Explore New Adventures With Google Maps' Gemini AI Enhancements

Imagine being able to go to Google Maps and find information to help you plan a girls’ night out or a more exciting road trip. That’s exactly what Google Maps is trying to achieve.

Toady, Google announced that new generative AI improvements are coming to Google Maps via its Gemini AI. The company showed off Gemini in Maps in an event at the Google Maps garage, where it detailed the new changes that are rolling out to Maps in the Android and iOS apps as well as to “projected surfaces” like the Google Maps-enabled display in the 2024 Rivian SUVs.

At the top of the list of new capabilities coming to Maps is the ability to ask Maps for “inspiration” when you’re planning an outing. For example, if you want to plan a night out with friends, you can ask Maps to suggest where you might go. As long as you provide a few parameters in your query, the app will return a “thematically curated” list of suggestions for you to consider.

Gemini’s suggestions are based on the reviews and information that Maps users have entered through its Local Guides programs and similar offerings. The result, according to Google, is a list of suggestions that not only meet the criteria you enter into the query but that are also “grounded” or fact-checked for accuracy. For example, if one of the results returned is a restaurant, Gemini might make the suggestion based on Google reviews left for the site, menu images that were uploaded by Local Guides, and other relevant information that was provided by real people.

“There are more than 100 million updates to the map every day, and we leverage this fresh information so that the places you see and the information you see, you know they’re real places on the map, and you know that it’s substantiated by real human voices that have given us reviews,” said Miriam Daniel, VP and GM of Google Maps.

More than just providing information, however, you can also interact with the results that are returned. You can make a reservation using one of the suggestions and then get directions to the restaurant. You can also now see additional suggestions along the route to the restaurant that might help you uncover a stop or two you’d like to make along the way. Additional features are also being added to help you navigate the route easier, find parking, and even get walking directions from your car to your final destination. Also, with those results, you’ll have access to the information (think tolls, parking fees, etc.) that you might need to know during the trip. There’s even a new feature for weather disruptions being added, so you’ll know if you need an umbrella to get from the car to the restaurant.

You should start seeing some of these new features starting today, October 31. They will be rolled out progressively, though, so it might take a few days before you see everything mentioned here.