PHL leads SEA in Gemini customer support implementation; the only market with more female users
The Philippines uses Google’s Gemini for customer support tasks nearly three times more than the Southeast Asian regional average, while also standing out as the only country in the region where women make up the majority of platform users, according to a new Gemini report.
In the very first report of Gemini: Southeast Asia 2026, released on Tuesday, it said that the country, as the main center of business process outsourcing (BPO), uses Gemini for information related to customer support almost three times more than the regional average.
This information was related to customer support activities such as handling customer inquiries, orders, and complaints, and producing marketing content.
The country also stood out as the only country where more Gemini applications came from women than men.
Regarding how the country uses the AI assistant, 24% of the information was related to creative tasks, while applications related to writing accounted for 17%. Other warnings were about career decisions and workplace support.
Globally, Gemini has more than 900 million monthly users as of April, and its user base in Southeast Asia has more than doubled in the past 12 months, the report said.
About 40% of the information in the region was focused on creating something new, such as creating images, writing documents, and coding. The region alone has 5 billion images generated with Nano Banana, Google’s image generation model.
Other information in the region was related to research in 20%, seeking advice and ideas as a thought partner in 10%, and other use cases in 30%.
“What makes this region so special is how naturally integrated it is into everyday life,” said Sapna Chadha, vice president of Southeast Asia and South Asia Frontier at Google, in a statement.
“People don’t just adapt to Gemini; they use it on their own terms – in the ways they choose, in the languages they speak, and in different situations in their lives,” Ms Chadha added.
Back in the Philippines, the report also found that 90% of information from the country was in English, the largest share in the region.
This contrasts with regional peers, where most information is in the vernacular, with a regional average of nearly 70%. Vietnam leads the way with 89%, followed by Thailand with 87% and Indonesia with 84%.
The report also found that Filipinos mainly use Gemini with 71% phones, 25% computers, and other devices in the frog.
Three out of four Gemini applications in the region also come from mobile devices, which the report says is due to the ease of use and multimodal capabilities preferred by users.
Another key finding for Southeast Asia showed that 40% of Gemini users in the region are under 25 years old. The report said this age group makes more requests, engages in longer conversations, and writes more detailed instructions than other age groups.
Singapore topped the rankings in terms of the highest per capita acquisition of Gemini worldwide and recorded the highest daily interactions in the region, with an average of 10 interactions per day.
The first-ever Gemini Report: Southeast Asia 2026 surveyed users across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam to understand how people across the region are adopting Gemini to work, create, and navigate their daily lives.
Looking ahead, Google said it wants to bring the power of AI agents safely and securely to consumers by introducing Gemini Spark, Google’s 24/7 autonomous agent.
Deeply integrated with Google Workspace tools like Gmail, Docs, and Slides, Gemini Spark can run in the background even when the user’s laptop is turned off or the phone is locked.
The feature is currently available in English for Google AI Ultra subscribers and will begin rolling out in local Southeast Asian languages starting this week for Ultra subscribers in the region, the report said. – Edg Adrian A. Eva
