I still calle Gemini Notebooks "NotebookLM" and now, it looks like I'll still be calling Gemini Skills "Gems." To be fair, I still call X, "Twitter" on occassion. Some habits are hard to break.
Google is replacing Gemini Gems with Skills, giving users a way to access custom AI instructions directly within a conversation using slash commands. Users can also combine multiple Skills without switching between chats.
The transition begins November 17, 2026, when personal accounts will automatically migrate from Gems to Skills. Google Workspace users will have a little more time, with Gems remaining available until early 2027.
I've spent years covering Google's AI developments, from the days when its chatbot was called Bard to its current Gemini lineup. I've watched products get renamed, subscriptions get rebranded and features move from one app to another. Sometimes those changes bring genuinely useful improvements. Other times, I'm left wondering why Google couldn't just leave a perfectly good name alone.
The latest round is particularly confusing because Google isn't just changing the label of the tool, it's actually changing how some of these tools work, where you find them and, in certain cases, which features you'll still be able to use.
Here's what's changing and what you need to know before your favorite Google AI tool seemingly disappears.
NotebookLM is now Gemini Notebook
Let's start with one of Google's most popular AI tools. NotebookLM launched in 2023 as a research assistant that could work with your documents, PDFs and other sources. It became particularly popular thanks to its Audio Overviews feature, which could turn research materials into surprisingly convincing podcast-style conversations.
Then, in July 2026, Google announced that NotebookLM was becoming Gemini Notebook. The good news is that this isn't a case of Google shutting down a beloved product. Gemini Notebook remains a standalone research tool, and your notebooks can sync with the Gemini app.
Google is also adding more capabilities, including a secure cloud computer that lets the AI execute code and perform more advanced analysis. That feature initially launched for certain paid subscribers, with broader availability planned.
The new name reflects Google's effort to bring its research tools together under the Gemini brand. That's understandable from a business perspective. But NotebookLM had already developed an identity of its own. People knew what it was called, what it did and why they might want to use it.
Gemini Gems are becoming Skills
This change is arguably more significant because it affects how people tailor Gemini to their own needs. Gems let you create personalized versions of Gemini for specific tasks. You could build one to help with writing, another to explain difficult concepts or one that followed particular instructions every time you used it.
Google is now replacing Gems with Skills. And while it may seem like the idea is similar, there are some important differences worth noting. For starters, instead of opening a separate Gem conversation, you can invoke a Skill directly inside an existing Gemini chat by typing a forward slash followed by its name. Gemini can also recognize when a Skill is relevant and apply it automatically.
You can even combine multiple Skills in a single conversation, something that wasn't possible in the same way with standalone Gems. I have found them genuinely useful for everything from research to comparing products, and being able to reuse them without switching between assistants makes sense.
However, there's a catch. Google says that Skills don't yet support several features available through Gems, including Deep Research, Canvas, Guided Learning and certain media-generation tools. Google plans to bring additional capabilities to Skills, but they're not all there today.
For personal Google accounts, Gems will disappear in November 2026. Business and education accounts have longer timelines, extending into 2027.
Fortunately, Google says existing Gems and their supported files will automatically migrate to Skills, which means most users shouldn't have to rebuild everything from scratch, although it's worth checking your customized workflows once the transition happens.
Some Google AI tools really are disappearing
Remember when Gemini was Bard? Before Gemini became the name associated with Google's flagship chatbot, there was Bard. Google introduced Bard in 2023, then rebranded it as Gemini in February 2024.
The company also introduced Gemini Advanced, a paid version of its chatbot experience, as part of the Google One AI Premium subscription. That subscription was subsequently rebranded as Google AI Pro, while Google expanded its subscription lineup with other tiers. Even Google's research tools have a history of changing identities. NotebookLM originally began as an experimental project called Project Tailwind before adopting the NotebookLM name.
To be fair, some of these changes reflect real technological progress. Bard evolved into Gemini, and Google's AI subscriptions now cover more than access to a single chatbot.
Still, keeping up can be frustrating when the name you learned six months ago no longer appears in Google's latest announcement. And what's tricky is that not every change is a direct one-for-one replacement. Some involve entire subscriptions or changes to how products are organized, while others introduce features that weren't available before.
Why Google keeps renaming tools
As annoying as it is, there is some method to Google's madness. The company wants Gemini to become the recognizable center of its AI ecosystem.
Renaming NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook reinforces that identity. Replacing Gems with Skills also makes Google's customization tools feel more like a reusable capability. The name alone implies usefuleness. And bringing those tools into the same interface could eventually make Gemini much easier to use.
The problem is the transition as Google tries to simplify its AI ecosystem while continually changing terminology.
The takeaway
As Google works out its identity crisis, I welcome the changes. Having tried Skills, I believe they are more flexible and useful than Gems, and bringing Gemini Notebook into more of Google's products makes a lot of sense.
Once someone discovers a tool that works for them and boosts productivity, it may not matter what it's called. Those of us who still call it NotebookLM probably aren't going to stop anytime soon. Google can rename it all it wants.