Google Maps launches "decade’s biggest update" with AI Ask Maps and Immersive Navigation

Google is rolling out what it describes as "its biggest Google Maps navigation update in a decade", introducing several new features powered by Gemini. The main addition is Ask Maps, a chatbot style tool that lets users ask practical questions in natural language, quite similar to the Ask Photos feature Google added to Google Photos a few months ago. It delivers personalized answers using real time information from Google’s database of more than 300 million places and over 500 million user reviews, with responses that can include photos, route visualizations, and recommendations.

Ask Maps also tailors suggestions based on individual preferences, including food tastes, and lets users take actions like booking reservations, saving places, or sharing recommendations directly within Maps. The feature is currently rolling out on Android and iOS in the United States and India, with a web version planned for later.

Google is also updating turn by turn navigation with Immersive Navigation, which adds more detailed 3D visuals for lanes, crosswalks, and terrain. Voice guidance now sounds more natural, and buildings can appear transparent to help clarify turns and nearby road layout. Immersive Navigation is rolling out first in the US on Android, iOS, CarPlay, Android Auto, and select vehicles with Google built in.