What are Google Connected Apps?

Google describes Connected Apps as a way to securely link third-party services to AI Mode in Search and to the Gemini app, so people can get more personalised responses and take supported actions in the conversation. After someone links an account, AI Mode can work with that app and may send them to it to finish a task such as grocery checkout or editing a design.

Are Connected Apps available in the UK?

Not for Search AI Mode, as far as we can tell. Google’s Search help page says the feature is currently available in AI Mode in the US, in English, and we haven’t found a UK date on any Google page we’ve read. In Gemini it varies by app: Google’s availability table lists OpenTable as UK and US only, for example. We treat UK timing for Search as unknown until Google says otherwise.

Is this the same as apps in ChatGPT?

No. OpenAI introduced apps in ChatGPT in October 2025, built on its own Apps SDK, which is itself built on the Model Context Protocol [12]. Google’s Connected Apps are Google’s integrations for AI Mode and the Gemini app, with their own Connected Apps Platform and Google Connected Console for developers. Both sit on MCP, so some of the engineering carries across even though the platforms are separate.

How are we getting retail sites ready before Connected Apps reach the UK?

We start with groundwork that helps every answer engine: accurate product and policy data, on-site search that copes with natural language questions, structured data that matches the page, and pages AI systems can cite. If a retailer later publishes a Connected App, or a platform does it for them, that groundwork carries over. Our Free GEO audit shows where a site stands today, and we’re happy to talk it through on a call: book a call with us.

What Google Connected Apps Means for UK Retailers

We’ve read through Google’s Connected Apps announcements and help pages. Here’s what’s live, and how we’re getting retail sites ready while it’s still US only.

Published: 10/11/2026

Google has started letting people use third-party apps inside Search AI Mode and the Gemini app. Google calls these Connected Apps. Someone asks for help in natural language, links their account to the app if it isn’t linked yet, and AI Mode can then work with that app. Google’s own examples include building a grocery cart from a recipe, making a custom playlist and creating a custom design. Once AI Mode has finished the request, the person may be sent to the connected app to finalise it. Google’s help page names Instacart for grocery checkout, YouTube Music for listening to a playlist and Canva for downloading or editing a design.

Google announced the Search version on 16 July 2026, rolling out first in the US [1]. TechCrunch and Search Engine Land both reported Instacart, Canva and YouTube Music as the first apps [2].

Four-step diagram: a shopper asks AI Mode a question, links their account to an app, AI Mode works with the app, and the shopper may be sent to the app to finish, for example Instacart for checkout.

How developers get apps into Search and Gemini

On 28 October 2026 Google opened a preview of its Connected Apps Platform for developers [3]. Google says it lets developers “build once and reach high-intent users across both Search and the Gemini app”. Developers integrate with a cloud-hosted MCP server, or with Android MCP using the AppFunctions APIs. They then use the Google Connected Console to register, test and submit their app, and they choose before review whether it goes live in Search, the Gemini app or both.

MCP is the Model Context Protocol, an open standard [4]. Google’s developer guide says the MCP server needs a public HTTPS endpoint to be tested in Gemini Developer Mode, and names Google Cloud Run as one way to host it on Google Cloud [5]. Google also points developers to an OAuth 2.1 implementation guide, so the Gemini app can be securely authorised to act on a person’s behalf.

On the user side, Google says it has launched “more than 50 Connected Apps between Search and Gemini”, in areas ranging from productivity and event ticketing to health and fitness. Adobe, Experian, Localiza and Peloton are live in Gemini, and Google says it will bring them to Search “in the coming weeks”. Calm is launching across both.

Availability today

We checked each page cited here on 9 November 2026, and this section is the part most likely to change.

For Search, Google’s help page says Connected Apps in AI Mode are currently available in the US, in English, and that availability varies by location, language and device [6]. It says AI Mode starts with media, fantasy sports, grocery and design apps. The developer preview is a US one too: TechCrunch reports it is available in beta to developers in the US and that Google didn’t say when it would be more broadly available [7], and The Verge says developers in the US can join the waitlist [8]. Google’s own post says it will add “more developers, markets, and Google products over the coming months”.

Gemini is more mixed. Google’s availability table for Gemini lists a location and language for each app. When we read it, OpenTable was listed as UK and US only, in English, Instacart and Peloton were listed as US only, and Adobe was listed for every country and territory where Gemini Apps and Adobe are supported, in English only [9].

We haven’t found a UK launch date for Connected Apps in Search on any Google page we’ve read, so we treat UK timing for Search as unknown.

Availability card dated 9 November 2026: Search AI Mode is US and English only; Gemini lists OpenTable as UK and US only and Instacart as US only; the developer preview is opening in phases with more developers and markets to come. No UK date for Search was found.

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What this means for retailers

Connected Apps let Google’s conversational tools use a live service, with the user’s permission, as well as summarising web pages. Search Engine Land’s read on the July launch is that giving people more ways to act on AI Mode results “could affect how much traffic, visibility and control brands get after someone searches” [10]. TechCrunch describes the premise as a possible shift from launching individual apps to using favourite services through a preferred AI provider.

Building and publishing a retailer’s own Connected App means the steps in Google’s developer guide: joining the preview, hosting a cloud MCP server, implementing OAuth 2.1, choosing Search, Gemini or both, and passing Google’s review. As a team that builds AI site search, product recommendations and conversational commerce, we read that list as an engineering and data job as much as a marketing one. An app is only as good as the catalogue, stock and policy data behind it.

Stat card: Google says it has launched more than 50 Connected Apps between Search and Gemini.

How we’re getting retail sites ready

There’s no UK switch to wait for. The same groundwork helps classic search, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini and other answer engines, so that’s where we start. Google’s own guidance says the fundamentals remain relevant for AI Overviews and AI Mode, and that no extra technical requirements or special markup are needed to appear in them [11].

Product data. We start by checking that titles, images, prices, stock, shipping and returns are accurate and current. Incomplete or stale catalogue data is where we see AI answers go wrong. Google’s guidance also lists keeping Merchant Center and Business Profile information up to date.
Site search and discovery. We test whether people (and machines) can find the right SKU from a natural language question, not only from an exact product name.
Structured data. We add clear product, organisation, FAQ and policy markup so crawlers and answer engines can read what a store sells and how it fulfils. The test we apply is Google’s: structured data has to match the visible text on the page.
GEO readiness. We write pages so AI systems can lift a clean answer, cite a trusted source and get the brand facts right. We also check crawl access for the bots that matter, including robots.txt and any CDN or hosting layer, which Google lists as a fundamental.
Watching the platform. We follow Google’s Connected Apps documentation and Search help pages for UK news, and we don’t plan launches around a date Google hasn’t given.

Firney is a UK web development and AI engineering company. We build fast websites, AI site search, product recommendations and conversational commerce for retail and D2C brands. Firney is a Prismic partner and a Google Cloud partner.

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