Gemini in Google Workspace · Lesson 1 of 7
What you have and what to switch on
15 minutes. Find out which Workspace plan you're on, what Gemini comes with it, and which switches need to be on.
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Most small businesses on Google Workspace already pay for Gemini. They just don't know it. Since early 2025, Google has included Gemini in its Workspace Business plans instead of selling it as a separate add-on. So before anyone on your team opens a new tab or buys a new subscription, find out what you already have.
This lesson has three parts: your plan, the admin switches, and the one setting each person checks for themselves.
If you're the admin, sign in to the Google Admin console and look at your subscription. If you aren't, ask the person who pays the Google bill, or ask your IT partner. You need one answer: the name of your Workspace edition.
For most small businesses, it's one of these three. Here is what Google's own pricing and comparison pages showed on October 10, 2026:
| Edition | Listed price | Gemini, in short | |---|---|---| | Business Starter | $7 per user per month | The Gemini app, plus Gemini in Gmail. Google's comparison page also lists a smaller set of Gemini features in Docs, Sheets, Meet and Drive, with lower limits. | | Business Standard | $14 per user per month | The Gemini app with "Pro" access, and Gemini across Gmail, Docs, Meet and more, with higher limits. | | Business Plus | $22 per user per month | Everything in Standard, plus more Gemini access and extra security and reporting features. |
Prices are Google's listed prices with a one-year commitment, per user per month, before tax. Google was also running introductory discounts that day. Check the pricing page for what you'd pay.
Two things to take from the table:
- Every Business plan includes the Gemini app (at gemini.google.com, and on phones and computers). Google calls it a "core service" in Workspace, which means your work chats get Workspace's data protections. More on that in Lesson 2.
- What you get inside Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Meet and Drive grows with the plan. If you're on Starter and a feature in this course doesn't appear, your plan may not include it, or may include fewer uses of it. Google's "Compare Business editions" page lists every feature by plan.
At our fictional Comfort Zone Heating & Cooling, the plan is Business Standard. That covers everything in this course.
> Using a personal Gmail account for the business? This course is written for Workspace work accounts. Google offers Gemini to personal accounts through separate Google AI plans, with different privacy terms. If your business still runs on personal accounts, talk to your IT partner about moving to Workspace before you put customer email near any AI tool.
Gemini is on by default for most Workspace Business customers. But defaults can be changed, and some changes are left over from years ago. Ask your admin (or your IT partner) to look at these and tell you what they see. You don't need to change anything yet. You need to know.
1. Is the Gemini app on? In the Admin console: Menu > Generative AI > Gemini app > Service status. Google's help page says it's "On for everyone" by default for people with a qualifying license. It can also be turned on for some departments and not others. Changes can take up to 24 hours.
2. Can the Gemini app use your Workspace apps? On the same Gemini app page, under Apps, there's a setting for Workspace apps, which lets the Gemini app look in Gmail, Drive and Calendar. Google says this is on by default. If it's off, people can still chat with Gemini, but it can't look in their email or files.
3. Are skills turned on? Skills are Google's new way to save reusable instructions (Lesson 6). Admins control them at Menu > Apps > Google Workspace > Workspace Studio > Skills > Create and use skills. Google's rollout to business accounts runs through October and November 2026, so this switch may be new to your admin.
4. Gemini inside Gmail, Docs and the rest. Google's help pages say Gemini features in Workspace apps are on by default. The per-app on and off switches (Menu > Generative AI > Gemini for Workspace > Feature access) are listed for Enterprise and some Education editions. On a Business plan, expect them to be on.
Only an admin with Google's "Gemini Settings administrator" privilege can change these. If your IT partner manages your Admin console, send them this list and ask for a two-line reply.
This one isn't an admin setting. Each person controls it for their own account, and if it's off, Gemini won't summarize or draft for them. It's called smart features.
On a computer:
- Open Gmail.
- Click Settings at the top right, then See all settings.
- Stay on the General tab and scroll to Smart features.
- Click Manage Workspace smart feature settings.
- Make sure Smart features in Google Workspace is on.
Google describes this setting as the one that lets you "ask Gemini to summarize content, create drafts, and find key information." There's a second setting nearby for "other Google products" such as Maps and Wallet. That one is separate and you don't need it for this course.
If you plan to use the Gemini app with your email and files, Google's help also says your Gemini activity history (it calls it Keep Activity, or conversation history) must be on. Your admin may manage that setting for you.
In Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Drive, Google's help pages all say the same thing: at the top right, click Ask Gemini. A side panel opens with a box to type in. (In Drive it opens a full-screen view.) That's the button this whole course uses.
- Write down your Workspace edition.
- Send your admin or IT partner the four questions from Part 2. Ask for the answers in writing.
- Check your own smart features setting, and ask two people on your team to check theirs.
- Open Gmail and confirm you can see Ask Gemini at the top right.
Check it worked
- You know your edition, and you've looked at what Google's comparison page lists for it.
- You know whether the Gemini app is on, whether it can use Workspace apps, and whether skills are on.
- Your smart features in Google Workspace setting is on.
- You can open the Gemini side panel in Gmail.
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Next: before Gemini starts reading your files, find out exactly what it can see.
→ Lesson 2: What Gemini can see, and an oversharing check