How to Get Started with Google Gemini and Imagen in Optimizely CMS

Bringing AI into your editorial workflow has never been easier. With Epicweb’s AI Assistant now supporting Google Gemini and Imagen, editors working in Optimizely CMS can generate stunning content and visuals in just a few clicks, directly from their familiar interface.

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By OMVP Luc Gosso

In this post, we’ll walk you through what the AI Assistant can do, how Google’s Gemini and Imagen models fit into the picture, and how to get started with just a few configuration steps.

What is the AI Assistant in Optimizely?

The AI Assistant is designed to make your life as an editor smoother, faster, and smarter. It integrates seamlessly into Optimizely CMS and Commerce Connect and enhances nearly every part of your workflow — from writing and translating to generating images and structuring content.

What it does:

  • ✍️ Writes and rewrites your text with alternative phrasings

  • 🌍 Translates full pages, blocks, and properties between languages

  • 🧠 Summarizes and shortens content automatically

  • 🎨 Generates images (photos or vector style) with Imagen

  • 🖼️ Extracts Alt Text and metadata from images

  • 📚 Creates FAQs, tables, and even WCAG-compatible content structures

  • 🧭 Adjusts tone: persuasive, informative, formal, casual, etc.

  • ✅ Checks spelling and formatting

It’s not just smart — it’s fast, intuitive, and already embedded into the fields you work in every day.

Why Google Gemini and Imagen?

Google’s Gemini is a powerful, multimodal language model designed to provide accurate, fast, and nuanced language understanding. It’s ideal for tasks like:

  • Text rewriting

  • Translation

  • SEO Summarization

  • Image Analysis

Meanwhile, Imagen 3.0 enables breathtaking image generation. Whether you're crafting illustrations, realistic photos, or marketing visuals, Imagen delivers high-quality results with just a few prompt words.

Combined in the AI Assistant, Gemini handles the text, and Imagen takes care of the visuals, all from within Optimizely.

Installation Guide

To enable the AI Assistant in your solution, follow these quick steps. Installation should be done by a developer with access to the source code.

1. Install via NuGet

Add the package using Optimizely's NuGet feed:

🔗 Epicweb.Optimizely.AIAssistant NuGet Package

dotnet add package Epicweb.Optimizely.AIAssistant

2. Register the service in Startup.cs

In your Startup.cs, register the AI Assistant:

services.AddAIAssistant();

3. Annotate your properties

To enable AI functionality for specific properties, use the [UIHint] attribute:

[UIHint(AIHint.Textarea)]
public virtual string MainBody { get; set; }

For more advanced setups, check out the full installation guide on GitHub.

Gemini + Imagen Configuration

Once installed, enable Google Gemini and Imagen support by adding this to your appsettings.json:

"Epicweb": {
  "AIAssistant": {
    "ApiKey": "AIzaS....", //needed in production
    "AccountName": "YourAccount", //from Epicweb
    "ImageModel": "imagen-3.0-generate-002",
    "AIModel": "gemini-2.0-flash",
    "ProviderName": "Gemini",
    "AIVisionModel": "gemini-2.0-flash",
    "ImageSelectionValues": [
      {
        "property": "aspectRatio",
        "name": "aspectRatio",
        "values": ["1:1", "3:4", "4:3", "9:16", "16:9"]
      },
      {
        "property": "sampleCount",
        "name": "sampleCount",
        "values": ["1", "2", "3", "4"]
      }
    ]
  }
}

See It in Action

Whether you're building a multilingual website, crafting product pages, or creating visual stories — the AI Assistant helps you get there faster, with better quality and less effort.



Flexible AI Engine Options

While Google Gemini and Imagen are powerful choices, Epicweb’s AI Assistant is not limited to a single AI vendor. You have full control over which AI engine you want to use, thanks to our built-in provider architecture.

✅ Built-in AI Providers:

  • OpenAI (US)
    Use OpenAI’s models directly from the U.S.-hosted OpenAI API.

  • Azure OpenAI (Europe, US)
    Host your AI operations in Microsoft Azure’s data centers across Sweden, UK, France, and the United States — perfect for GDPR-sensitive use cases.

  • Google Gemini AI
    Use Google’s Gemini models (like Gemini 2.0 Flash) for blazing-fast and highly capable text understanding, summarization, translation, and multimodal vision tasks.

  • CustomAI Provider
    Want to use Meta’s LLaMA, Anthropic’s Claude, Mistral, or your own internal LLM? The CustomAI provider allows you to plug in any model accessible via REST API and add custom logic if needed.

  • RecraftAI Image Provider
    Generate vector-based, brand-consistent illustrations and icons using Recraft’s image engine — ideal for marketing, UI/UX, and branding teams.

This flexibility ensures your organization can meet compliance, performance, and cost requirements — while still benefiting from powerful AI-assisted editorial workflows.

How does it work?

The AI Assistant: This is what you get

Feature-Rich for Enhanced Editorial Efficiency

Epicweb's AI Assistant comes with an impressive array of features:

  1. Text Suggestions and Alternatives: Overcome creative blocks with AI-generated suggestions and phrasings for your text.

  2. Multilingual Translation: Seamlessly translate your text into various languages, catering to a diverse audience.

  3. Prompt Pro Assistance: It saves time and helps you get more out of your ideas, instantly.

  4. Image AltText Analyzer: Advanced AI capabilities to analyze images and automatically populate media object properties

  5. Image Generation: Create relevant and engaging images that complement your content.

  6. Image Transformer: Take any image, enhance it, and add new elements with AI-powered creativity. Transform the way you interact with images.

  7. New Text Generation: Generate fresh content that keeps your audience engaged.

  8. Text Summarization: Quickly condense long texts into concise summaries, saving time and maintaining essence, perfect for SEO descriptions.

  9. HTML Formatting: The AI-Assistant offers a range of formatting capabilities within the Rich Text Editor. WCAG Compatible.

  10. Spell-Checking: Ensure your content is error-free and professionally polished.

  11. Tone Adjustment and Consistency: Tailor the tone of your writing to match your content's purpose, be it persuasive, informative, or otherwise.

  12. Keyword Extraction: Identify and extract key terms from your text for SEO optimization.

  13. Custom Prompts with ChatGPT: Leverage the power of ChatGPT to run your own prompts for unique content creation.

  14. Custom Shortcut Prompts: Add your own shortcuts for frequently used commands, enhancing productivity.

  15. Inline ChatGPT Help: Use ChatGPT directly within the platform for instant assistance.

Streamlined Integration into Optimizely

The AI Assistant is seamlessly integrated into every field within the Optimizely CMS and Commerce platform, ensuring that these powerful features are accessible right where you need them—in the editor mode.

Getting Started with The Epicweb AI-Assistant:

To get started with the free evaluation, simply fill in the form in our website to get started and download the addon to your Optimizely CMS and Customizable Commerce platform from the Optimizely Nuget feed.

Follow our beginner-friendly guide or dive deep with our comprehensive documentation.

Installation is quick and easy, taking about 10 minutes, allowing you to start harnessing the power of AI assistance in no time.

Book a meeting to get started!

We offer a one-hour introduction meeting about our AI Assistant for Optimizely CMS 12. (Swedish or English)

Take me to booking page

Note: This blog post has been enhanced with the help of the AI-Assistant for Optimizely.

About the Author

Luc Gosso

OMVP Luc Gosso

– Independent Senior Web Developer
working with Azure, AI and Optimizely