California (Web Desk): Google is preparing to introduce a new artificial intelligence-powered feature in its popular mapping platform, Google Maps, which will provide users arriving in another city with a welcome message along with information about local attractions and travel facilities.
According to technology website PhoneArena, this feature could be particularly useful for people visiting a city for the first time and unfamiliar with its roads, important locations and transportation facilities.
According to the report, when a user arrives at an airport in a new city, Google Maps may send them a welcome message encouraging them to use the application's 'Ask Maps' feature.
Through this facility, users will be able to ask questions and obtain information about nearby places, local businesses, routes and other facilities in their surroundings.
The feature will operate with the help of Google's artificial intelligence model Gemini, which can understand users' questions and provide relevant answers. In this way, people arriving in a new city will be able to get assistance not only in finding routes but also in reaching their destinations and identifying nearby places.
The report states that signs of this feature have appeared in a new version of Google Maps for Android devices. During the initial phase, the facility may become available at airports in approximately 90 cities worldwide. However, no city in Pakistan is currently included in the list.
It is worth mentioning that Google introduced the 'Ask Maps' feature in March 2026, allowing users to ask direct questions about maps instead of relying on traditional searches.
The purpose of this development is to transform Google Maps from an application that merely provides directions into an intelligent travel assistant capable of guiding users from their arrival in a new city to exploring their surroundings.