Google Maps Launches AI-Powered Agentic Features for Food Ordering, Hotel Bookings, and Event Tickets

Aug 6, 2026

Google has rolled out a major upgrade to its Gemini-powered Ask Maps assistant, transforming Google Maps from a navigation tool into an agentic transactional layer. Users in the US can now order food, book hotels, and find event tickets through conversational commands. The update integrates with partners like Toast, Square, Booking.com, and Expedia, and introduces an opt-in Personal Intelligence feature that connects to Gmail and Calendar. Concurrently, Google is expanding Ask Maps' English availability to over 130 countries and preparing to retire Google Assistant on mobile devices in September 2026.

Ask Maps agentic capabilities

▪Google announced a major upgrade to its Gemini-powered conversational assistant, Ask Maps, inside Google Maps on August 6, 2026.
▪Ask Maps users can suggest business edits conversationally or upload storefront photos for the system to automatically extract updated hours.
▪A new live transit widget in Ask Maps provides real-time updates on delays for buses, trains, subways, and ferries.
▪The Ask Maps upgrade introduces agentic capabilities that allow the assistant to handle complex, multi-step tasks such as ordering food, booking hotels, and finding event tickets.

Food ordering automation

▪Google partnered with Square and Toast to launch the food ordering feature, with Uber Eats support expected to follow.
▪Ask Maps can automatically build a food order cart based on user queries, route, dietary needs, and saved places, leaving only payment to complete the transaction.

Hotel booking functionality

▪Google integrated Booking.com and Expedia as official partners to facilitate hotel bookings directly through Ask Maps.
▪Ask Maps allows users to search for hotels using qualitative preferences like aesthetic, vibe, and proximity to specific amenities rather than just price and star ratings.

Personal Intelligence integration

▪Personal Intelligence is disabled by default, requiring explicit user permission to access Gmail and Google Calendar data.
▪The Personal Intelligence feature connects Ask Maps to Gmail and Google Calendar to automatically factor in flight and hotel reservations when making suggestions.

Global availability expansion

▪Google expanded Ask Maps' English-language availability to over 130 countries, including new markets such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, and Mexico.
▪The agentic food ordering, hotel booking, and event discovery features are launching first in the United States.

Google Assistant retirement

▪The retirement of Google Assistant affects phones, tablets, Wear OS smartwatches, headphones, and Android Auto, while Google Home speakers and Google TV will retain it for now.
▪Google informed Android users that Google Assistant will be retired on mobile devices starting September 4, 2026, to be replaced by Gemini.