Google Maps is the latest product to get an infusion of Google’s generative AI model, Gemini. This involves several angles but the main takeaway is that Google Maps users will be able to tap into Gemini’s capabilities to make it more intuitive to find places and ask questions about them.
“Intuitive” is code for natural language, as in asking questions in full sentences – one of the tenets of large language models like Gemini. And this functionality will stretch into several aspects of mapping. Beyond questions about places, it uplevels one of mapping’s core functions: navigation.
The latter continues an ongoing string of utilities in Google Maps such as granular navigation details. Beyond just getting you from point A to point B, the goal is to provide along-the-route intelligence such as which lane you should be in. These are functions in Google Maps that continue to improve.
Another example of the latest AI-fueled functionality is to turn Google Maps into more of a discovery engine. Searching for specific things is still a core use case, but Gemini now brings better ability to seek inspiration or new ideas for places to see, do or eat. The goal is dialogues rather than searches.
Concierge Vibes
All the above manifests in the ability to spark discussions by asking Google Maps for recommendations. The example Google gives is to ask Maps things like “What are good things to do with friends at night?” in the context of having out-of-town friends visiting. Gemini will then return a curated list of things to do.
But the key function that brings it into “dialogue” territory, is the ability to ask follow-up questions about the list of suggestions. That can include questions about ambiance, reviews, dog policies, parking, or other business details. And of course, Google has all that data from Google Business Profiles (GBP).
That makes this yet another reminder that Google is primed for AI. The name of the game is data, and Google has more data than anyone when it comes to places, search behavior, and its broader knowledge graph. Not only does it have GPB, Maps, and Waze, but previous ownership of Zagat.
That last part is notable because the new UX has concierge vibes. It makes Google Maps more of a digital assistant rather than a navigation utility. This is appealing but Google’s challenge, ironically, is to untrain users from the keyword-heavy ways that it has taught them to search over the past 25 years.
Two-Horse Race
As we’ve said, mapping is a mature product that continues to act like a younger one. That includes ongoing and rapid feature developments. Now, AI is the primary accelerant for those ongoing functional upgrades… that, and the competitive drive for market share in a hotly-contested two-horse race.
The other horse is, of course, Apple. Given its developments with Apple Intelligence, it’s clear that AI will be the new propellant in the feature rollouts that define the mapping wars. And it’s fitting, as there are several AI capabilities – some noted above – that map well (sorry) to local search and navigation.
That’s all to say that you can bet Apple Intelligence will make its way deeper into Apple Maps, soonish. True to form, Apple usually comes to market later with products and integrations like this, as it likes to perfect them before launching. So expect Apple’s moves here to trail… but not necessarily fall short.
Meanwhile, Google Maps’ Gemini-fueled features are rolling out in the U.S. this week. It will also plant these features in Waze and core search…. in the same way that Google Maps already appears in local SERPs. That includes AI-powered review summaries and the dialogues at the center of the new UX.
