Coming soon to Rank Pilot

Google Ask Maps

Ask Maps: when customers ask Google Maps,does it name you?

People now type whole questions into Google Maps and get a written answer that names a handful of places. Here is how those answers are put together, where the feature works, and what on your profile decides whether yours is one of them.

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Map of London with 25 points: at each, your place in a search made from there

Asked in Google Maps

Which dentist near me can see my son on a Saturday morning?

Three clinics nearby list Saturday hours and say they treat children: Northgate Dental, Willow Family Dentistry and Harbour Smile Clinic. Reviews mention calm visits with young patients.

Your clinic is not named

Map © Google

The basics

What is Ask Maps?Gemini, inside Google Maps.

Ask Maps is a conversational search mode in the Google Maps app. Instead of a list of pins, you get a short written answer.

Searching Google Maps used to mean typing “dentist” or “plumber near me” and scrolling a list of pins. With Ask Maps, a person types or speaks a full question, the way they would ask a friend, and Gemini, Google’s AI model, replies in a few sentences that name a small number of places and say why each one fits.

The question can be specific in a way the old search box never handled well: “a garage that can look at a hybrid this week”, “a vet open late on Sunday that sees rabbits”. The answer is built for that one question.

Google launched Ask Maps on 12 March 2026 in the United States and India, and on 7 August 2026 announced that it had expanded to more than 150 countries. At the same time, the old questions and answers section on business profiles gave way to an “Ask about this place” button: a visitor asks Gemini about one business and gets an answer drawn from what Google knows about it.

For an owner, that second change matters as much as the first: questions customers used to post publicly, which you could answer yourself, are now answered by Google from your profile, reviews and website. If the answer is not there, Gemini has nothing accurate to say.

Updated October 2026

Where Ask Maps works.And where it is not confirmed.

Google has said Ask Maps reaches more than 150 countries, but it has not published the full list. These are the countries Google has named.

  • United States
  • India
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Brazil
  • Mexico
  • Japan

For the European Union and for Ukraine, availability is not confirmed. Google usually rolls features out account by account and language by language, so some people there may see it early. Until Google names a country, we treat it as unconfirmed rather than guess, and we will update this page when that changes.

How to find Ask Maps in the app
  1. 1Update the Google Maps app on your phone to the latest version.
  2. 2Open Maps while signed in to your Google account.
  3. 3Tap the search bar and look for the Ask Maps option or the Gemini prompt beside it. The exact spot moves between app versions.
  4. 4Type a full question, not just a category, and read the answer that comes back.

Don’t see it?

  • Check that the app is up to date; older versions never show it.
  • Rollouts often reach some languages before others, so your phone’s language can matter.
  • It arrives account by account, so a colleague may see it before you do.
  • No setting on your business profile turns it on.

How Ask Maps decides which business to name.

Google has said what the answers draw on. Beyond that, nobody outside Google knows the exact rules, and anyone who claims to is guessing.

According to Google, Ask Maps answers draw on its information about more than 250 million places and on contributions from the Maps community: reviews, photos, ratings and edits from people who use Maps. When the question is about one specific business, the answer draws on that business’s profile, its reviews and its website.

It follows that an answer can only repeat what is written somewhere Google reads. If your Saturday hours are missing, it cannot say you open on Saturdays. If no page on your site and no line on your profile says you treat children, it has no basis to name you for a parent’s question.

What we see in our scans

  • In our monthly checks of ChatGPT and Gemini answers, the businesses named for a specific service usually state that service in plain words, both on the profile and on the website.
  • In our weekly 25-point rank scans, businesses that hold the top three across a city tend to have complete categories, current hours and replies under their recent reviews.
  • These are patterns, not rules Google has published. We report them as we see them and change this list when the data does.

Why it matters more than the top three.

The top three on the map is a ranking for a search term. An Ask Maps answer is a recommendation for one person’s exact need.

Local search has long been a contest for the three places shown under the map. That contest still exists, and if you are not in it the first thing to fix is your ranking: our guide on why a business is not showing on Google Maps walks through the causes.

But a written answer works differently. It names a few places and gives a reason for each, and the person reading it often stops there. A clinic can rank third for “dentist” and still be left out of the answer to “dentist open Saturday who sees children”, because nothing it published says either thing.

The reverse is also true: a smaller business that states its details clearly can be named for questions its bigger neighbours never answered.

How to get recommended by Ask Maps.Seven things to fix on your profile.

None of these is a trick. Each one gives Gemini a true sentence it can repeat about your business.

  1. 1

    Name your services the way customers say them

    Add every service you offer as its own entry, in the words a customer would type: “emergency tooth extraction”, not “oral surgery solutions”. A service that is not listed cannot be matched to a question about it.

    Rank Pilot does this: it rebuilds your profile, services included, then keeps it current.

  2. 2

    Fill in every attribute that is true

    Attributes are the small facts Google lets you tick: wheelchair access, parking, languages spoken, appointment only, online booking, kid friendly. They are exactly what full questions ask about.

    Rank Pilot does this: attributes are part of the profile it rebuilds and keeps current.

  3. 3

    Set exact hours, holidays included

    Questions often carry a time: tonight, Sunday, Christmas Eve. Keep regular hours exact, add special hours for every public holiday before it comes, and mark seasonal closures. Wrong hours get repeated.

    Rank Pilot does this: hours are kept current with the rest of the profile.

  4. 4

    Reply to reviews, naming the service naturally

    Your replies are read along with the reviews. When a customer thanks you for a root canal, a reply that mentions the root canal in a normal sentence confirms what you do. Never ask customers to use particular words in their reviews: it reads as coaching, and a review is only worth something in the customer’s own words. Just answer every review, the good ones and the hard ones.

    How the reply drafts work, step by step: answering every Google review.

    Rank Pilot does this: it drafts a reply to every new review in your voice; you save it, and with Autopilot on it goes out on its own two hours later.

  5. 5

    Keep photos fresh and real

    Upload recent photos of the place, the team and the work: the waiting room, the entrance, a finished job. Stock images and five-year-old photos tell Google nothing current.

  6. 6

    Make your website’s service pages match the profile

    Google reads your website when it answers a question about you. Give each main service its own page, with the same name as on the profile, who it is for and how to book. “A full range of services” gives an answer nothing to quote.

  7. 7

    Choose the right primary and secondary categories

    The primary category says what you are; secondary categories say what else you do. Pick the most specific primary category that is true (“Pediatric dentist”, not just “Dentist”, if that is your practice), then add secondary ones for the other real services. Do not add categories you cannot back up.

    Rank Pilot does this: it checks your categories against the businesses ranking around you and fixes them in the rebuild.

For the whole profile, field by field, read our Google Business Profile optimization guide.

Coming soon

What Rank Pilot will do with Ask Maps.

Rank Pilot does not track Ask Maps yet. We are building it, and we would rather say so than pretend.

The plan: put your customers’ questions to Ask Maps in your city on a schedule, and show you whether you were named, who was named instead, and which detail your profile was missing.

There is no release date yet, and this page will not invent one.

Already available

Rank Pilot already checks every month whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI answers recommend you: check whether ChatGPT and Gemini recommend you.

Get early access to Ask Maps tracking

We will write once, when it is ready. Nothing else goes to this address unless you ask for it.

Straight answers

Ask Maps, answered.What owners ask us most.

  • What is Ask Maps in Google Maps?

    Ask Maps is a mode in the Google Maps app where you type or speak a full question and Gemini, Google’s AI model, answers in a few sentences that name a small number of places and say why each fits.

  • Is Ask Maps available in my country?

    Google says it reached more than 150 countries on 7 August 2026 but has not published the list. The countries Google has named are the United States, India, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. For the EU and Ukraine it is not confirmed as of October 2026.

  • Why don’t I see Ask Maps on my phone?

    Usually the app is out of date, or the feature has not reached your account, language or country yet. Update Google Maps, sign in and check again in a few weeks. Nothing on your business profile switches it on.

  • Can I pay to appear in Ask Maps answers?

    According to Google’s current help pages, no paid placement in Ask Maps answers has been announced. Maps ads, marked as sponsored, are a separate thing from being named in a written answer.

  • How is Ask Maps different from the top three?

    The top three is a ranked list for a search term. An Ask Maps answer is written for one specific question and names a few places with reasons. You can rank in the top three and still not be named.

  • Can I turn Ask Maps off for my business?

    Google has not announced a setting that removes a business from Ask Maps answers. Your profile is public, and Maps can use it to answer questions. The useful move is to make sure what it says is accurate and complete.

  • When will Rank Pilot track Ask Maps?

    We are building it and have no date to promise. Join the early-access list on this page and we will email you once when it is ready. Until then, Rank Pilot checks every month whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI answers recommend you.

Start with what Maps already sees.Check your profile now.

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