NotebookLM: All features – and infographics in minutes

NotebookLM is Google's AI tool that works with your own sources to generate answers, summaries, and finished documents. It's less of "just another chatbot" and more of a research and workflow accelerator for anyone who wants to quickly turn material into something usable. The beauty of it is that it looks professional yet is still easy to use – without turning it into a major project.

What can NotebookLM actually do?

You start with a notebook , which is a workspace for a specific topic, client, or project. There, you add sources such as PDFs, web links, YouTube links, Google Docs/Slides/Sheets, text, images, or audio files . Afterward, you can ask questions in the chat and receive answers that refer back to your sources, making them more comprehensible. This is especially helpful when you want a clear and well-reasoned explanation, not just an opinion. Additionally, NotebookLM offers several output formats that can be generated from the same sources. This saves time because you don't have to rewrite content three times.

These functions are particularly useful in everyday life:

• Collect and structure sources: Keep everything on a topic in one place, instead of distributing links and PDFs across five folders.

• Discover Sources: You describe a topic and receive suggestions for suitable web sources that you can use directly.

• Q&A chat with source references: Ask questions, receive answers, and see where the information comes from.

• Mind Maps: Represent content as a branched diagram to quickly identify relationships.

• Audio Overviews: A “podcast-style” summary, ideal for on the go or for quick understanding.

• Video Overviews: Prepare content as a video summary if you prefer to work visually.

• Slide Decks: Create a presentation structure from sources that can be further processed.

• Infographics: Condensing complex content into a visual overview – perfect for social media.

• Multilingualism: Helpful when sources or target groups are not exclusively German-speaking.

• Iterative work: generate a result, briefly refine it, generate a new one – instead of spending hours refining it.

In short: NotebookLM quickly turns "I should summarize this..." into "It's already done." And that's precisely why it makes so much sense in everyday business.

Example: Infographic in minutes – with customized style.

The infographic function is a real time-saver because it condenses content from your sources and presents it as a visual overview. You can choose not only the language, level of detail, and format , but also the look and feel . This makes the step from "content available" to "ready for social media posting" surprisingly short.

Here's an example of how it works, using an infographic from www.e-conomics.gmbh :

1. You are creating a new notebook in NotebookLM.

2. You add the website as the source, for example via the search function or by adding the URL.

3. You go to the studio area and select "Infographic" .

4. You can optionally set the format and level of detail, depending on whether you want to use it for LinkedIn or for your homepage.

5. Then you specify a style preference, for example:

   • " Colorful and modern , lots of icons, clear headings."

   • " Playful , with lots of pictures, but still well-structured."

   • " Business look , dark blue/anthracite, little text, clear symbols."

6. You click on "Create infographic " – and voilà , the graphic is there in a few minutes.

If the result isn't quite perfect, you adjust the style prompt and regenerate. It feels a bit like giving feedback to a designer—but without the back-and-forth of scheduling conflicts. And the best part: you can quickly generate multiple versions from the same sources, for example, a short, eye-catching version for LinkedIn and a more subdued version for your blog. This not only speeds up content creation but also ensures more consistent reuse. Of course, as with any AI, it's essential to quickly verify that facts and statements have been accurately transferred. But as a starting point and accelerator, this is incredibly powerful.

Conclusion

NotebookLM is especially valuable when you want to quickly create structure, clarity, and publishable formats from existing content. While it doesn't replace thinking for many tasks, it significantly shortens the path to the result. Anyone who has ever generated an infographic from source material inevitably wonders why they ever did it manually for so long. And that's a good sign.

About e-conomics logistics GmbH

e-conomics logistics GmbH supports SMEs in the DACH region with AI implementation , logistics consulting , and interim management . You can find more information here: https://www.e-conomics.gmbh .