Google's 2026 Maps update introduced four AI features that change how local businesses get discovered: Ask Maps, Immersive Navigation.
Google Maps changed more in 2025-2026 than in the previous three years combined. AI-powered search features, new ways to discover local businesses, and significant changes to how profiles display in search results have shifted what businesses need to do to stay visible.
Some of these changes are immediately relevant to local businesses. Others are user-facing features that matter to businesses only indirectly. This guide covers what's actually new in Google Maps in 2026, what it means for local business visibility, and what, if anything, you need to do differently.
If you want to go deeper, our article on Google's AI review summaries walks through how to shape the AI-generated summaries of your reviews.
The biggest change to Google Maps for local businesses in 2026 is Ask Maps, an AI-powered conversational search feature that lets users ask natural language questions and receive tailored local business recommendations.
What Ask Maps does:
Instead of searching "sushi restaurant Austin," a user can ask "I'm looking for a sushi restaurant in Austin that's good for a first date, has sake, and is open past 10pm on Fridays." Ask Maps processes the multi-factor query and returns relevant recommendations based on business information, review content, and profile data.
What this means for local businesses:
Ask Maps draws from GBP profile data and review content to match businesses to complex queries. Businesses with:
…are more likely to appear in Ask Maps results for relevant complex queries than businesses with thin profiles and generic reviews.
What to optimize for Ask Maps:
Ask Maps queries are detail-rich. A restaurant won't just benefit from being listed as a "sushi restaurant", it will benefit from having:
The underlying optimization is the same as standard GBP optimization, complete profiles, specific reviews, accurate attributes, but the Ask Maps feature makes the gaps more visible.
💡 Pro Tip: Think about the complex, multi-factor questions your ideal customers would ask about your business. Do your GBP attributes, services, and review content address those factors specifically? If not, that's your Ask Maps optimization list.
Google introduced AI-generated review summaries that appear on business profiles in 2025 and have been widely deployed in 2026. These summaries appear as a brief text block at the top of the reviews section, synthesizing common themes from customer reviews.
What they look like:
A coffee shop's review summary might read: "Customers consistently mention excellent espresso, a cozy atmosphere, and fast wifi. Several reviewers note it's a great place to work, though parking can be difficult."
What this means for local businesses:
AI review summaries extract the most common topics from your review corpus and surface them prominently. This creates two effects:
How to influence your AI review summary:
You can't directly control what Google's AI summarizes. But you can influence it indirectly by:
Immersive View in Google Maps provides photo-realistic, 3D representations of locations that users can explore before visiting. It's available for covered areas (initially major cities, expanding throughout 2026) and shows what a location looks like at different times of day and in different weather.
Current availability: Major US cities and tourist destinations. Expanding to additional markets throughout 2026.
What this means for businesses:
Immersive View draws from Street View imagery and map data, it's not directly influenced by your GBP photos. However, your business's exterior appearance in Immersive View affects how new customers perceive it before visiting.
Businesses with well-maintained, clearly-signed exteriors benefit from Immersive View exposure. Businesses with signage that's faded, hard to read, or inconsistent with their GBP listing may face confusion for first-time visitors trying to navigate to them.
What businesses can do:
Keep your exterior signage current, clearly visible, and consistent with your GBP name and photos. If your area has Immersive View coverage, check how your business appears in it, the view Google shows may be from a specific angle or time of day that doesn't represent your business well. If you identify significant issues (wrong signage, old exterior), report them through Google's business data correction process.
Google Maps Lens allows users to point their phone camera at a storefront, sign, or object and receive Google Maps information about it, business details, reviews, hours, and directions. It also allows searching "what is this?" for landmarks and destinations.
What this means for local businesses:
When someone points Google Lens at your storefront, they see your GBP profile information, your rating, hours, and basic details. If your signage name doesn't exactly match your GBP name, Lens may not correctly identify your business.
Practical implication:
Ensure your physical signage matches your GBP name exactly. "Joe's Plumbing" on your van but "Joe's Plumbing and Heating LLC" in your GBP creates a potential Lens identification mismatch.
Several changes to how GBP profiles display and function in 2026:
Photo attribution: Google now more prominently displays who uploaded photos (the business vs. customers). Customer-uploaded photos appear in a separate section with clear labeling. This means your business-uploaded photos need to be high quality, customer photos can't substitute for professional-quality business uploads.
Review response prominence: Review responses are displayed more prominently in 2026, with response snippets appearing in the main profile view rather than requiring users to click into the full review. This increases the visibility of your review responses, both positive (showing customer service quality) and negative (showing how you handle complaints).
Business update posts: GBP posts (What's New, Offer, Event) continue to appear in profiles, but Google's algorithm is giving increased visibility to posts with original photo content versus text-only posts.
Booking integration expansion: More booking platforms have direct GBP integration in 2026, adding a "Book" button to Local Pack results without requiring a profile click. If your booking platform (Mindbody, Booksy, OpenTable, Acuity, etc.) supports direct GBP booking integration, enabling it is a high-conversion quick win.
Google shut down the goo.gl URL shortener service in August 2025. Short links created before the shutdown redirect to their destination URLs. New goo.gl short links cannot be created.
What this means:
For businesses that used goo.gl links in review request templates, QR codes, or printed materials: these links still redirect correctly as long as they were created before August 2025. Any new review request links should use the current GBP-generated format.
Ask Maps, AI review summaries, and Google's broader AI integration into local search (including AI-generated overview snippets in search results) share a common underlying implication: the specificity and completeness of your profile data matters more than ever.
AI-powered features synthesize and surface relevant attributes from your GBP data. A profile with complete hours, all relevant attributes, specific service descriptions, and recent reviews with specific detail provides more material for AI systems to work with, and appears in more AI-generated recommendations and summaries.
The optimization principles haven't changed: complete your profile, maintain accurate data, generate consistent reviews, respond to everything. The AI features amplify the benefits of doing these things well and the costs of not doing them.
For Ask Maps: Think about the multi-factor queries your customers might ask. Ensure your GBP attributes, hours, and services address those factors specifically. Coach reviewers to mention specific details that reflect your best qualities.
For AI review summaries: Coach reviewers to mention specific, positive attributes. Address recurring negative themes in your service or profile proactively. Respond to negative reviews publicly to show the issue was addressed.
For booking integration: If your booking platform supports direct GBP integration, enable it. The "Book" button in Local Pack results converts at higher rates than requiring a profile click first.
For goo.gl links: Update any active review request templates using goo.gl links to use your current GBP-generated review link format. Existing links still work, but new materials should use current formats.
For photo uploads: Prioritize business-uploaded photos of high quality, customer photo sections are now clearly separated, making your business's own photo quality more visible.
What is Ask Maps? Ask Maps is Google's AI-powered local search feature within Google Maps that allows users to ask natural language, multi-factor queries about local businesses, "a quiet coffee shop with fast wifi near downtown Austin open past 7pm", and receive AI-curated recommendations. It was introduced in 2025 and expanded throughout 2026. Businesses with complete GBP profiles, specific attributes, and detail-rich reviews are better positioned to appear in Ask Maps results.
What changed in Google Maps in 2026? The major 2026 changes affecting local businesses are: Ask Maps AI-powered local search, AI-generated review summaries on business profiles, expanded Immersive View coverage, updated photo attribution showing business vs. customer uploads separately, more prominent review response display, and the discontinuation of new goo.gl URL short links.
Does goo.gl/maps still work in 2026? Existing goo.gl links created before August 2025 still redirect to their destination URLs. Google discontinued the ability to create new goo.gl short links in August 2025. New Google Maps or GBP review links should use Google's current format, generate your review link through your GBP dashboard under "Ask for reviews."
What is the Google Maps AI review summary? The AI review summary is an automatically generated text paragraph that appears at the top of a business profile's reviews section, synthesizing the most common themes and sentiments from customer reviews. It's generated by Google's AI and cannot be directly written or controlled by businesses. Businesses can influence it indirectly by coaching reviewers to mention specific positive attributes and by addressing recurring negative themes.
How does Ask Maps change how businesses should optimize their GBP? Ask Maps draws from GBP data to match businesses to complex, multi-factor queries. The optimization implications are: complete all GBP attributes (amenities, hours, service options), list specific services individually rather than broadly, and ensure your review corpus mentions the specific qualities customers care about. The underlying optimization is the same as standard GBP optimization, Ask Maps makes comprehensive profiles more advantageous and thin profiles more penalized.
What is Google Maps Lens? Google Maps Lens allows users to point their phone camera at a physical location and receive Google Maps information about it, business details, reviews, hours, and directions. For local businesses, the practical implication is that physical signage should match your GBP business name exactly to ensure correct Lens identification.
