How to Use Google NotebookLM: The Complete Guide to AI-Powered Research

Head to notebooklm.google.com and sign in with your Google account. Click 'New Notebook' to create your first project. Think of each notebook as a dedicated research workspace focused on a single topic or project.

The first thing you'll want to do is add sources. Click the '+' button in the Sources panel and choose from the supported formats: Google Docs, Google Slides, PDFs, web URLs, copied text, YouTube videos, or audio files. You can add up to 50 sources per notebook, with each source supporting up to 500,000 words.

Once your sources are uploaded, NotebookLM automatically generates a summary and suggested questions for each one. The notebook guide at the top provides an overview of all your sources together, helping you spot themes and connections you might have missed.

A practical tip: organise related documents into the same notebook rather than spreading them across multiple ones. NotebookLM works best when it can cross-reference between sources, finding connections and contradictions across your entire collection.

The chat interface is where most of your interaction happens. Ask questions about your sources and NotebookLM responds with cited answers, complete with inline references you can click to jump directly to the relevant passage. This citation system is what sets it apart from other AI tools for research.

The Notes feature lets you save important responses, build outlines, and collect key quotes. You can select specific sources to focus on by ticking or unticking them in the Sources panel, which narrows the AI's attention to just those documents.

Audio Overviews are NotebookLM's standout feature. The AI creates a natural podcast-style conversation between two hosts discussing your sources. They explain concepts, debate points, and make the material engaging. Each overview runs 10 to 18 minutes and you can customise the focus, audience level, and tone before generating.

The Interactive Mode lets you join the conversation in real time, asking the hosts questions as they discuss your material. It's like having two knowledgeable tutors who've read everything you've uploaded.

For academic research, create one notebook per paper or thesis chapter. Upload your primary sources, literature review PDFs, and lecture notes together. Use the chat to find contradictions between authors, generate literature review drafts, and create study guides with full citations.

Content creators can upload transcripts, research articles, and competitor content to generate content briefs, identify coverage gaps, and brainstorm angles. Audio Overviews are brilliant for repurposing written content into podcast-style material.

Business professionals should upload meeting transcripts alongside strategy documents and financial reports. Ask NotebookLM to identify action items, summarise trends, or draft executive briefings grounded in company data.

Power-user tips: use FAQ generation for educational materials, the briefing doc format for executive summaries, and the timeline feature for chronological analysis. NotebookLM Plus adds more notebooks, more sources per notebook, and commercial Audio Overview usage rights.