Google AI Mode Starts Rolling Out Agentic Booking in Search Labs
Google is rolling out agentic booking inside AI Mode as a Search Labs experiment. It can find and book restaurant reservations, event tickets, and wellness appointments across multiple sites, then send you to the provider to finish the purchase.
Availability is limited to U.S. users (English, 18+) opted into Search Labs. Restaurant bookings are open to all eligible Labs users. Event tickets and wellness appointments are available to Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers with higher usage limits. Rollout is staged, so you might not see it yet.
What's new
- Restaurant reservations: Ask for party size, time, neighborhood, or cuisine. AI Mode returns real-time slots and links to book.
- Event tickets (Pro/Ultra): Search by price and seating preferences and get links to purchase.
- Wellness appointments (Pro/Ultra): Surfaces availability from local booking platforms and links to complete your appointment.
Behind the scenes, AI Mode searches multiple websites, compiles real-time options, and presents a curated list of time slots or ticket prices.
How it works
AI Mode runs a multi-site search for availability, filters the results, and shows a short list of options. When you pick one, it deep-links you to the provider's booking page to finalize. It's an early experiment, so expect occasional misses or inconsistencies.
Availability and requirements
- U.S. only, English, age 18+, access via Search Labs
- Personal Google Account you manage yourself
- Web & App Activity turned on
- Restaurants: available to all eligible Labs users
- Events and wellness: available to Google AI Pro & Ultra subscribers with higher limits
Why this matters for product, engineering, and IT
- Discovery compresses into one query: Users compare options (times, prices) without visiting multiple sites. Expect changes in referral patterns.
- Conversion tracking shifts: Ensure booking pages accept deep links and include consistent UTM parameters for attribution.
- Data quality is critical: Keep availability, pricing, and hours consistent across your site and partner platforms to reduce drop-off.
- Technical hygiene: Use clear deep-link routes, fast pages, reliable uptime, and structured data for events and local offerings.
- Privacy and compliance: Web & App Activity is required; align your consent flows and privacy notices accordingly.
Practical tests to run this week
- Restaurant: "Find me a dinner reservation for 3 people this Friday after 6pm around Logan Square, craving ramen or bibimbap." Compare surfaced slots vs. your site's inventory.
- Events (Pro/Ultra): "Find me 2 cheap tickets for the Shaboozey concert, prefer standing floor." Check price accuracy, seating labels, and deep-link fidelity.
- Wellness (Pro/Ultra): Search for local services your brand offers. Verify that links land on the correct provider page with the selected time pre-populated.
- Instrumentation: Confirm UTMs, event tracking, and server logs capture AI Mode referrals cleanly.
Limitations to expect
- Staged rollout; not everyone has access yet
- Real-time availability may occasionally lag or miss inventory
- Final transaction happens on the provider's site
- Higher usage limits for paid subscribers (Pro/Ultra)
- U.S. and English only during the experiment phase
Try it
If you have access, you can explore the experiment in Search Labs here: Google Search Labs - AI Mode Booking.
Skill up your team
If you're building AI-driven user journeys or optimizing booking funnels, align your team on the latest workflows and tools. See curated learning paths by role here: Complete AI Training - Courses by Job.
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