So here's the thing about spreadsheet formulas: nobody actually wants to write them. You just want the answer. "What were my sales last month?" "Which product is selling best?" "Am I up or down compared to last year?" Google finally figured this out. In July 2024, they added AI to Looker Studio that lets you describe what you want in plain English. No SUMIF, no VLOOKUP, no Googling "how to calculate percentage change in spreadsheet" for the hundredth time.
What Actually Changed
Google rolled out two AI features for Looker Studio Pro. The first is called Formula Assistant - you describe what you want to calculate, and it writes the formula for you. The second, Conversational Analytics (launched September 2024), lets you ask questions about your data like you're texting a colleague. "Show me revenue by month" or "What's my best-selling category?"
Instead of clicking through menus and dragging fields around, you just... ask.
Why This Matters for Small Businesses
Let's be honest about how most small businesses handle their data. Someone exports numbers from the POS system or accounting software into a spreadsheet. They stare at it. Maybe they make a bar chart. Then they make decisions based on gut feeling because actually analyzing the data would take too long.
62% of small business owners already work more than 50 hours a week. 22% of that time goes to administrative tasks - stuff like crunching numbers, running reports, figuring out what's actually happening in the business. That's 11+ hours a week spent on busywork instead of serving customers.
This is where AI tools start making sense. Not because they're flashy, but because they remove friction from stuff you were going to do anyway. (If you're still wrestling with your analytics setup, our GA4 migration guide covers the basics.)
How the Formula Assistant Works
Say you've got sales data in Looker Studio and you want to see how much each salesperson brought in. Old way: you'd need to know that you want a SUM aggregation on the revenue field, grouped by the salesperson dimension. New way:
- Click "Add a field" and choose "Add calculated field"
- Click the "Help me write" icon
- Type: "Total sales by salesperson"
- The AI suggests the formula
- You click "Add" if it looks right
That's it. Works the same for percentage calculations, date comparisons, category groupings - the stuff that normally sends you down a rabbit hole of documentation.
Conversational Analytics: Ask Questions, Get Charts
This one's even more straightforward. You connect Conversational Analytics to your data source - could be BigQuery, Google Sheets, or a Looker dashboard - and then you just ask questions.
"Show me sales by month for the last year."
"What percentage of customers are repeat buyers?"
"Compare this quarter to last quarter."
It builds the visualization automatically. If you want to dig deeper, ask follow-up questions. "Break that down by product category." "What about just the Central Coast region?"
The results export directly to Looker Studio if you want to add them to a dashboard or share them with your team.
The Catch: You Need Looker Studio Pro
Here's the part Google buries in the fine print: these AI features require Looker Studio Pro. The free version of Looker Studio doesn't include Formula Assistant or Conversational Analytics.
Looker Studio Pro is part of Google Workspace, so if you're already paying for business Gmail, you might have access. If not, you're looking at a subscription cost.
For businesses already deep in the Google ecosystem, this might make sense. If you're a coffee shop with a simple spreadsheet tracking daily sales, probably not.
The Reality Check
AI for data analysis sounds revolutionary. In practice, it's more like having a smart assistant who knows spreadsheet formulas better than you do. That's useful, but it's not magic.
Only 25% of small businesses are currently using AI to save time. The ones who do report saving about 5 hours per week. That's meaningful - it's half a day you get back.
But here's what I've noticed: the time savings come from removing the friction, not from doing fundamentally new things. You were always going to check your sales numbers. Now you can do it without remembering formula syntax.
When This Makes Sense
Good fit:
- You already use Google Workspace
- You have data in Google Sheets, BigQuery, or connected systems
- You spend time building reports manually
- You know what questions you want answered but don't know the technical how
Probably not worth it:
- You're not in the Google ecosystem
- Your data lives in industry-specific software that doesn't connect easily
- Your reporting needs are simple enough that a basic spreadsheet works fine
- You'd need to learn an entire new tool just to use the AI features
The Bigger Picture
Microsoft's research shows the average worker spends 43% of their time creating things - documents, spreadsheets, presentations. The other 57% is communication overhead. AI tools like this chip away at the creation time, making it faster to get from question to answer.
Whether Looker Studio specifically is the right tool depends on your setup. But the trend is clear: asking questions in plain English and getting data visualizations back is becoming standard. This is just Google's version of it. For simpler automation needs, tools like Zapier might be a better starting point.
How to Try It
If you have Looker Studio Pro access:
- Open any Looker Studio report
- For Formula Assistant: Add a field, choose "Add calculated field," look for the "Help me write" icon
- For Conversational Analytics: Your admin needs to enable Gemini in Looker first, then you'll see the chat option when viewing data
Give it a real question - something you actually want to know about your business. "What were my top 5 products last quarter?" See if the answer is useful.
The Bottom Line
Google added AI that writes formulas and builds charts from plain English questions. It works. It requires Looker Studio Pro. It's most useful if you're already in the Google ecosystem and you're spending real time on manual reporting.
The best part isn't the AI itself - it's that you stop having to remember whether it's SUMIF or SUMIFS.
Need Help Making Sense of Your Data?
Every YouGrow website includes analytics setup and reporting guidance. If you're drowning in data and not sure what tools actually make sense for your business, let's talk. Sometimes the answer is fancy AI features. Sometimes it's a simple spreadsheet with the right columns. I'll tell you which one you actually need.