Google Maps is adding an AI-powered question-and-answer feature and a redesigned navigation view, as the company moves to make its mapping service more conversational and visually detailed.
The new Ask Maps tool lets users pose complex, multi-part questions and receive personalised recommendations overlaid directly on a map, drawing on data from more than 300 million places listed in the service.
Suggestions are tailored to a user's saved locations and search history, and the feature can return estimated journey times and itinerary ideas alongside its recommendations.
The results also incorporate contributions from Maps' user community, which the company says numbers more than 500 million people who submit reviews, photos and local tips.
On the navigation side, Google is introducing Immersive Navigation, which replaces the standard driving view with a three-dimensional display that highlights individual lanes, crosswalks and road features drawn from Street View imagery and aerial photography, processed by its Gemini AI models.
Miriam Daniel, Google Maps' vice president and general manager, described it as "our biggest transformation of the navigation experience in over a decade."
Related reading
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- Google expands AI Max text guidelines globally
- Deepgram brings speech recognition to Together AI's voice platform
The driving experience also benefits from Maps' existing live traffic system, which the company says processes more than 5 million traffic updates every second, supplemented by more than 10 million incident reports submitted daily by drivers.
Ask Maps is available now on Android and iOS in the United States and India, with a desktop version to follow; Immersive Navigation is launching in the US first before expanding to additional devices and in-car platforms over the coming months.
The recap
- Ask Maps brings conversational search powered by Gemini models.
- Maps analyzes information from over 300 million places.
- Ask Maps rolling out now in U.S. and India.
