How to Use NotebookLM (Now Gemini Notebook): A Practical Guide

NotebookLM is Google's research notebook: you give it your own documents, and it answers questions from those sources only, with citations you can click. It's one of the most practical AI tools for business owners, because it works on your material rather than the whole internet.

First, the name. Google has renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. It's the same standalone product, existing shared notebooks and links keep working through automatic redirects, and the new name and logo are rolling out gradually. Most people still search for NotebookLM, so I'll use both names here. Everything below comes from Google's own help centre.

What is NotebookLM?

Google calls it an AI-powered research assistant for refining and organising ideas, and it supports more than 80 languages. Each notebook is a separate collection of sources. You chat with those sources, and Gemini Notebook answers only from them, showing citations you can hover over or click to see the original passage.

Each notebook is independent and can't read across your other notebooks. That's useful for a business: one notebook per client or project keeps information apart.

How do I use NotebookLM step by step?

1. Open notebook.google.com and select Create new notebook. You can also make notebooks inside the Gemini app.
2. Add sources: upload files, paste text or links, or use Discover sources.
3. Ask questions in the chat and click the citations to check answers.
4. Use the Studio panel to create Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, reports, mind maps and more.
5. Share the notebook with colleagues if they need it.

What sources can you add?

Google lists a wide range: PDFs, Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets, Word, PowerPoint, text, Markdown, CSV, images, audio, web links, public YouTube links, ePub files, Play Books ebooks, pasted text and Gemini chats.

Each source can be up to 500,000 words or 200 MB. On the free Standard tier you get up to 100 notebooks with up to 50 sources in each. Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra raise those limits.

If you don't have sources yet, type a question into the sources panel to use Discover sources. Fast Research searches the web or your Drive, and switching on Deep Research takes a couple of minutes and digs further. Deep Research there is for users aged 18 and over.

How does the chat work?

The chat answers from your sources and shows where each point came from. You can set it to Default, Learning Guide or Custom, choose a response length, and save useful replies to notes. Google has also added experimental options for the chat to run web searches and code and to create downloadable files, charts and images.

Copy this prompt

Using only these sources, summarise the five most common questions customers ask us
and the answer we give each time.
Cite the source for every answer and flag any question where our sources disagree.

What can the Studio panel make?

Output	What you get	Useful for
Audio Overview	A podcast-style discussion of your sources in Deep Dive, The Brief, The Critique or The Debate formats	Listening to a long report on the move
Video Overview	Cinematic, Explainer or Short video with styles such as Whiteboard or Watercolor	A quick visual explainer for your team
Mind Map	A branching map of the topics in your sources	Seeing how a big subject fits together
Reports	Interactive or Document reports from your sources	A structured briefing to share
Flashcards and quizzes	Study aids built from your sources	Training new staff on policies
Infographics and slide decks	Visual summaries	Turning research into something presentable

Audio Overview length can be shorter, default or longer, and there's an English-only Interactive mode that lets you join in and ask the hosts questions. Video Overviews can take more than 30 minutes to generate, so start one and come back. Mind maps can be downloaded, though not on mobile.

Copy and paste this prompt

Create a Brief Audio Overview of these sources for a new team member.
Focus on how we work with clients, the three rules they must never break,
and who to ask for help.

How do I share a notebook?

Notebooks shared from a personal Gmail account can include up to 50 people. Public sharing with Anyone with a link is for consumer accounts only. For client work, I'd share with named people rather than a public link.

Is NotebookLM private?

Google says your data isn't used to train the model unless you give feedback. As with any AI tool, keep the most sensitive client details out unless your organisation has approved it, and use a work account if your business runs on Google Workspace.

What's new since the rename to Gemini Notebook?

• Each notebook can now use a secure cloud computer to write and run code for data analysis, starting with Google AI Ultra and rolling out to Pro on the web.
• Notebooks sync with the Gemini app, and Google says AI Mode in Search is coming.
• Usage limits are now based on computing use rather than fixed daily counts, and refresh every five hours up to a weekly limit.

Gemini's Deep Research can also use your notebooks as a source, which is a strong combination. My guide to Gemini Deep Research shows how that works.

NotebookLM vs a normal Gemini chat

The difference is where the answers come from. A normal chat in the Gemini app draws on everything the model knows plus whatever it searches. Gemini Notebook answers from the sources you've added, and shows you exactly where each point came from. That makes it slower to set up but much easier to trust for business questions.

I'd use a normal Gemini chat for open questions, brainstorming and first drafts. I'd use a notebook when the right answer lives in your own documents: your policies, your proposals, your customer feedback or a pile of meeting notes. If someone on your team asks "what did we agree with this client?", a notebook with the client's emails and notes answers that far better than a general chat ever could.

The two now work together, too. Notebooks sync with the Gemini app, so you can move between a quick chat and your grounded sources without starting again.

Ideas for using NotebookLM in a small business

• A notebook of your policies and procedures that staff can question.
• A client notebook holding the brief, meeting notes and feedback.
• A notebook of competitor pages and reviews before a strategy session.
• A training notebook that turns your guides into quizzes and an Audio Overview.
• A notebook of your best blog posts to brief a writer on your voice.
• A notebook of supplier contracts so you can ask what each one says about notice periods and renewals.

Tools that work with NotebookLM

Gemini Notebook pulls from Google Drive, Google Docs, Slides and Sheets, YouTube and the web, and it works alongside the Gemini app. Around it, Google Meet or Zoom recordings and transcripts make good sources, and Notion or Google Docs is a sensible place for the final notes you write up from it.

Setting up notebooks is easy; getting a team to use them every week is the harder part, and it's what AI implementation is about. If you'd like help with that, see how I work with business owners.

Frequently asked questions

Is NotebookLM now called Gemini Notebook?

Yes. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. It's still a standalone product, and existing shared notebooks and links redirect automatically.

Is NotebookLM free to use?

Yes, there's a free Standard tier with up to 100 notebooks and 50 sources in each. Google AI Plus, Pro and Ultra raise the limits.

What files can I upload to NotebookLM?

PDFs, Google Docs, Slides and Sheets, Word, PowerPoint, text, Markdown, CSV, images, audio, web links, public YouTube links, ePub files and pasted text, among others.

Does NotebookLM use my data for training?

Google says your data isn't used to train the model unless you give feedback.

Can NotebookLM make podcasts from my documents?

Yes. Audio Overviews create a podcast-style discussion of your sources in four formats, and an English-only Interactive mode lets you ask the hosts questions.