Google says India is its largest user base for voice search, and since October 2025 its AI Mode has answered in Malayalam and seven other Indian languages. Answer questions the way customers ask them, build proper Malayalam pages, and keep your Business Profile complete.
Answer the questions your customers actually ask, in the words and the language they use. Google says India is its largest user base for voice search anywhere in the world, and since October 2025 its AI Mode has answered in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi and five other Indian languages. A business prepares by publishing short, direct answers to real customer questions, adding properly built pages in its customers' language, and keeping its Google Business Profile complete.
The questions themselves are changing shape. Google says people worldwide ask AI Mode questions nearly three times longer than traditional searches, and as early as October 2024 it counted more than 40% of Gemini's Indian-language users relying on voice. Its testing also found that Indian users listen to AI Overview answers more often than users in other countries. A spoken question is a full sentence, and the answer is often heard rather than read.
Below: what changed, how these questions differ, what Google's own documentation says about Malayalam pages, what is not worth paying for, and a plan for this quarter.
- active internet users in India in 2025, per the IAMAI-Kantar report
- 958M
- active internet users in India in 2025, per the IAMAI-Kantar report
- of them had used AI features such as voice search, image search or chatbots
- 44%
- of them had used AI features such as voice search, image search or chatbots
- of Gemini's Indian-language users relied on voice, Google said in October 2024
- 40%+
- of Gemini's Indian-language users relied on voice, Google said in October 2024
- of Indian internet users accessed content in Indian languages (2024 report)
- 98%
- of Indian internet users accessed content in Indian languages (2024 report)
01
What changed between 2024 and early 2026
In under two years, Google went from AI summaries in English and Hindi to AI Mode in nine languages and live voice conversations with Search. India was also the first country outside the US to get Search Live, which lets you talk to Search and point your phone's camera at something while you do.
Aug 2024
AI Overviews reach India
In English and Hindi. Google said its testing showed Indian users listened to the answers more often than users elsewhere.
Oct 2024
Gemini Live speaks Hindi
Malayalam, Tamil and six more Indian languages were announced to follow in the coming weeks.
Jul 2025
AI Mode opens to everyone in India
English only at first. Questions can be typed, spoken or asked with a photo, with no Labs sign-up.
Sep 2025
AI Mode adds Hindi
One of five new languages Google added worldwide on 8 September.
Oct 2025
Malayalam arrives in AI Mode
Alongside Bengali, Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu. Search Live launches in India in English and Hindi.
Jan 2026
958 million active users
The IAMAI-Kantar report finds 44% have used AI features such as voice search.
People in India are power users of multimodal search, forming our largest user base for both voice and visual search globally.
02
How spoken, local-language questions differ
Longer questions carry more context. Compare a typed fragment such as 'root canal cost Kochi' with what a patient might ask out loud: 'Is root canal treatment painful, and how much does it cost in Kochi?' The spoken version holds two questions, a worry and a place. A page that settles all three in its opening lines gives an assistant a complete answer to work with.
Service pages written in industry vocabulary often skip the customer's real question. Fixing that is editorial work, not technical work:
- Lead with the question in the customer's words, then answer it in one or two plain sentences.
- Mine real enquiries for the questions: WhatsApp chats, phone calls, front-desk notes and reviews.
- Give specifics an assistant can repeat: price ranges, timings, areas served and what to bring.
- Keep details identical on your website, Business Profile and social pages, so no source contradicts another.
03
Should you publish pages in Malayalam?
For your most important pages, yes, if many of your customers prefer it. The 2024 IAMAI-Kantar report found that 98% of Indian internet users accessed content in Indian languages, with Malayalam among the most popular, and that about 57% of urban users prefer content in regional languages.
Google already offers translated results in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and six other Indian languages: it can machine-translate an English page's title and snippet for someone searching in Malayalam, then open a machine-translated version of the page. That keeps an English page visible, but it is not the same as a page written for that reader. Google's documentation is specific about how to build language versions:
| Question | What Google says | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Separate pages or one mixed page? | Use different URLs for each language version | Give Malayalam pages their own addresses, such as /ml/ |
| How does Google tell the language? | From the visible content, not lang attributes or the URL | Translate the whole page, navigation included, not side by side |
| Redirect visitors automatically? | Do not redirect based on a guess about the user's language | Add a visible language switch instead |
| How are versions connected? | Use hreflang annotations to point to each version | Add hreflang tags linking the English and Malayalam pages |
| Machine-translate everything? | Its scaled content abuse policy names automated translation as one way low-value pages get mass-produced | Translate fewer pages, each reviewed by a fluent speaker |
04
Local questions still run through your Business Profile
When a question is local, such as which clinic in Edappally is open now, Google's local results mainly rest on three factors it names itself: relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search, which is why your categories and services list matter. Prominence is how well known you are, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help. Distance you cannot change.
The field is crowded: Google said in October 2024 that more than 35 million Indian businesses were online across its Search and Maps products. Pick the most specific primary category, list every service with a plain description, keep regular and holiday hours accurate, and reply to reviews. Our guide to Business Profile mistakes covers the common gaps.
05
What is not worth paying for
Some voice search advice is out of date, or does not apply in India. The clearest case is speakable structured data: Google's documentation still describes it as a beta for news publishers, working for users in the US with Google Home devices set to English. Separate pages for every spoken phrasing are no better, because one clear answer page covers them.
06
What to do this quarter
- List 20 real questions from the last three months of WhatsApp chats, calls and reviews, in the words customers used, Malayalam ones included.
- Rewrite your five busiest pages so each opens with a customer question and a direct answer, followed by prices, timings and areas served.
- Check Malayalam demand in Search Console with the regex filter above.
- Build Malayalam versions of those five pages at their own URLs, written or reviewed by a fluent speaker, with hreflang and a visible language switch.
- Complete your Business Profile: specific categories, every service, accurate hours and replies to recent reviews.
- Test it the way customers do. Ask Gemini and Google's AI Mode your customers' questions in English and Malayalam, and note which businesses get named.
Sources
Facts as of 19 March 2026. Google's language support changes often, so check its announcements for updates.