Google Maps tests Gemini chatbot for editing listings as AI integration expands

Google Maps adds Gemini to a major feature in new test

A new Gemini-powered AI upgrade is coming to an integral part of Google Maps. Credit: Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images Google looks to be adding AI to yet another popular Google product. In a new test, Gemini appears in a popular crowdsourced Google Maps feature. As first discovered by Android Authority, Google is working on a chatbot conversation-style overhaul of the community edits feature. Currently, users can click on "Suggest an edit" within Google Maps to submit relevant information about a location. For example, users can suggest an edit for a business and add updated store hours or correct a website URL related to the business. To do this, users navigate dropdown menus and input information into text boxes. Google then reviews the edits before pushing them live. With the crowdsourced feature, Google Maps is able to provide the most up-to-date information about locations to its users. However, with the new Gemini-powered feature that's currently undergoing testing, "Suggest an edit" will receive a revamp that brings Gemini to the feature and provides a chatbot-type workflow. Users will be able to use natural language to share new information about locations and businesses, meaning they can provide the information as if they were having a conversation with another person. Gemini will even ask follow-up questions related to the crowdsourced information shared by Google Maps users. In the example provided by Android Authority, a user informs Gemini through the "Suggest an edit" feature that the opening hours for the Eiffel Tower are incorrectly listed. Gemini asks the user for the correct hours and then submits the info to Google once the user provides the chatbot with their answer. This may not seem like a big change, but it is a significant update to a crucial feature in Google Maps. In recent weeks, Google has been updating various products across the company -- from Google Search and now to Google Maps -- in order to directly add Gemini-powered AI features. Google clearly wants to make Gemini a standard part of all of the company's services instead of a standalone product that consumers can choose to avoid.

Google Maps Could Soon Let Users Edit Listings Using Gemini

It reportedly lets users make edits to a listing in plain words Google Maps is reportedly working on a new artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will make editing a listing more accessible to users. As per the report, the Mountain View-based tech giant is trying to upgrade the "Suggest an edit" feature in the platform by integrating it with Gemini. This will open a conversational interface for users trying to change or correct information about any place or shop listed on Maps. Notably, recently Google Maps received Gemini's voice-based assistance for the walking and cycling navigations. Google Maps Could Add an AI Interface for Suggest an Edit Tool According to an Android Authority report, the tech giant is planning to improve Google Maps' Suggest an edit tool with a Gemini-powered experience. The feature was surfaced by the publication during an Android application package (APK) teardown of the Google Maps app version 26.05.04.860829830. It is said to not be available to users currently. Suggest an edit feature in Google Maps allows users to change or correct information about any listing. The tech giant relies on crowdsourced data to offer the latest information to users, and the tool offers a direct way for users to suggest corrections about opening hours, name changes, and any unexpected closing. However, the existing interface requires toggling through multiple pages and manually editing the data, which can lead to typos or accidental mistakes. "Suggest an edit" Gemini interface on Google Maps Photo Credit: Android Authority The company is reportedly trying to make the experience simpler by integrating Gemini's chatbot interface to this. As per screenshots shared by the publication, Suggest an edit tool (with the capability enabled) opens a Gemini-like interface where users can type the changes they wish to make as a prompt. This can be done via natural language prompts, as Gemini can understand the context and intent behind the messages. Once an edit is submitted, just like the current process, it is sent to Google's team to be reviewed and the listing is only edited after the team approves the change. Do note the abovementioned feature was found within the code of the app, and is not a visible feature. There is a chance that the final version could look drastically different, or the project is scrapped altogether. Until Google officially announced it, take the abovementioned information with a healthy dose of scepticism.