Google Maps is becoming more than an app for directions. Google has added new artificial intelligence features that can help users order food, find hotels, discover local events and receive travel suggestions based on their plans.
The new tools are available through Ask Maps, an AI-powered feature built with Google’s Gemini technology. Users can describe what they need in normal words instead of searching through several menus or opening different apps.
For example, a user can ask Google Maps to find a particular meal for pickup on the way home. Ask Maps can check restaurants along the route, consider dietary needs and look at places the user has previously saved. After the user selects a restaurant, the app can add the requested food to the shopping cart for review before the order is completed.
Food ordering is starting with support from Square and Toast. Support for Uber Eats is also expected to arrive soon. The feature is designed to reduce the time people spend searching for restaurants, reading menus and building their orders manually.
Ask Maps can also help people find hotels that match detailed requirements. A traveler could request an affordable, highly rated hotel near a gym and restaurants. Google Maps can then compare current prices, check availability and suggest suitable options.
Users can also ask about nearby concerts, comedy shows and other events. The results may include useful event details and links where tickets can be purchased. This could make Maps more useful for planning complete trips instead of only finding directions.
Another major addition is Personal Intelligence. Users can choose to connect Ask Maps with Gmail so the app can understand existing plans such as flight details, hotel bookings and restaurant reservations. It can then provide recommendations that fit around those plans.
For example, a traveler may ask how to spend a few free hours before a flight. Ask Maps can use the hotel and flight information found in Gmail to suggest nearby places and recommend when the person should leave for the airport.
Connecting Gmail is optional and switched off by default. Users must choose to activate it. Google also plans to add support for other services, including Calendar, in the future.
Google Maps is also introducing more useful public transport information. A new live transit feature can show current delays for buses, trains, subways and ferries. The expected arrival or departure time can update minute by minute when a service is running late.
People can now suggest changes to Google Maps through a conversation as well. They may report updated business hours, parking information or other local details. Users can upload a photo of a shop sign, and Maps can identify information from the image before asking them to confirm the suggested update.
Food ordering, hotel and event discovery and conversational contributions are initially rolling out in the United States. Other Ask Maps improvements, including personalized responses and live transit information, are becoming available in more supported regions, including Australia and Canada.
These updates show Google’s wider plan to turn Maps into an AI assistant that can understand requests and complete useful steps. Instead of simply showing where something is located, Google Maps is moving toward helping users plan, decide and act from one app.
