Google Expands Ask Maps AI to Enable Food Orders, Hotel Searches, and Real-Time Transit Updates
Google has upgraded Ask Maps, its AI-powered feature integrated into Google Maps, to go beyond recommending places by enabling practical actions such as ordering food, finding hotels, and discovering events based on detailed user requests. Users can now ask Ask Maps to locate a specific dish at restaurants along their travel route, considering location, dietary preferences, and saved places, then add the dish to a shopping cart. However, users must still verify and complete the order and payment themselves. This food ordering service launches in partnership with Square and Toast, with Uber Eats support expected later. Initially, the focus is on pickup orders rather than replacing full delivery apps, and Google has not yet disclosed participating restaurants or regions.
Ask Maps also now supports complex hotel and event searches using natural language, such as finding a hotel within walking distance of a gym and restaurants or events matching a particular style, simplifying the user experience by avoiding multiple filters. Another new feature is the integration of Personal Intelligence, which, with user consent, connects Maps to Gmail to incorporate flight details, restaurant bookings, and travel plans. This connection is off by default and requires manual activation, with Google Calendar support planned for the future.
Additional enhancements include live transit information for buses, trains, subways, and ferries, along with a new component showing real-time delays. Users can also update business details by chatting with Ask Maps and uploading photos of signs or opening hours to suggest map corrections. These new features, including food ordering, hotel search, and business updates, are initially rolling out in the United States. Ask Maps is also expanding to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, and Mexico, but no launch date has been announced for Israel. Google advises users to verify prices, restaurant details, ingredients, and pickup times before confirming orders, as AI-generated responses may contain errors.
