What happened
In 2026, Google made an important decision for small and medium-sized businesses: it included Gemini — its AI assistant — in Business Standard and higher Google Workspace plans, at no extra charge.
This means any company already paying for Google Workspace Business Standard (around €14 per user/month) now has access to:
- AI in Gmail: drafting complete emails, summarizing long conversations, suggesting replies
- AI in Google Docs: creating documents from a title, continuing text, rephrasing paragraphs
- AI in Google Sheets: analyzing data, automatically creating formulas, generating charts
- AI in Google Meet: automatic meeting summaries and task lists after each call
The comparison with Microsoft is relevant: Microsoft Copilot for business costs €21 per user/month extra, on top of the base subscription. Google is offering similar features at no additional cost — a clear advantage for SMBs.
Five practical ways to use Gemini every day
If your company already uses Google Workspace, here are the five most useful ways to start using Gemini today:
1. Drafting difficult emails in Gmail When you need to send a delicate email — a complaint, a proposal, an overdue payment request — just write the subject and click "Help me write." Gemini creates a complete draft you can edit and personalize.
2. Automatic meeting notes in Google Meet At the end of each video call, Gemini offers a summary with the topics discussed, decisions made, and pending tasks — without having to take notes during the meeting.
3. Generating documents from a brief in Google Docs Write a paragraph describing what you need — a business proposal, a monthly report, instructions for a new employee — and Gemini creates a complete version to edit.
4. Analyzing data in Google Sheets without formulas Instead of learning complex formulas, you can describe what you want to know: "calculate the profit margin for each product" or "show which customers haven't purchased in the last 90 days." Gemini writes the formula for you.
5. Searching old documents with NotebookLM Google's NotebookLM lets you upload your own documents — contracts, reports, emails — and ask questions in plain language. "What was the delivery deadline in the contract with supplier X?" gets an answer in seconds.
How to check if you already have access
To check if your plan includes Gemini:
- Open Gmail on a computer
- Click "New email" to compose a message
- If you see a small star button (✦) or "Help me write" in the bottom bar, you already have access to Gemini
If you don't see that button, your plan may be Business Starter (the most basic tier) which does not include Gemini in the current version. In that case, it may be worth evaluating whether the upgrade cost — typically a few euros per user/month — is justified by the time AI can save.
Our advice
Many companies already using Google Workspace are paying for an AI tool without knowing it is available to them.
Our recommendation is simple: before evaluating any new AI tool, check what is already included in the tools you already use. Google Workspace with Gemini, Microsoft 365 with basic Copilot Chat, and Notion with integrated AI are examples of tools where AI is already available — often at no extra cost.
Starting with the AI you already have access to, learning to use it well, and measuring the gains is always a better starting point than investing in new tools before exploring what already exists.