🧠All Things AI
🧠 All Things AI
Beginner

Gems — Custom Gemini Assistants

Gems are customisable, reusable Gemini AI assistants. You define a persona, purpose, background knowledge, and response style once — and the Gem retains those instructions across all future conversations. They are Google's equivalent of OpenAI's Custom GPTs and Anthropic's Claude Projects.

What Gems Are

A standard Gemini chat starts fresh every time. A Gem is a pre-configured version of Gemini that always knows its role, its preferred response style, and any background documents or context you want it to reference. When you open a Gem conversation, those instructions are already loaded — you can get directly to the work.

Gems can range from a focused single-purpose tool (a proofreader who only tightens prose) to a sophisticated domain specialist (a customer support agent with your product documentation uploaded as its knowledge base).

Creating a Gem

Gem creation and editing is currently web-only — the Gemini web app at gemini.google.com. Once created, Gems can be used on mobile as well.

  1. Open Gemini on the web and navigate to Explore Gems from the sidebar.
  2. Click Create new Gem.
  3. Write your instructions in natural language — describe the persona, what tasks it handles, tone, format preferences, and any constraints.
  4. Optionally upload knowledge files from your device or link files from Google Drive. These become part of the Gem's context.
  5. Preview the Gem — test it with sample prompts to verify it behaves as intended.
  6. Save and name the Gem. It will now appear in your Gems list.

Gems are available on both Free and Pro plans. Creating as many Gems as you need is unrestricted.

Sharing Gems

Sharing launched in September 2025, following the same model as Google Drive file sharing. You generate a link and control the permission level:

  • View/Use: Recipients can chat with the Gem but cannot edit its instructions or see the underlying knowledge files.
  • Edit: Recipients can modify the Gem's configuration — useful for collaborative team builds.

For sharing to work correctly, any knowledge files must be uploaded from your device or linked from Google Drive at the time of sharing. Recipients with access to the Gem can also copy it to their own Gems library for further customisation.

Practical Use Cases

Brand Voice Assistant

Upload your brand guidelines. The Gem rewrites all output to match your tone, vocabulary, and style without needing to remind it in every conversation.

Coding Helper

Pre-loaded with your codebase conventions, preferred libraries, and error patterns. Saves context window on every debugging session.

Department Specialist

HR Gems loaded with your company policies, legal Gems with jurisdiction-specific guidelines, finance Gems with your reporting templates.

Study Tutor

Upload a textbook or lecture notes. The Gem explains, quizzes, and adapts explanations to your level — a personised tutor for a specific subject.

Checklist

  • What is the key difference between a regular Gemini chat and a Gem?
  • On which platform can you create and edit Gems, and where can you use them?
  • What are the two permission levels when sharing a Gem?
  • Which plans support creating Gems — Free only, Pro only, or both?
  • What must be true about knowledge files for Gem sharing to work correctly?