Google's name for a family of AI models and its AI app. The model and the app are different parts of the system.

Documents & retrieval

Grounding

Basing an answer on a named source or set of facts. A link to a source does not prove the answer follows from it.

Documents & retrieval

RAG — Retrieval-augmented generation

Letting the model look things up in your documents before answering, and show where the answer came from. Like an open-book exam.

Where it is taught

Choose an AI tool around the work product

Source and further reading

Google · NotebookLM is now Gemini Notebook

The definition and example are written for this library. The link gives background, official documentation or legal authority as labelled. Legal scope depends on the jurisdiction and current text; product features depend on release and settings.