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The Practical Guide to eDiscovery for Google Gemini
Google Gemini is now on by default across Google Workspace. Here's everything legal and IT teams need to preserve, collect, and produce before a matter opens.
Gemini is creating discoverable data. Most teams have no workflow to handle it.
Gemini is active in your environment and behaves differently
In 2025, Google bundled Gemini into Business and Enterprise Workspace plans. Every licensed user can now draft emails, summarize documents, and run AI-assisted meetings without anyone turning it on. It's creating discoverable data that behaves differently from the email and chat data that legal teams have grown accustomed to.
Hybrid data type
A single Gemini interaction can span a user prompt, an AI response, a referenced Drive file, and a generated output, each living in a different service with different retention rules. Treating it as a single object misses half the record.
No clear author
Traditional eDiscovery assumes a human created the content under review. With Gemini, half the conversation is machine-generated. Preserving conversational structure end-to-end is essential for maintaining context.
Generated files split off to Drive
Documents Gemini creates land in Google Drive under your Drive retention policy, not your Gemini policy. Misaligned retention rules can leave you with only half the record when a matter opens.
Vault coverage is partial
Google Vault covers the Gemini app and embedded Workspace features. It does not cover the Gemini API or Vertex AI. That data lives entirely outside Vault and requires its own logging strategy.
Workspace plan gaps are real
Business Starter and Standard plans have no native Vault coverage for Gemini: no retention rules, no legal holds, no defensible export path without upgrading.
Courts are already ruling
In Fortis Advisors v. Krafton, the Delaware Court of Chancery compelled the production of ChatGPT interactions as evidence of a contract breach. AI conversations are ESI and Gemini is no different.
If you anticipate needing to preserve, collect, or produce Gemini data, now is the time to get familiar with the platform.
"When a matter opens and a custodian's Gemini history needs to be preserved, our team used to cobble together an improvised workflow using manual exports through Vault, raw XML, and a separate reconciliation process for every other app. It took forever!"
Everything your legal and IT team needs to handle Gemini eDiscovery
This practical guide covers how Gemini data works, how to retain it defensibly, and how to build a repeatable collection workflow. Here's what it covers and why it matters for your team:
Gemini eDiscovery approaches
Native Vault, DIY logging for API-built apps, and specialized collection platforms: the tradeoffs, the limitations, and when each makes sense for your team.
A 7-step eDiscovery strategy
A practical sequence: inventory your Gemini surfaces, confirm your plan tier, set retention, align Drive, map custodian holds, close the API gap, and test exports before you need them.
Gemini surfaces to account for
From the standalone Gemini app to NotebookLM, Workspace Studio, and the Gemini API, a clear map of where AI conversations live and which are covered by Vault.
Workspace plan eDiscovery capabilities
A side-by-side breakdown of which tiers include Vault coverage for Gemini, custom retention rules, legal holds, and granular admin controls, so you know exactly where your plan leaves you exposed.
Retention set up and legal holds
How to configure Gemini retention rules, align them with Drive, place custodians on hold, and avoid the gaps that leave data vulnerable, including the 30-day purge buffer you shouldn't rely on.
Infosec Gemini management checklist
A ready-to-use checklist for aligning Gemini and Drive retention, testing holds end-to-end, establishing API-side logging, and documenting your preservation procedure.
Built for legal and IT teams navigating AI discovery for the first time.
This guide was produced by Onna, the leading eDiscovery data collection platform, trusted by legal and IT teams at some of the largest and fastest-growing companies globally. It draws on direct experience helping organizations preserve and collect collaboration data across 29+ apps, including Google Workspace, Slack, Teams, Zoom, Jira, and, of course, Google Gemini.
As AI tools become a standard part of enterprise work, the goal is simple: help legal teams get ahead of AI data obligations before they become a liability.
Ready to get your Gemini eDiscovery workflow in order?
Download the guide and find out how to preserve, collect, and produce Gemini data before the next matter demands it.