Google unveiled a major set of AI shopping upgrades across Search, the Gemini app, and its agentic technology stack, designed to simplify gift-buying during the busiest retail period of the year.

Holiday shopping is supposed to feel joyful, but for many people it quickly turns into a digital maze — endless scrolling, too many open tabs, shifting prices, and the sense that you’ve already forgotten half the items you looked at. What should be fun starts to feel like work. Google’s latest advancements in AI and agentic technology aim to reduce that burden, introducing a major shopping update across Search and Gemini just in time for the holiday season.

The rollout introduces conversational shopping in AI Mode, new planning and comparison tools inside Gemini, automated phone-call assistance to check local inventory, and a new agentic checkout feature that can complete purchases on the user’s behalf.

Google is expanding AI Mode in Search with its most significant shopping upgrade to date. Instead of manually setting filters or guessing keywords, shoppers can now describe what they want in natural language — the same way they would explain it to a friend.

AI Mode generates an intelligently structured response that includes shoppable images, pricing information, reviews, inventory status, and side-by-side comparison tables when relevant, making it easier to understand your options and choose the right product. For example:

All results draw from Google’s Shopping Graph, which includes 50+ billion product listings, refreshed continuously with 2 billion updates per hour, ensuring that users see the most current information.

Google is also bringing these capabilities into the Gemini app, allowing users to plan and browse entirely within a single chat window. Users can:

These features are available to all Gemini users in the U.S. beginning today — just start by asking a shopping question directly in Gemini.

For items that users prefer to buy locally — or need quickly — Google is rolling out a new feature in Search that can place phone calls to nearby stores using agentic AI and its Duplex technology, the system designed to autonomously call businesses, ask context-specific questions, and understand natural speech. This helps automate a task that often means calling several stores, waiting on hold, and repeating the same questions just to find out what’s available. Now, you can hand off that step to Google, which will place the calls for you.

When users search for a product “near me,” they may see a “Let Google Call” button. After answering a few prompts, Google’s systems will:

Users receive the call results by email or text, along with additional local inventory information from other nearby stores powered by Google’s Shopping Graph. The feature initially supports categories such as toys, health and beauty, and electronics.

Google is also introducing an agentic checkout capability designed to help shoppers secure items at the right price. It’s a familiar frustration: waiting for a better price, only to come back later and find the item gone.

To track an item’s price — including size, color, and budget — Google will:

Google will only proceed after the user confirms purchase and shipping details. The feature uses Google’s payments infrastructure and the Shopping Graph to maintain accurate pricing and secure transactions.

Agentic checkout is rolling out now through Search, including in AI Mode, with participating merchants such as Wayfair, Chewy, Quince, and select Shopify stores, with more coming soon.

Q: How does AI Mode in Search personalize shopping responses?
A: AI Mode uses natural language inputs and the Shopping Graph to generate responses tailored to the user’s description — whether they need visual ideas, product comparisons, or quick purchase information.

Q: How does the Gemini app help with gift planning?
A: The Gemini app can now surface shoppable listings, comparison tables, and price data directly inside chat, allowing users to brainstorm, refine, and shop without switching apps.

Q: What powers the new “Let Google Call” feature?
A: It is built on Duplex technology with enhancements from Gemini, enabling the system to call stores, ask context-specific questions, and summarize responses.

Q: How does agentic checkout maintain security?
A: All transactions use Google Pay infrastructure, and Google only completes a purchase after users verify details, ensuring security and user control.

Holiday shopping has always carried a quiet cognitive burden: dozens of open tabs, product pages that all start to blur together, shifting prices, contradictory reviews, and the constant fear of missing a better deal somewhere else. Google’s latest updates directly target that mental load using AI to handle the tasks that drain the most time and energy.

By connecting Gemini, AI Mode, and the Shopping Graph, Google is moving holiday shopping closer to a single, guided experience. Instead of clicking through pages of filters, users can describe what they want in plain language and receive a structured, personalized answer in seconds. Instead of comparing products manually — often across multiple retailers — AI Mode does the sorting, interpreting, and side-by-side analysis automatically.

The addition of agentic calling addresses a pain point almost everyone has felt: calling multiple stores, waiting on hold, repeating the same questions, and still not being sure whether you have the full picture. Automating those calls not only saves time but reduces uncertainty during a season when every hour feels spoken for.

And the introduction of agentic checkout removes the emotional fatigue of tracking sales. Shoppers no longer need to refresh a product page during a busy workday or stay up late hoping to catch a price drop. Instead, they can rely on Google to monitor price changes, alert them when the item fits their budget, and — with permission — complete the purchase before it sells out.

Taken together, these features represent a shift in what holiday shopping can feel like. Instead of a long series of micro-decisions that eat into evenings and weekends, users get a streamlined experience that preserves both time and attention. For families trying to stretch budgets, balance schedules, or juggle multiple wish lists, this update offers a path to shop confidently while minimizing stress.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.