Google Chat experience

For organisations on Google Workspace, Google Chat puts the assistant where employees already work. The experience sits between Teams native chat and WhatsApp: proper card rendering and a comfortable character allowance, but a narrow set of interactive elements and no in-app surface for forms.

For service account credentials and app configuration, see Google Chat setup.

How employees start a conversation

Employees message the Leena AI app directly from their Chat list, or add it to a space. They are recognised by their Google Workspace identity, so there is no separate login.

Conversations are scoped to the space they happen in — a direct message and a space conversation are tracked separately.

How responses are formatted

Responses use Google Chat's CardsV2 framework, so answers render as structured cards rather than plain text.

• Text formatting and lists render cleanly.
• Tables cannot be rendered natively and are converted into images.
• Images are wrapped in a click-to-open action. Google Chat compresses inline images fairly aggressively, so tapping the image opens the full-resolution version in a new tab. This is why images in the assistant's answers behave like links rather than plain pictures.

Progress indication

There is no typing indicator in Google Chat. Instead, the assistant posts a short status message with an hourglass — something like "Searching for info… ⏳" — and then edits that same message as it works, rather than posting a new message for each step.

The effect is a single line that updates in place. It is less rich than the Web App's streaming and thinking state, but it does tell the employee that something is happening rather than leaving them looking at silence.

Interactive elements

Suggested actions render as a button row at the end of the last card section, which means buttons always appear below the answer rather than inline with the text they relate to.

Files and media

Employees can send files to the assistant and receive them back.

Files the assistant sends are delivered as publicly reachable links rather than expiring ones, because Google Chat does not accept temporary or authenticated URLs. A document link copied out of Chat keeps working, which is worth knowing before you route confidential documents through this channel.

Notifications

Notifications arrive as direct messages from the Leena AI app, so they inherit the employee's existing Google Chat notification settings including mobile push. There is no opt-in step and no messaging window.

Delivery and read receipts are not available on this channel, so you can confirm a notification was sent but not that it was seen.

Compared with the Web App

Things to tell your employees

• Tap an image to see it properly. Inline previews are compressed.
• Tables arrive as images, so they can't be copied or searched.
• Links open a browser tab. Ticket forms and directory searches happen there, not in Chat.
• The hourglass message means the assistant is still working — it will update itself.

Setting up the channel

Service account setup, required scopes and app configuration are covered in Google Chat setup.