Google has expanded AI Mode — the generative layer inside Search — with new “agentic” booking capabilities that can search multiple sites and surface real‑time options for event tickets, beauty and wellness appointments and restaurant reservations.
What Google announced
Rolled out as an experiment in Search Labs beginning November 4, 2025, the update lets users ask AI Mode to find and narrow down ticket and appointment options that match detailed preferences — for example, "find me two cheap tickets for the Shaboozey concert, prefer standing floor tickets" or "book a salon appointment for a deep conditioning treatment next Thursday afternoon." AI Mode then scans across multiple booking platforms, returns a curated list of times, prices and seating options, and links users to the provider’s booking page to complete the purchase.
Google describes the feature as an early experiment and says it is rooted in the company’s quality and safety systems while still prone to mistakes. The company has made the experiment available to U.S. users who opt into Search Labs; paid Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers receive higher usage limits.
You can view the experiment details on Google’s Search Labs site: Search Labs — AI Mode experiment.
How it works
AI Mode performs multi‑site, real‑time queries and aggregates results into a single, conversational answer. Key behaviors include:
- Searching multiple third‑party booking and ticketing sites for availability and price
- Applying user constraints like party size, date, neighborhood, seating preference or service type
- Presenting a curated set of options and linking back to the original provider’s page to finish the transaction
- A personal Google Account you manage yourself
- Web & App Activity turned on
- Enrollment in Search Labs
- Age 18 or older
- Broader merchant and platform integrations to improve coverage and accuracy
- Policy and privacy disclosures as agentic features become more common
- Competitive responses from other AI and browser players seeking to own more of the online booking workflow
Google previously added similar agentic booking for restaurants in August, and the company has been iterating on AI Mode since its March launch as a conversational alternative to traditional blue‑link search results.
Who can use it and what the limits are
The rollout is staged and currently limited to U.S. English‑language users who meet several conditions listed on the experiment page. Among the requirements:
Paid Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers get higher limits and access to some ticket and wellness booking features earlier than free users.
Why this matters
The update signals a broader shift in how search engines interact with the web: from returning links for users to inspect, to taking on multi‑step tasks that historically required visiting several sites. For consumers, the promise is clear — less manual comparison, faster discovery and the convenience of handling complex requests in a single conversational session.
For businesses and booking platforms, the change raises practical questions about how services are represented to AI agents and whether discovery funnels will shift away from traditional search and marketplaces. Industry observers say merchants will need to ensure their inventory and booking feeds are structured and accessible to be found by aggregation agents.
Context and competition
AI Mode is Google’s bid to compete with emergent players that blend search with agentic capabilities, such as Perplexity, OpenAI’s search offerings and Anthropic’s Claude integrations. The development also ties into Google’s broader investments in Gemini and experimental agent projects (Project Mariner has been reported as one of the underlying agent initiatives), and follows other moves like tighter Gemini integration with Chrome.
Privacy, accuracy and downsides
Google cautions that AI Mode is experimental and may make mistakes. The feature’s reliance on Web & App Activity raises predictable privacy questions: letting an agent search and act on your behalf requires additional signals and data retention that some users may not want to enable.
Other practical limitations remain: AI Mode does not complete transactions on behalf of users — it directs them to provider pages — and availability is limited by the coverage of the booking platforms the agent can access. Staged rollouts mean many users worldwide will not see the functionality yet.
What to watch next
Expect Google to expand availability beyond the U.S. if the experiment performs well. Watch also for:
For now, AI Mode’s booking tools represent another step toward search that can act as an intermediary rather than just a pointer — offering convenience while amplifying debates about data use, merchant representation and the future of discovery on the web.