Why your Gemini might not match someone else's
In Level 1 you learned what Gemini is and that it changes often. There is a second reason two people see different Gemini features: they are on different plans, or their administrators have set different switches.
Think of an office building. Your plan is the set of rooms your lease covers. The admin switches are the locks on those rooms, and IT holds the keys. A room missing from your lease and a locked room look the same from the corridor, because you can't get in either way. The fix is different for each, so this lesson teaches you to tell them apart.
Plans and features change every month. Treat every list below as correct only when this lesson was written, and check Google's current pages before you rely on it.
Task 1: Identify which kind of account you have
DO:
- Open gmail.com and click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
- Read the address. A company domain (for example name@yourcompany.com) usually means a Google Workspace account managed by your organisation. An address ending in @gmail.com is a personal Google account.
- Write down which one you are using for work. Many people have both, and Gemini behaves differently in each.
Task 2: Find what your plan includes
If you use a Workspace account
Gemini is now included in Workspace Business and Enterprise editions. It is no longer sold as a separate licence. The editions are not equal, though. At the time of writing, Google's pricing page shows roughly this:
- Business Starter: Gemini in Gmail, Gemini in Vids and basic access to the Gemini app. Gemini in Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet and Chat is not listed.
- Business Standard, Business Plus and Enterprise: Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet and Chat, wider access to the Gemini app, and more features in Gemini Notebook.
Note on names: in July 2026 Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. The address and existing notebooks stayed the same. Older guides and colleagues may still use the old name.
Add-on: Google also sells AI Expanded Access for Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus. It raises usage limits on advanced features, for example image and video generation and Meet speech translation. You do not need it for the everyday Gemini features your edition already includes.
DO: Ask IT which Workspace edition your account is on, and whether any add-on is assigned to you. Then open Google's Workspace pricing or compare-editions page and find your edition's AI features.
If you use a personal account
Google's subscriptions page (gemini.google/subscriptions) lists four tiers: Free, Google AI Plus, Google AI Pro and Google AI Ultra. Paid tiers raise usage limits and add things such as Gemini in Gmail and Docs and more Gemini Notebook features. Prices differ by country.
DO: Open that page and note the features listed for your tier.
Task 3: Learn the admin switches
In Workspace, a super administrator, or an admin with the Gemini settings privilege, controls Gemini in the Google Admin console under Generative AI. You won't see these screens yourself. Knowing their names helps you ask IT a precise question.
- Gemini for Workspace → Feature access. This turns Gemini on or off in each app: Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, Chat, Vids and others. The default is on. Admins can apply it to specific organisational units (departments) or groups.
- Gemini app → User access. This controls gemini.google.com and the mobile apps. A change can take up to 24 hours to reach users.
- Gemini Alpha features. Early, unfinished features. This is off by default. Once an admin turns it on, users may get any new alpha feature, because individual alpha features can't be chosen one by one.
Two details to remember:
- If Gemini is switched off in one app, Gemini in another app may still reach that app's files. For example, Gemini in Gmail can still answer questions about a Drive file when Gemini in Drive is off.
- Users must have smart features and personalisation turned on in their own settings for Gemini in Workspace apps to work.
Task 4: Tell a missing feature from a switched-off one
When you can't find a feature, work through these checks in order:
- Is it in my edition or tier? If Google's page doesn't list it, your plan doesn't include it. The fix is a plan change or an add-on, which is a budget question.
- Does a colleague on the same edition have it? If they do and you don't, the likely cause is an admin setting for your department or group.
- Is it alpha or preview? It may not be switched on for your organisation, or may not have reached your account yet.
- Are my smart features turned on? Check your own settings before you contact IT.
Ask IT in this format: "I'm on [edition]. Google lists [feature] for this edition, but I can't see it in [app]. Is Gemini Feature access turned off for my organisational unit?"
Task 5: Build your one-page checklist
DO: Make a table in a Google Doc with four columns: Feature, Where, Status, Checked on.
- List these features: Gemini app, Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Drive, Gemini Notebook, Deep Research, image generation and Gems.
- For each one, open the app and look for the Gemini icon or side panel.
- Mark each feature with one of four statuses: Available, Unavailable (not in plan), Unavailable (switched off: ask IT) or Preview.
- Add today's date. Repeat the check every month.
Check your result: Every feature should have exactly one status. Every "Unavailable" item should say why, plan or switch, and your reasoning should match Google's page for your edition.
Key takeaways
- Your plan decides what you could have. Admin switches decide what you actually get.
- Business Starter includes far fewer Gemini features than Business Standard and above.
- AI Expanded Access raises limits on advanced features. It is not needed for the everyday features.
- Gemini in each app is on by default. Alpha features are off by default and come all together.
- NotebookLM is now called Gemini Notebook.
- Check a feature against Google's current page before you blame the plan or IT.