Google Maps gets conversational

Google Maps has started rolling out “Ask Maps,” a Gemini-powered chat feature that turns place search into a conversation inside the app. (blog.google) Google said on March 12 that Ask Maps is rolling out in the United States and India on Android and iPhone. The company says users can ask longer questions about places and get recommendations plotted directly on the map. (blog.google) Google’s support pages describe the tool as Gemini inside Maps, built to answer questions about destinations and recommend places based on the prompt. On desktop, Google says the feature also requires WebGL, the browser technology used for interactive 3D graphics. (support.google.com) The change pushes Maps beyond the old keyword box, where users typed terms like “coffee near me” and scanned a list. Google now wants people to ask for combinations of traits, timing and context, then read an artificial intelligence summary before choosing a place. (blog.google; androidauthority.com) That shift has been building for more than two years. In February 2024, Google began testing generative artificial intelligence recommendations in Maps with select Local Guides in the United States, framing the tool as a way to suggest places from Maps’ large pool of reviews and photos. (blog.google) Google has tied the new chat feature to the data scale of Maps itself. In November 2025, the company said Gemini-powered navigation features were drawing on information about 250 million places and Street View imagery to generate more useful guidance. (blog.google) The company announced Ask Maps alongside a second update called Immersive Navigation, which adds redesigned visuals, spoken guidance and real-time road details for drivers. Google said that driving feature is launching in the United States, while Ask Maps is the broader discovery tool for finding where to go in the first place. (blog.google; techcrunch.com) For local businesses, the change could make review language, photos and profile details more important than exact keyword matches. Search Engine Journal reported that Ask Maps is designed to answer natural-language questions with personalized suggestions, which could reshape how shops and restaurants surface in Maps results. (searchenginejournal.com) Google labels the summaries as generated by artificial intelligence and says the feature is experimental. That leaves Maps trying to do two jobs at once: route people across a city and explain a city back to them in plain language. (blog.google; support.google.com)