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Google Vertex AI Search
What Google Vertex AI Search is
Google Vertex AI Search, formerly called Vertex AI Search and now identified as Agent Search, builds AI-enabled search and recommendation experiences for public websites and mobile applications. It searches websites, unstructured documents, and structured data, including retrieval-augmented generation. Natural-language understanding, semantic search, synonym handling, spell correction, and auto-suggest are included capabilities. The service can produce answers grounded in indexed data with citations and follow-up questions. Parsers handle PDF, HTML, and TXT, while a search widget can be embedded in websites. Sources include BigQuery, Cloud Storage, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Sites, Google Calendar, Google Groups, Cloud SQL, Spanner, Firestore, Bigtable, AlloyDB for PostgreSQL, and websites. Search uses a hybrid mode with vector and faceted search, and queries use REST. It runs in the cloud across Android, iOS, web, and API. Pricing is paid: Standard Edition is $1.50 a month, billed $1.50 / 1,000 query; Enterprise is $4 a month, billed $4.00 / 1,000 query. A free trial provides 10,000 queries per account monthly, excluding Advanced Generative Answers.
Who it suits
It suits organizations building search or recommendations across websites, mobile apps, documents, and structured data. Teams should account for paid usage and the trial exclusion for Advanced Generative Answers.
What it does well
- Hybrid, vector, and faceted search
- Grounded answers with citations
- Supports many Google data sources
- PDF, HTML, and TXT parsing
- REST query interface
What to know first
- No free plan
- Advanced Generative Answers excluded from free trial
- Paid query-based pricing
- Runs as a cloud deployment
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Search Standard Edition | $1.50 / 1,000 query · Semantic retrieval and KPI optimization · 10,000 queries per account per month at no cost during free trial | $1.50 a month |
| Advanced Generative Answers (AI Mode) | +$4.00 / 1,000 user input query · Can be added to Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition · Excluded from free trial | $4 a month |
| Search Enterprise Edition | $4.00 / 1,000 query · Core Generative Answers included · 10,000 queries per account per month at no cost during free trial | $4 a month |
As cloud.google.com lists them, read 8 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Verdict
Agent Search offers broad data-source coverage, semantic retrieval, and generated answers for web and mobile experiences. Its paid query pricing and trial limits are central planning considerations.
Facts from Google Vertex AI Search's own pages
- Data coverage
- It supports search and retrieval-augmented generation across websites, unstructured documents, and structured data. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Data sources
- Supported sources include websites, BigQuery, Cloud Storage, Google Drive, Gmail, Google Sites, Google Calendar, Google Groups, Cloud SQL, Spanner, Firestore, Bigtable, and AlloyDB for PostgreSQL. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Document processing
- Its parsers handle unstructured formats such as PDF, HTML, and TXT, and its search widget can be embedded in websites. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Free trial limit
- The pricing page offers 10,000 queries per account per month at no cost to explore Agent Search, excluding Advanced Generative Answers. · cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Generative answers
- It can generate answers grounded in indexed data with citations and support follow-up questions. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Industry use cases
- Google describes specialized tuning for commerce catalogs, media libraries, and clinical data repositories. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The custom search documentation describes ingestion through Cloud Storage and BigQuery or through the REST API. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Pricing models
- Search applications and associated data stores use either general pay-as-you-go pricing or configurable monthly subscription pricing, and a configurable data store can only be used by an app on configurable pricing. · cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Agent Search, formerly Vertex AI Search, builds AI-enabled search and recommendation experiences for public websites and mobile applications. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Search features
- Out-of-the-box capabilities include natural-language understanding, semantic search, synonym understanding, spell correction, and auto-suggest. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Security and compliance
- Google Cloud publishes compliance mappings and reports and states that it undergoes independent verification for certifications, attestations, and audit reports. · cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
- Support
- The documentation page links to Google Cloud Support, community forums, release notes, and system status. · docs.cloud.google.com, 8 Oct 2026
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