What are Gemini Gems and how do they work?
Most people using Gemini retype the same instructions every single session. Gems fix that. A Gem is a saved, customised version of Gemini with one job and a set of standing instructions it remembers, so you skip the setup and go straight to the work.
Think of a Gem as a specialist you brief once. You write its instructions, give it a role, and from then on it behaves that way every time you open it. No more pasting your style guide, your tone rules, or your background context into a fresh chat.
Gems live in the Gemini app and can tap into the same capabilities as the main model, including the 1 million token context window and access to Google Workspace when you allow it. The difference is persistence: a Gem starts every conversation already knowing what you want.
What is the difference between a Gem and a Super Gem?
A Gem is an instruction-driven assistant: you describe its job in plain language and it follows those rules. A Super Gem, introduced in 2026, goes further by adding buttons and simple forms, so it behaves less like a chat and more like a small app you built yourself.
For most people, a standard Gem is enough. If you want a "draft a LinkedIn post" assistant that always uses your voice, a plain Gem handles it perfectly.
Super Gems earn their place when you want guided input. A hiring manager could build a Super Gem with a form that asks for the role, seniority, and must-have skills, then generates a job description in a fixed format every time. The form removes guesswork for anyone using it, including teammates who are not prompt experts.
This matters most when you share a Gem with a team. A free-text Gem depends on each person prompting well, which they rarely do consistently. A Super Gem with a form guarantees everyone supplies the same inputs, so the output quality no longer depends on who is using it.
How do you write instructions for a reliable Gem?
Write a Gem's instructions in four blocks: role, task, rules, and output format. Roughly 150 to 300 words is the sweet spot. Too short and the Gem drifts; too long and it gets confused about priorities. Be specific about format, because that is where consistency usually breaks down.
The single biggest lever is showing the format you want rather than describing it. If every output should follow the same structure, spell that structure out explicitly inside the instructions.
Here is a template you can paste straight into a new Gem and adapt:
Try this Gem instruction template:
"Role: You are my [content editor / research assistant / customer-reply writer]. Task: Every time I give you input, you will [describe the single job]. Rules: Always write in [tone and voice]. Never [list what to avoid]. If my input is missing something you need, ask one clarifying question before answering. Output format: Respond using exactly these sections, in this order: 1) [Section one], 2) [Section two], 3) [Section three]. Keep each section under [length]. End every response with a one-line summary labelled 'Takeaway:'."
Fill the brackets, save it, and the Gem will apply those rules to every future conversation without you repeating yourself.
How do the @ extensions make a Gem more useful?
Typing @ inside a prompt lets you pull live data from specific Google services directly into the conversation. The most useful for everyday work are @YouTube to search and reference videos, @Maps for location details, and @Flights for travel options, all without leaving Gemini.
Inside a Gem, this turns a static assistant into one that fetches real information. A travel-planning Gem can use @Flights and @Maps to ground its suggestions in actual options rather than guessing.
A content-research Gem can use @YouTube to find recent videos on a topic, then summarise the key points into your standard brief format. The extension supplies the fresh source, and the Gem's instructions handle how that information is shaped.
The practical tip: name the extension you want explicitly in your prompt. Writing "use @YouTube to find three recent videos on this topic" is far more reliable than hoping Gemini decides to search on its own.
One honest limitation: extensions are only as good as what the underlying service returns, and they will not cover every niche source. Use them to pull in mainstream, well-indexed information, and verify anything high-stakes against the original source before you rely on it.
Can a Gem use your Gmail, Drive, and Calendar?
Yes. When you connect Google Workspace, a Gem can read your Gmail, Drive, and Calendar to ground its answers in your real data. That turns a generic assistant into one that works from your actual emails, documents, and schedule rather than from guesses.
A weekly-planning Gem becomes far more useful here. It can scan your Calendar for the week ahead, pull the relevant project doc from Drive, and draft a prioritised plan that reflects what is actually on your plate.
A practical example: a "client update" Gem can read the latest thread in Gmail, combine it with the project notes in Drive, and draft a status email in your standard format. You review and send, instead of starting from a blank page.
The caution is access. Only connect Workspace to Gems you trust and use often, and remember that anything the Gem reads is part of that conversation. For sensitive accounts, keep Workspace access off and feed the Gem only the specific text it needs.
When should you use a Gem instead of a normal chat or a Temporary Chat?
Use a Gem for any task you repeat. Use a normal chat for one-off questions. Use a Temporary Chat when you are handling sensitive data, because Temporary Chats are not saved to your history and are not used to train the model.
The decision is about repetition and privacy. If you draft weekly reports in the same structure, that is a Gem. If you are asking a quick factual question, a normal chat is fine.
If you are pasting client financials, medical details, or anything confidential, switch to a Temporary Chat first. You lose persistence, but you keep that conversation out of your stored history. For recurring sensitive work, the honest trade-off is that Gems and privacy do not mix well, so handle confidential inputs in Temporary Chats and keep your Gems for non-sensitive tasks.
What are the most common mistakes when building a Gem?
The most common mistake is making one Gem do too many jobs. A Gem that is supposed to write emails, summarise documents, and brainstorm ideas all at once will do all three poorly. Build one Gem per job instead.
The second mistake is vague output rules. "Be professional" means nothing to a model. "Write in three short paragraphs, no bullet points, under 150 words" produces consistent results because it is measurable.
The third is forgetting to update. When a Gem keeps making the same small error, edit its instructions to forbid that error directly. A Gem is not set-and-forget; the best ones get refined over a few weeks until the output is reliable.
A final caution: a Gem only knows what its instructions and the conversation give it. It will not magically remember a document from last week unless you provide it again or connect a Workspace source. Treat the instructions as the Gem's only long-term memory.
How do you build your first Gem in ten minutes?
Pick one task you do at least weekly, open Gem creation in the Gemini app, paste the four-block instruction template, fill in your specifics, and run two test inputs to check the output. If the format wobbles, tighten the rules and try again. Ten minutes is enough for a working first version.
Start with something low-stakes and high-frequency. A "turn my rough notes into a clean meeting summary" Gem is a perfect first build because you can test it immediately and feel the time saved the same day.
Run it twice with real input before you trust it. The first run shows whether it understood the job; the second confirms it produces the same structure consistently. Once it passes both, you have a reusable assistant that saves you the setup tax on every future use.
From there, build out a small library. Most people find three or four well-made Gems cover the bulk of their repeated AI work: one for writing, one for summarising, one for research, and one tied to their specific job. Each one you add compounds the time you save.
The bottom line
Gems turn Gemini from a tool you re-explain every session into a set of specialists that already know your rules. The payoff is consistency: the same voice, the same format, the same quality, without retyping your setup. Build one Gem per repeated task, write clear output rules, and refine over time.
The best AI workflows are not about clever one-off prompts; they are about systems that quietly do the right thing every time. We understand AI. We understand you better. With UD by your side, AI doesn't feel cold.
Turn Your Gems Into a Real Workflow
Building one Gem is easy. Turning a set of AI assistants into a reliable workflow your whole team can use is the hard part. We'll walk you through every step, from designing each assistant to connecting them into a system that runs the same way every time.
