YouTube's next search mode feels more like a conversation

You can use Ask YouTube now, if you are a Premium subscriber in the US of A, and are 18 or older.
Text: Markus Hirsilä
Published 2026-04-29

Google is clearly pushing AI search onto almost all of their products, and YouTube is no stranger to this. According to Engadget, a new feature called Ask YouTube will let you pose complex questions and receive "comprehensive results that include video and text, then ask follow ups to dive deeper". Unfortunately you need to live in the US to try this experimental feature, and it is available starting today until June 8th for Premium US subscribers, who are 18 and older.

First you need to enable the feature in your account. Then you may click on the new "Ask YouTube" button in the search bar and you'll see prompt suggestions. You can of course enter your own, like "plan a 3-day road trip between San Francisco and Santa Barbara". After you have got a result, you can try follow-up questions or choose from suggested prompts to explore in more detail.

This was tested by The Verge and, as it tends to be with AI when it comes to new and current events, one of the searches concerning a Steam Controller yielded factually inaccurate information.

Time will tell, how well this new AI search is received among YouTube users.

Back