Get Your Money's Worth from Gemini (2026 Guide)
By Miguel Torrez, founder of Genial Agency
You will have tried each Gemini feature I cover (model choice, Deep Research, Veo 3 video, NanoBanana Pro images, Canvas, Gems and Workspace search) so you can decide whether your Google subscription already replaces a separate ChatGPT one.
What you need
A Google account or Google Workspace plan that includes Gemini (I refer to the $20 plan)
Gemini open in your browser: gemini.google.com
A few images of your own to test image editing (optional)
Step by step
Pick your model
Open the Gemini landing page and choose a model: Fast, Thinking or Pro. Keep it on Pro by default. If Google has problems, switch to Fast: its responses are still very good.
Geminihttps://gemini.google.com
Run a Deep Research
Select Deep Research when you want to learn a subject with its sources attached. Use it for market research, learning a topic, or finding contact information before reaching out to someone. In my experience, you get more Deep Research uses in Gemini than in ChatGPT, at similar quality.
Generate a video with Veo 3
Use the video tool to create a clip. It runs on Veo 3, the model many fully AI Instagram channels use. This is something you cannot do inside ChatGPT itself.
Edit images with NanoBanana Pro
Generate an image, then try what makes this model different: - Combine subjects from several images into one (up to twelve subjects, in my tests) - Change the perspective of a photo, for example a room - Create new angles that the original image never showed
Prototype a landing page in Canvas
Open Canvas and ask for a landing page for your business or idea. I built one for a cat bar in about two minutes. Use it to prototype fast and check contrast and content, not as a finished design.
Use and share a Gem
Browse the pre-made Gems from Google. Click one (for example a brainstorming assistant) and pick a conversation starter. To give a Gem to a teammate, share it with them.
Create your own Gem
Click New Gem. Give it a name and a description (the description is only a reminder for you). Then write the instructions: this is where you tell it how to behave and what to do.
Starter instructions (fill in the tasks)You are going to behave as my assistant. I want you to be doing this, this, and this.
Search your Google Workspace with @
In a Gemini chat, type the @ symbol and specify Workspace or Drive to read documents from your Google Drive. Gemini is already connected to your Calendar, email, Sheets and Docs, so use this instead of browsing folders to find the right file.
Mention Drive@Drive
Watch out for
Google sometimes has problems with the Pro model. Switch to Fast when that happens; the answers stay good.
A shared Gem can only be edited by the person who created it. If your team will keep changing it, send them the file and let them create their own Gem.
Canvas output is a prototype. In my view the UI is not the best, so use it to test layout, contrast and content, not as your final site.
The Gem description is only a note for you. The behavior comes from the instructions field.
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