It is rumored that Google is considering charging a fee for access to AI-powered search results in the future. This would include the ability to generate images and travel itineraries.

The plan is to either charge for artificial intelligence-generated search results or bundle them with existing subscription services such as Google One.

The rumor, first published in the Financial Times, comes as Google faces increasing competition from AI search startups including Perplexity and Glean in the area of enterprise search.

Google told the FT that it is "not working on or considering" ad-free search, but continues to build new premium features to "enhance our subscription offerings."

Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) uses a number of AI models to create answers and structured responses to queries that would not be informative on a single website.

Currently available only as an opt-in, users must sign up for Google Search Labs and select SGE experiments to see AI results at the top of their search queries. However, Google has begun rolling it out to mainstream search results for some U.S. users on a non-opt-in basis.

AI results will appear above the usual list of links and ads and will be completely different depending on the query. For example, if you ask how to make buffalo wings, it will show you a recipe; if you say you are going to Madrid for a week, it will show you a day-by-day itinerary.

Other companies are working in this same area, including Perplexity, a billion-dollar startup that is aggressively trying to overtake Google by providing more nuanced and detailed results.

Google already has an AI subscription service. Google One, previously reserved for additional Drive storage, now includes access to Gemini Advanced as well as the Workspace app Gemini. It would be a more attractive proposition if Gemini for Search could also be added to this list.

The company told the FT that there is "nothing to announce right now," but that it has been reinventing search for years to help people access information in a natural way.

A spokesperson says: "With our generative AI experiment in search, we have already served billions of queries and are seeing positive growth in search queries in all our key markets. We continue to rapidly improve our product to meet new user needs."

He stated.

According to the FT, the work to charge has already been developed, but management has not yet decided if or to what extent it will roll it out. There appears to be concern that even hinting at charging could harm the search business, which is a cash cow.