NotebookLM

What is NotebookLM?

NotebookLM is Google's AI research and learning assistant built around sources selected by the user. A notebook can contain documents, web pages, videos, audio, images, spreadsheets, presentations, e-books, pasted text, and supported Google Workspace files. The chat experience answers questions using those materials and provides inline citations that link claims back to the source content.

Its Studio can transform a source collection into formats such as Audio Overviews, Video Overviews, mind maps, reports, data tables, flashcards, quizzes, slide decks, and infographics. This makes NotebookLM useful both for understanding a body of information and for producing structured materials from it.

How to Use NotebookLM

1. Create a notebook for one project, subject, or research question.
2. Add relevant sources such as PDFs, websites, videos, audio, documents, or spreadsheets.
3. Ask questions and open the inline citations to verify each answer against the source.
4. Generate a Studio output suited to the task, such as a briefing, mind map, quiz, or Audio Overview.
5. Refine the notebook by adding stronger sources or removing irrelevant material.

Core Features

• Source-grounded chat: Answers questions from the selected notebook sources and includes citations.
• Broad source support: Accepts common document, web, media, image, spreadsheet, presentation, and e-book formats.
• Audio and Video Overviews: Converts source material into narrated or visual summaries.
• Study tools: Generates flashcards, quizzes, study guides, FAQs, and mind maps.
• Structured outputs: Produces reports, briefing documents, data tables, slide decks, and infographics.
• Multilingual use: Supports more than 80 output languages.

Use Cases

• Research synthesis: Analysts can question a curated source set and trace answers through citations.
• Study support: Students can turn course materials into guides, quizzes, flashcards, and audio discussions.
• Document review: Teams can compare reports, meeting materials, and reference documents within one notebook.
• Content preparation: Creators and presenters can transform source material into outlines, slides, and visual summaries.

Pricing

NotebookLM has a free tier. Google's current help documentation lists limits including 100 notebooks, 50 sources per notebook, 50 chat queries per day, and three Audio Overview generations per day. Each source can contain up to 500,000 words or 200 MB. Eligible Google AI and Google Workspace plans provide higher limits and additional capabilities; availability and plan terms depend on the account and region.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does NotebookLM answer from the open web?

Its core chat is grounded in sources added to the notebook. Users should open the citations and verify important conclusions against the original material.

Which source types are supported?

Supported inputs include PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio, Google Docs, Slides and Sheets, Word documents, text, Markdown, CSV, PowerPoint, images, ePub files, pasted text, and Gemini chats.

Can NotebookLM replace professional advice?

No. Source-grounded output can still be incomplete or incorrect and should not replace qualified legal, medical, financial, or other professional advice.