Forget everything you thought about AI notes so far. I have sworn by NotebookLM for a long time and talk about it regularly — but the current update really packs a punch. (New to the topic? Then start with What is NotebookLM?.) Why? Because the barrier between understanding information and presenting information is being torn down more and more.
Note (as of July 2026): Google has renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook. Product, features and your existing notebooks remain unchanged — only the name is new. In this article I keep using “NotebookLM” because the term is (still) the more common one.
Two things are new: for one, Gemini 3.1, Google’s currently strongest AI model, is fully integrated into NotebookLM. For another, the Studio mode got an update — you can now access the Studio functions directly from the chat. What that means concretely, we go through in order.
The foundation: Gemini 3.1 is now fully inside
What does that mean for your daily work? The AI now understands even more precisely. If you upload 50 sources, Gemini 3.1 recognizes nuances that might previously have been lost. You will notice that the answers in the chat hallucinate far less and the source references are even more exact. That is the basis for everything now happening in the Studio.
A quick note before we start: I work with NotebookLM on the paid version — because it gives me more options and protects my data better. If you are in a business context: definitely take Google Workspace Business.
Update 1: rework presentations slide by slide
Until now, a finished presentation from NotebookLM was just that: finished. Now you go to the three dots on a created presentation and click Rework — and can touch every single slide. You say precisely what should be different on the page: the text, the color, individual elements. When everything is done, you download the presentation or export it.
If you want a complete change of the presentation, you simply include your branding colors and the words you use in the master prompt — maybe you have a style guide too — and have a new presentation created. And if you know from the start what your presentation should look like, you go straight to the pencil at the top and enter all the information beforehand.
The nice part: This function also works retroactively. If you created presentations with NotebookLM in the past that still sit in your notebook, you can also edit the individual slides there via the three dots.
A word on the watermark
I get asked about this a lot: at the bottom of the presentation there is always the small NotebookLM icon — a kind of watermark. Within NotebookLM you cannot change it. If you don’t want it visually, Canva for example can do that. But important: the marker that it is an AI-created asset is embedded anyway — it just becomes less obvious.
Update 2: infographic, quiz & co. straight from the chat
Most people don’t even have the second update on their radar — and I find it really smart: you can now say directly in the chat: “Please create an infographic for me” or “Create a presentation for me”. Why is that different from the buttons on the right side?
- Via the right side (Studio): Here, only what sits in your sources is accessed — depending on which sources you have ticked.
- Via the chat: Here the output refers to what you have just worked out together. Maybe you went deeper in the conversation, specified things — and the infographic emerges from exactly that.
An example prompt from the video:
“Please create a fitting infographic for what we have just discussed here in the chat.”
NotebookLM accepts the command, automatically accesses the fitting content and builds the infographic from exactly what you discussed. The same works with “Please create a quiz” or “Please create a video overview”. Your results become even more precise because you can narrow down the output far better.
The prompt above is deliberately rudimentary. When I work in a project, I work with the AI like with a team member — then I am truly on point and say exactly what I want and what not.
What this means for you as a solopreneur
Looking beyond the horizon: this reminds me a lot of how you work with so-called Skills in Claude — abilities you have given Claude that the AI accesses automatically when it recognizes the keyword or can read it from context. You no longer have to select anything. Exactly this way of thinking is in here too: the AI does context engineering — it looks at where you are heading, where you are coming from and which options are available, and puts that together.
For us non-techies, for us solopreneurs, that means: Working with these tools becomes substantially easier because it becomes substantially more intuitive. The thoughts you carry in your head, you turn into results very quickly — without detours through menus and buttons.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need the paid version for NotebookLM?
I work with the paid version — for two reasons: more options and better protection of my data. In a business context I definitely recommend Google Workspace Business.
Can I remove the NotebookLM watermark from presentations?
Not within NotebookLM. Visually you can get rid of it with Canva, for example — but the embedded marker that it is an AI-created asset remains anyway.
Does the slide editing also work on old presentations?
Yes. The function works retroactively: click the three dots, choose “Rework” — and you can edit every slide individually.
Conclusion: understanding and presenting grow together
A quiet update — but an important one. With Gemini 3.1 as the foundation, answers become more precise and source references more exact, and with the new Studio access from the chat, your research becomes an infographic, a quiz or a presentation in one step. Exactly the kind of development that saves you, as a solopreneur, real working time.
If you want to try such workflows together with others: in my free community we exchange exactly that. And if you want to bring AI into your business systematically, have a look at the AI Business Community.
