Gemini Notebook: study and search inside your own sources
How to use Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) to work on a collection of documents: prepare sources, ask the right questions, check citations, pick the study format and hand the work to an agent.
Mattia PanattaPublished 22 October 20268 minBeginnerIn short
- Gemini Notebook, formerly NotebookLM, works on a collection of sources you choose: PDFs, documents, web pages, videos, notes.
- It answers from those sources and takes you to the exact passage behind every claim: the cleanest way to give AI context.
- It turns material into summaries, maps, quizzes, flashcards, slides, audio and video overviews.
- Checking stays with you: a precise citation can still back an old or wrong source.
The notebook is the boundary of the work
A notebook gathers a project’s sources and separates three moments: Sources (what the system may use), Chat (the questions) and Studio (the formats you turn the material into). Decide the boundary first, then ask.
Pick a focused topic: “the three suppliers’ offers for the October project” works, “all my work” doesn’t. Adding lots of sources before knowing what you’re looking for adds noise.
Prepare recognisable sources
Simple names with title and date, no three near-identical copies without saying which counts. Remember videos are read through the transcript: a step shown but not spoken may be missing. After uploading, check the source was actually imported.
A trick: before handing over a big collection, ask a question whose answer you already know and see where it finds it.
Questions that pay off
“Summarise everything” is fine to get your bearings. Then ask for comparisons, conditions, disagreements and missing information: a table with price, duration, inclusions and exclusions for three offers, each cell linked to the right document. A value not found must stay “not found”.
When needed, select only some sources: it’s the simplest way to isolate a comparison and see whether the answer changes because you changed the material.
Put citations to the test
When an answer says “always”, open the passage and look for the condition. If the cited source doesn’t really support the sentence, fix the conclusion: asking the notebook to confirm it again isn’t independent proof.
Studying: pick the right format
| If you want to… | Format | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Get your bearings | Summary or map | Key concepts and missing links |
| Review while walking | Audio overview | Names, figures, simplifications |
| Remember definitions | Flashcards | Answer before flipping the card |
| See if you’ve learned | Quiz | Explain why the other answers are wrong |
| Present | Slides | Data sources and readability |
My method: I try to answer on my own first, use the notebook to clear up the point that doesn’t add up by opening the source, then close everything and explain the concept in my own words.
When to move to an agent
I use Gemini Notebook to understand and query a collection, Claude Code to build files and products from verified material, Grok Bot for tasks that carry on over time. The useful handover is a checkable dossier: a short conclusion, excerpts with title and date for every decisive fact, the authoritative files and a list of doubts. That way the agent starts from the right context. More in the harness engineering guide.
In my book, the Gemini Notebook chapter goes deeper into limits, plans and confidential material.
Sources
Informational content, current as of the date shown. Prices, models and rules change often: always check official sources. Written with the support of AI tools and reviewed by the author.
