Google starts booking tables

Google has started letting people in Britain book restaurant tables inside Search, turning its AI Mode from a results page into a booking tool. (blog.google) Google said the feature went live on April 10, 2026, and works for restaurant searches in the United Kingdom. Users can type requests with details like cuisine, party size, time and dietary needs, and AI Mode returns places with live availability. (blog.google) The booking flow does not end inside a chatbot. Google said AI Mode scans reservation services and restaurant sites, then sends people to booking partners including DesignMyNight, SevenRooms, ResDiary and TheFork to complete the reservation. (blog.google; tech.yahoo.com) Google is calling this “agentic” search, meaning the system handles a multi-step job instead of only listing links. The same Search Labs experiment now also covers event tickets and beauty and wellness appointments, showing Google is testing task completion across local services. (labs.google.com; blog.google) The company has been widening AI Mode’s reach for months. Google rolled AI Mode out in the United Kingdom in August 2025 and expanded the product to more than 200 countries and territories in October 2025, though advanced agentic features have rolled out more selectively. (blog.google; blog.google) Google tied the restaurant launch to a jump in dining-related searches. In its announcement, the company said searches for “when to book a table” are up 140% this year, as people ask more detailed questions about group size and food restrictions. (blog.google) The engineering shift is bigger than the user interface change. Google’s Search Labs page says AI Mode can “do the legwork” to find reservations that fit a request, which means the system has to keep track of a user’s constraints across several steps and hand off the final booking to outside services without losing context. (labs.google.com) That puts Google more directly against companies that built businesses on restaurant discovery and reservations. The new flow keeps Search at the center longer, while partners still supply inventory and checkout. (restauranttechnologynews.com; tech.yahoo.com) Google has framed AI Mode as an experiment, not a finished product. Its Search Labs pages say the feature is still early, may make mistakes, and is being expanded through opt-in testing and feedback. (labs.google.com; labs.google.com) For diners, the immediate change is simple: a search for dinner in Britain can now end with a confirmed table, not just a list of links. (blog.google)