NotebookLM is Google's AI research notebook — and in July 2026 Google gave it a new name: Gemini Notebook, now living at notebook.google.com. Whatever you call it, the idea is the same and it is brilliant: instead of asking a chatbot that might make things up, you give the AI your own documents and it answers only from them, with citations pointing to the exact passage. Here is how to start using it, step by step.
1. Open Gemini Notebook and create your first notebook
Go to notebook.google.com and sign in with any free Google account — the free tier is generous and most people never need to pay. Click Create new notebook and give it a name, like "History exam" or "Market research". You can keep up to 100 notebooks on the free plan, and each notebook can hold up to 50 sources.
2. Add your sources
A notebook is only as good as its sources. You can upload PDFs and text documents, link Google Docs and Slides, paste web page URLs and YouTube video links, or drop in CSV files and images — NotebookLM even reads text inside images. On the free plan each source can be up to 500,000 words or 200MB. Students often add lecture slides, textbook chapters and past papers; this is exactly why it appears on our list of the best free AI tools for students in 2026.
3. Ask questions and get answers with citations
Type a question in the chat box, just like you would in Gemini or ChatGPT. The big difference: every answer comes with inline citations back to your sources, so you can click through and check the exact sentence the AI used. Because it cannot reach for facts outside your material, it almost never hallucinates — which makes it one of the most trustworthy AI tools for research. Tip: specific questions get specific answers, so learning how to write better AI prompts pays off here too.
4. Turn your sources into audio, video and study tools
The Studio panel is where the magic happens. Audio Overviews turn your documents into a podcast-style conversation between two AI hosts — great for revision on the move. Video Overviews narrate your material with visual styles like Scientific, Professional, Editorial or Sketch Note. You also get Mind Maps, Flashcards, Quizzes, study guides and reports, plus Deep Research, which searches the web itself and writes a citation-backed report. On the free plan you get 3 Audio and 3 Video Overviews a day, and limits refresh every 5 hours up to a weekly cap.
5. Know the free limits and paid plans
The free tier covers most casual research: 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 50 chats a day and the daily generation limits above. Paid tiers are not sold separately — they come bundled with Google AI subscriptions: Plus at $4.99/month (price cut in June 2026), Pro at $19.99/month and Ultra from $99.99/month, each multiplying notebooks, sources and daily limits. Start free; only upgrade when you actually hit the daily ceiling, not before.
6. Privacy and safety tips
One honest warning: your files are processed on Google's servers, not on your device, so do not upload confidential or sensitive documents. Stick to study material, public research and your own writing. And even with citations, always spot-check the passages the AI points to — a quick glance at the source keeps you accurate.
That is all you need to get going. Upload a few documents tonight, ask one real question about them, and generate your first Audio Overview — you will understand the tool in ten minutes. Which Studio feature will you try first: the podcast, the video overview, or the mind map? Tell us in the comments.
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