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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://google-40.mintlify.app/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

The AI chat is a conversational interface for exploring the sources in your notebook. Type a question or request, and the AI reads through your sources, finds the relevant passages, and synthesizes a response—with links back to exactly where it found the information. Every notebook has its own independent chat, so conversations stay organized alongside the sources they draw from.

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How it differs from general AI chatbots

Most AI chatbots answer from a broad base of pre-trained knowledge. NotebookLM’s AI works differently: it answers only from the sources you’ve added to the notebook. It has no access to the internet, your other notebooks, or any outside knowledge base. This constraint is intentional. It means answers are traceable, grounded in your actual research materials, and free from hallucinated facts about topics outside your sources.

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How to ask effective questions

Be specific. Reference the topics, documents, or concepts present in your sources. Vague questions tend to produce broad answers, while precise questions produce precise ones. Questions that work well:
  • Summaries — “Summarize the key findings in the Q3 earnings report.”
  • Comparisons — “How do the two proposed policies differ on carbon pricing?”
  • Definitions — “What does the author mean by ‘adaptive capacity’ in chapter 3?”
  • Locating information — “What does the report say about supply chain risks?”
  • Synthesis — “What themes appear across all three interview transcripts?”
Ask follow-up questions to dig deeper. If the AI’s first answer is useful but not complete, respond with “Can you expand on that?” or “Which source covers this in the most detail?” The AI retains the conversation context and can build on previous answers.

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Understanding AI responses

Each response includes inline citation markers—numbered or highlighted references that link to the specific source passages the AI used. Select a citation to view the original text in your source panel. Use citations to:
  • Verify that the AI’s answer accurately reflects your source material
  • Read the full context around a quoted passage
  • Identify which sources are most relevant to a given topic
For more on how citations work, see Citations.

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Conversation history

Your questions and the AI’s answers persist in the notebook. You can scroll back through the full conversation at any time. This history is tied to the notebook, so it remains available across sessions.

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Start a new conversation

To clear the current conversation and start fresh, look for the New chat option in the chat panel. Starting a new conversation doesn’t affect your sources or previous chat history—it simply opens a clean thread. Use this when you’re switching to a different research question within the same notebook.
If none of your sources contain content relevant to your question, the AI will decline to answer rather than speculate. If you see this response, check that you’ve added the right sources and that they’ve finished processing before trying again.

Add sources

The AI can only answer from sources you’ve added. Start here if your notebook is empty.

Citations

Learn how to read and use inline citations to verify AI answers.

Notebook guide

Use the Notebook Guide to get structured overviews of your sources.

Research workflow

A recommended workflow for using AI chat in a research project.