Some questions:
- Are you using the free or paid tier of Gemini? You will get better results with a paid tier.
- Did you give Gemini a detailed prompt that specified what you wanted the summary to include, how you wanted it structured, and what format you wanted it in (e.g., markdown file, RTF document, etc.)?
- Were you working in the Gemini website, the desktop app, or in Gmail itself? How did you give Gemini access to the email chain?
I use AI to transcribe and summarize email chains all the time. I’ve learned that I get the best results when I’ve told the AI exactly what information I want the summary to include and how I want the summary structured. (For reference, I posted my email summary prompt here.) I always ask the AI to prepare a transcript of the email first and then prepare the summary.
I almost always use Claude Cowork for this particular task. (I give it access to my Gmail inbox and provide the Google link to the email chain.) Gemini doesn’t (yet) have an exact equivalent of Cowork, but I’ve found that if I need an artifact, I have better luck if I use Gemini Canvas rather than just the chat box.