Google's AI Mode expands agentic restaurant reservations, Flight Deals, Canvas

Google Search's AI Mode launched restaurant reservations back in August, but the feature has so far been opt-in via a Labs flag. That changes today, restaurant reservations through AI Mode are now rolling out in the US for everyone, alongside event tickets and beauty and wellness appointments.

This works with partners like OpenTable, Resy, Tock, Ticketmaster, StubHub, SeatGeek, Vivid Seats, Booksy, Fresha, and Vagaro. You just need to tell AI Mode what you want, including all your needs and preferences, and it will search across multiple platforms and websites to find real-time availability. You'll get a curated list to choose from.

For restaurant reservations specifically, AI Mode can even make the booking for you. And agentic booking for event tickets and local appointments is available in the US via Labs. In the future, AI Mode will also book hotels and flights for you.

Speaking of flights, Flight Deals is expanding globally, to more than 200 countries. This tool in Google Flights launched in August in the US, Canada, and India. It lets you describe where, when and how you'd like to travel, and uses AI to understand what you want and show "the best bargains available". It sounds like a very useful tool if you're flexible with your dates, since it saves you from searching a million different date combinations.

Finally, Canvas in AI Mode now lets you "build travel plans that are customized for your specific needs". If you tell AI Mode what type of trip you're planning and the recommendations you're looking for, you'll then have the option to Create Canvas.

This will surface real-time data for flights and hotels, photos and reviews from Google Maps, and "relevant information from sites across the web". You'll get suggestions that fit your criteria, including hotel comparisons (based on pricing and amenities), and ideas for restaurants and activities optimized by travel time from where you're staying.

You can ask follow-up questions and get help with choices involving tradeoffs. And you can always jump back in through AI Mode history. Travel planning with Canvas is available on desktop in the US if you opt into the AI Mode experiment in Labs.

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