# Google Sheets: Fill a Research Column with Gemini and Check Its Sources

> Select empty cells, click Fill and let Gemini look up where six companies are headquartered, then open one cell's web sources before the list goes to a…

Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/gemini-sheets-fill-with-sources · Updated 2026-10-28 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com)

## Practice it step by step

[Start the free practice](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/gemini-sheets-fill-with-sources)

[Take the free module: why it matters, practice and a quick check →](https://learn.ynteractive.com/courses/google-workspace-for-work/8)

You do every step yourself in a practice copy of Google Sheets. It checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, about 4 minutes, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Open full screen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/gemini-sheets-fill-with-sources)

Free · Live now · [Gemini for Google Workspace](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course/gemini-for-google-workspace) · [Google Sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/google-sheets) · ~4 min · 7 steps · Beginner

Updated October 28, 2026. Built against the tool’s current screens and checked step by step. [How we check this lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about#how-we-check)

Select empty cells, click Fill and let [Gemini](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/gemini) look up where six companies are headquartered, then open one cell's web sources before the list goes to a client. A 7-step practice based on Google's published screens.

## At a glance

| Question | Answer |
| --- | --- |
| What you build | Select empty cells, click Fill and let Gemini look up where six companies are headquartered, then open one cell's web sources before the list goes to a client. A 7-step practice based on Google's published screens. |
| Tools | Google Sheets |
| Time | About 4 minutes, 7 steps in 3 parts |
| Level | Beginner, no coding needed |
| Cost | Free |
| Ways to learn it | [Practice it step by step](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/gemini-sheets-fill-with-sources) |

### The 3 parts, in short

1. Pick the empty cells: Select B2:B7, Click Fill.
2. Tell Gemini what to fill: Say what goes in the cells, Generate and Insert.
3. Check the sources: Click B6, Click Sources, Tick Checked.

**Start here first:** [Gemini in Gmail: Summarize a Thread and Draft the Reply](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/gemini-in-gmail-summarize-and-reply) (module 1 of Gemini for Google Workspace)

**In the course:** [Part 5 · Gemini for Google Workspace](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course/part-5-gemini-for-google-workspace) (Module 56 of the [full course](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course))

**Part of:** [Gemini Jump Start](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/paths/gemini-jump-start) (step 5 of 8). Next up: [Gemini: Make a Tenant Notice as a PDF and Fix It Right in the Chat](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/gemini-app-edit-files-in-chat)

## What you'll build

The problem: at Ridgeway Talent Partners, a small recruiting firm, every client search starts with a list of target employers, and someone spends an hour searching where each company is based. In this short practice you select six empty cells in [Google Sheets](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/google-sheets), click Fill, tell [Gemini](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/gemini) what goes in them, and then do the part that matters: open one cell's web sources and mark the row checked. On October 28, 2026, Google announced that Fill with Gemini now shows the exact web sources behind each cell and can handle up to 3,000 cells in one request. It takes about 4 minutes and 7 steps. Practice based on Google's published screens. Fill with Gemini requires Google Workspace Business Standard or Plus, Enterprise Standard or Plus, or Google AI Pro or Ultra. We haven't run it in an eligible account yet, so the screens follow Google's announcement and help center, and the step text says where the real screen may differ.

That's the basic shape of a research column with Fill with Gemini: select the empty cells, click Fill, say what goes in each cell and which column it is about, then click into a cell and open Sources to see the web pages behind the answer. Mark each row checked once a person has looked, because a neat answer can still be wrong. Fill with Gemini needs Google Workspace Business Standard or Plus, Enterprise Standard or Plus, Google AI Pro or Ultra, Google AI Pro for Education or AI Expanded Access. It is on by default for anyone who has Gemini in Sheets turned on. Google started rolling out the [source citations](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/ai-citations) on October 20, 2026, and says they can take up to 15 days to appear.

- Tools: Google Sheets
- Time: about 4 minutes, 7 steps in 3 chapters
- Level: beginner, no coding needed
- Price: free

## Practice first, then build it for real

Practice based on Google's published screens. Fill with Gemini requires Google Workspace Business Standard or Plus, Enterprise Standard or Plus, or Google AI Pro or Ultra. This is a practice copy: no account is needed and nothing touches your Google Drive. The recruiting firm is made up, and the sources shown are a sample. To build it for real you need your own Google Sheets account, and some services charge once you use them for real work, so check each tool's current pricing.

## Try it yourself, free

Reading the steps is a start. Doing them is how it sticks. The interactive module walks you through every click in a practice copy of Google Sheets, checks each step, and never touches your real accounts.

[Start “Google Sheets: Fill a Research Column with Gemini and Check Its Sources”](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/gemini-sheets-fill-with-sources)

## Step by step: Google Sheets: Fill a Research Column with Gemini and Check Its Sources

All 7 steps of the interactive module, in order. In the module you watch each one, then do it yourself in a practice copy that checks your work.

### 1. Pick the empty cells

1. **Select B2:B7.** Column **B, Headquarters** is empty for six companies. Click **B2**, then Shift-click **B7** to select the six empty cells. (In this practice, one click selects them.)
   This is Dana Ortiz, a recruiter at Ridgeway Talent Partners. She's building a list of target employers for a client search, and she needs to know where each company is based. Typing that in by hand means six searches.
2. **Click Fill.** For an empty selection of several cells, Google says Sheets shows a one-click **Fill** entry point. Click **Fill**. Where it sits on the real screen may differ from this practice.
   For an empty block of cells, Sheets offers a one click Fill option.

### 2. Tell Gemini what to fill

3. **Say what goes in the cells.** Write a custom [prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/prompt): what each cell should hold and which column it is about. Paste it into the prompt box.
   Now say what goes in each cell. Name the column it's about, the format you want, and where it should look first. Here, the headquarters city and state for the company in column A, from the company's own website where possible.
4. **Generate and Insert.** Click **Generate and Insert**. (That's the button name Google's help center gives for AI function cells; the Fill box may word it differently.) Gemini fills all six cells. One request can now cover up to 3,000 cells.
   Gemini fills all six cells at once. A single request can now cover up to three thousand cells.

### 3. Check the sources

5. **Click B6.** Six answers in seconds. Before anyone uses them, check one. Click cell **B6**, Duolingo, and hover over its text.
   Six answers in seconds. But an answer you can't check isn't ready to send to a client.
6. **Click Sources.** Click **Sources**. Since October 2026, each cell Gemini fills from the web shows the exact web sources it used. The sources listed here are a sample.
   Each cell now shows the exact web pages Gemini used for that answer.
7. **Tick Checked.** The company's own site backs it up. Tick the **Checked** box in **C6**, so the team knows a person verified this row. Do the same for every row before the list goes to the client.
   The company's own site backs it up. Tick the Checked box for this row, so the team can see a person verified it. Do the same for each row before the list goes out.

[Start this module free](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/gemini-sheets-fill-with-sources)

- Previous in Gemini for Google Workspace: [Gemini Deep Research: Build a Cited Brief Before a Client Meeting](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/gemini-deep-research-cited-brief-before-a-meeting)
- Next in Gemini for Google Workspace: [Gemini: Make a Tenant Notice as a PDF and Fix It Right in the Chat](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/gemini-app-edit-files-in-chat)

## More in Gemini for Google Workspace

- [Gemini in Gmail: Summarize a Thread and Draft the Reply](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/gemini-in-gmail-summarize-and-reply): Catch up on a long email thread in seconds with Summarize this email, ask Gemini what you owe, then write, refine and polish the reply with Help me write.
- [Gmail Filters, Labels and AI Draft Replies With a Human Check](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/gmail-filters-labels-ai-draft-replies): Make Gmail label every website quote request automatically, draft the reply with Help me write, and catch the made-up price before it's sent.
- [NotebookLM (Now Gemini Notebook): Cited Answers and a Briefing from Your Docs](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/notebooklm-gemini-notebook-cited-answers-briefing-doc): Create a notebook, add a PDF, a Google Doc from Drive and a web page as sources, ask a question and check its citations, save the answer to a note, and turn it all into…
- [NotebookLM: Turn Your Documents into a Podcast (Audio Overview)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/notebooklm-audio-overview-podcast-from-your-documents): Paste a new hire handbook and meeting notes into a notebook, customize an Audio Overview for two new accountants, listen, join the conversation with Interactive mode…
- [ChatGPT Projects vs Gemini Gems vs Gemini Notebook: Which to Use](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-projects-vs-gemini-gems-vs-notebooklm): Load an auto shop's price list, warranty and FAQ into a ChatGPT Project, a Gemini Gem and Gemini Notebook, ask each the same question, and see which fits which job.
- [Gemini in Google Slides: Fix a Late Change Across a Whole Client Deck](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/gemini-slides-edit-whole-deck): Two facts changed the day before a client review. Tell Gemini once, check the slides it touched, fix the line it left behind, and know the one-slide route if the…

[All 10 modules in Gemini for Google Workspace](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course/gemini-for-google-workspace)

## More Google Sheets tutorials

- [Google Sheets: Build a Job Tracker That Totals Itself](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/google-sheets-job-tracker): A beginner Google Sheets walkthrough on real screens: freeze the header, make Status a drop-down, total each status with SUMIF, highlight finished-but-unbilled jobs and…

## Terms in this lesson

Plain-English definitions, each with an example from a free lesson.

[Gemini](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/gemini) · [Prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/prompt)

[The full AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)

## Browse related tutorials

[Gemini for Google Workspace (10)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/course/gemini-for-google-workspace) · [Google Sheets tutorials (2)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/tool/google-sheets)

Want AI working like this in your business? Robert Breen, the instructor behind this lesson, helps small and mid-sized teams put AI assistants, agents and automations to work. [Work with Robert on AI consulting](https://ynteractive.com/)