Google Adds New Tasked-Based Search Features via @sejournal, @martinibuster

Google introduced new features for Search that continues its evolution into a more task-oriented tool, enabling users to launch AI agents directly from AI Mode and complete more tasks. This is a trend that all SEOs and online businesses need to be aware of.

Rose Yao, Product leader in Search, posted about the new features on X. The first tool is a toggle that enables users to track hotel prices directly from the search bar.

Yao explained:

“To help you save $$, today we launched hotel price tracking on Search! Use the new tracking toggle to get an email if prices drop for your dream hotel. Available now, globally”

An accompanying official blog post further explained the new tool:

“You can already track hotel prices at the city level, and launching today, you can now track prices for individual hotels, too. To get started on desktop, head to Search and look up a specific hotel by name, then tap the new price tracking toggle. On mobile, you’ll find the price tracking option under the Prices tab after you search. Either way, you’ll get an email alert if rates change significantly during your chosen dates, so you can jump on those price drops and snag a great deal.”

Agentic Search From AI Mode

Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, recently shared that the future of search was tasked-based with a reliance on AI agents that can complete tasks for users. This announcement brings Google search closer to that paradigm by introducing agentic search directly from AI Mode. This new feature launches an AI agent from AI Mode that will call local stores.

Yao explained:

“Agentic calling in AI Mode for finding last-minute travel gear.

When you just need that *one thing* before you leave but don’t know who’s got it in stock, you can ask AI Mode to save you the stress. Just search for what you need “near me” and Google AI will call local stores directly to get the details you need.”

This feature has been available on Google Search since November 2025 but it’s now rolling out to AI Mode.

Canvas Tool

AI Mode in Search has a Canvas tool that can accomplish planning tasks for users. The official blog post describes it:

“AI Mode in Search can transform your scattered research into a cohesive travel plan. Just head to AI Mode, select the Canvas tool from the plus (+) menu and describe your ideal trip. AI Mode will craft a custom itinerary in the Canvas side panel, including options for flights and hotels, as well as local attractions laid out on a map.”

The results can be further refined by the user. Travel planning with the Canvas tool is currently only available in the United States.

Three Featured Travel Tools

Those are the three travel-related features that Yao announced on X. The official blog post lists seven features related to travel, not all of which are new. For example, saving a boarding pass to Google Wallet is not a new feature.

Google’s Seven Travel Related Search Features

1. Build a custom trip plan with AI Mode in Search
2. Save money with hotel price tracking on Search
3. Let Google take the hassle out of booking restaurants
4. Ask Google to call nearby stores for last-minute shopping
5. Translate and communicate with confidence
6. Ask Maps for the best stops on your summer trips
7. Make airport travel easier with Google Wallet

Transformation Of Search Continues

The main takeaways are:

• Search is on a path toward becoming task oriented
• Features like hotel tracking, AI calling, and Canvas show Google handling real-world actions, not just queries
• Sundar Pichai’s “task-based” vision is already live in product features, not theoretical
• AI Mode acts as an execution layer, turning search into a tool that does things on behalf of users
• Local intent is becoming more actionable, with AI directly interacting with businesses
• The traditional “ten blue links” model is being replaced by an interface that organizes and completes workflows
• Visibility in search is increasingly tied to whether your business can be used by these systems, not just found

Google Search is becoming less about answering queries and is becoming more about helping users with their every day tasks. In that mode, it changes the role of a website from a destination into a data source and service endpoint.

For marketers, that creates an opportunity for helping businesses be aware of these changes and be ready for them.

If AI agents are calling stores, tracking prices, and assembling plans, then the winners are not just the best-ranked pages but the ones that are use accurately structured HTML elements as well as Schema.org structured markup.  The winners are the businesses whose data is structured, accessible, and actionable enough for those agents to use.

What this means:

• Treat product availability, pricing, hours, and inventory as critical inputs, not just content
• Ensure local listings, structured data, and third-party integrations are accurate and consistent

Google Search is transforming into a tasked-based user interface. Tasked-based Agentic Search is not hype, it’s something real and these new features are a part of that transformation. The old ten blue links paradigm is steadily fading away and what’s replacing it is the concept of search as an interface for navigating the modern world.

Read more about Google’s tasked-based agentic search. On a related note, research based on 68 million AI crawler visits show what successful websites do to drive better AI search performance to local business sites.

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Sergio Reis