By Engadget | Created at 2026-08-06 14:58:08 | Updated at 2026-08-06 18:39:04
6 hours ago
Google is bringing a host of new features to its Ask Maps chatbot.
This past March, Google introduced a chatbot inside of Maps as part of its overhaul of the software's navigation suite. The company pitched the feature, Ask Maps, as a way to give users a way to obtain information no traditional map can provide. Today, Google is expanding what Ask Maps can do, starting with the addition of new agentic capabilities.
The next time you feel like ordering food, you can do so directly through Ask Maps. In a press briefing, Amanda Leicht-Moore, senior product director of Google Maps, demoed the feature by telling the chatbot she wanted recommendations for avocado toast and an oat milk latte near her home. The chatbot responded with a list of suggestions. Leicht-Moore then picked one of the suggestions to get an order going. Google is partnering with Toast, Square and Uber Eats to facilitate food ordering. The first two partners will be available at launch, with Uber Eats to follow at a later date.
"This is the first time people will be able to order food conversationally with Ask Maps, and we'll keep improving food ordering as we co-develop the Universal Commerce Protocol for food with our partners," said Leicht-Moore, referring to the agentic commerce framework Google announced at I/O 2026.
Outside of food ordering, the same integration also allows Ask Maps to help you with booking a hotel for your next trip. You can describe your booking criteria to the chatbot, including considerations like budget, room size and nearby attractions, and Ask Maps will try to fit a hotel that fits those requirements. According to Leicht-Moore, the chatbot will compare prices and check availability in real time. From there, you can click through to the websites of Google's partners to book your stay. This integration also works for live events, so you can ask the chatbot about comedy shows and concerts in your area.
Alongside those additions, Google is bringing Personal Intelligence to Ask Maps. The company first debuted the feature at the start of the year through Gemini. With today's update, it allows you to connect Ask Maps to your other Google apps and services, giving the chatbot the ability to better personalize its responses. For instance, if you're about to go on a trip, you can prompt for restaurant recommendations near your hotel. Ask Maps can then check Gmail to confirm where you're staying before generating a list of suggestions. The integration is launching first with Gmail, with connections to other apps, including Calendar, to follow later. Starting today, if you enable History settings in Google Maps, Ask Maps will remember your past conversations with it, allowing you to continue past chats at a later date.
"The most important thing to emphasize: you're always in control with Personal Intelligence. Connecting Ask Maps to your Gmail is off by default, and you decide whether to turn it on," said Maz Khorasani, product director for Google Maps.
For frequent public transit users, Google is updating Ask Maps to make it capable of generating live widgets inside of its conversational interface. For example, if your daily commute involves a ferry like Vancouver's SeaBus, those widgets will display real-time information about wait times, delays and more.
Lastly, Google is giving its Local Guides community the option to suggest edits through Ask Maps. For example, if a business changes its hours, you can upload a photo of a storefront sign and Ask Maps will ask you to confirm the changes before making a submission on your behalf. Google will review contributions made this way the same way it does manual edits to ensure accuracy.
With today's announcement, Google is also expanding the availability of Ask Maps to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Japan and Mexico, alongside 150 other countries and territories where you can converse with the chatbot in English. Live transit widgets and Personal Intelligence are rolling out everywhere where Google offers Ask Maps. Food ordering, hotel and live event discovery and conversational contributions will debut first in the US before becoming available in more countries in the future.
