Sauce · AI search
Ask Maps about yourself: 10 prompts that show what your customers hear.
Quick answer
Open the Google Maps app and ask Ask Maps the questions your customers ask. Use your trade, your town and a real job. Ask from at least two places and from a second phone, because answers change with where you are and what you have searched before. Write down who gets named. Each miss points to one fix: your category, your hours, your reviews, your website or your distance.
Is your trade still open in your city?We take one client per trade, per city. The call starts with that check, not a pitch.
Book a free assessmentYou have never heard what Ask Maps says about you.
Your customers have. Every day, someone opens Google Maps and asks a plain question about your trade. Ask Maps answers in a few lines and names a few businesses. You were not in the room.
This takes about 15 minutes. You need the Google Maps app, a second phone if you can borrow one, and a notepad.
Set up the test
Use the Maps app
Open Google Maps on your phone and tap the Ask Maps button. That is where Google launched it.
Borrow a second phone
Ask Maps can remember past chats and what you have saved. Your own phone knows you. A friend’s phone is closer to a stranger.
Pick two or three spots
Your shop, a busy part of your area, and the far edge you want to serve. Answers change with where you stand.
Keep a sheet
For each prompt, write the place, who got named, whether you did, and what it said about you.
The 10 prompts
Swap the parts in brackets for your trade, your town and your business name. Ask them word for word, the way a customer would.
1. “[Trade] near me”
What it tests: your base. Category, distance and how well known you are. If you are missing: check your main category first. Then check where you are standing. Distance is one thing you cannot change.
2. “Who can fix a [problem] today?”
What it tests: hours and urgency. Do your profile and reviews say you take same-day calls? If you are missing: list your real hours, and say plainly on your site if you take urgent jobs.
3. “Which [trade] near [area] is open on Saturday?”
What it tests: your weekend and holiday hours. If you are missing: check the eight places your hours need to match.
4. “Who is good at [specific job] around here?”
What it tests: whether Google knows you do that job. If you are missing: add the job to your profile services, and give it its own page on your site.
5. “What do people say about [your business]?”
What it tests: the themes in your reviews. Read what it repeats. That is your public reputation in one paragraph. If it is thin: you need more real reviews, asked for every time.
Want the map, not just the chat?The free Map Pack audit scans your coverage across your area for up to three keywords, in two to three business days.
Get the free Map Pack audit6. “How much does [job] cost with [your business]?”
What it tests: whether your prices are written anywhere it can read. In our own test, Ask Maps repeated the price range from our pricing page. If it guesses or dodges: publish a real range on your site.
7. “Does [your business] work in [town]?”
What it tests: your service area. If it says no or does not know: check the areas in your profile and make sure your site names the towns you serve.
8. “How long has [your business] been around?”
What it tests: your story. Google says your profile description can cover your services, your mission and your history. If it does not know: add the year you started to your description and your About page.
9. “What are the downsides of [your business]?”
What it tests: the complaints in your reviews. This one stings. It is also the cheapest market research you will ever get. If something comes up: fix the cause first, then reply to those reviews calmly and in public.
10. Ask prompt 1 again from the edge of your area
What it tests: distance. Google says local results run on relevance, distance and prominence. If you vanish: that is normal at some point. The question is where. A grid of points shows you the line.
Read your sheet
What each miss points to
Start with the profile basics: main category, services, hours, description. Google says complete and accurate info is more likely to show up.
That is distance. You cannot move your shop, but you can make sure every page names the towns you really serve.
Something it reads is out of date. Check your hours, prices and areas on your site and profile. Fix the one that is wrong.
Do this once a month. Write it down. The trend matters more than any one answer.
Go deeper
Pick the piece you need next
Each one goes deeper on one part of this list.
If your sheet comes back full of misses, the free Map Pack audit shows the same picture on a map, with the fixes in order.
Why does Ask Maps show my friend different answers?
Ask Maps is personal and local. It can remember past chats and what a person has saved, and it answers based on where they are. Two phones in two places can get two different lists.
How often should I test my business in Ask Maps?
Once a month is enough for most service businesses, and again after a big change to your hours, services or website. Keep the same prompts and places so you can compare.
What should I fix first if Ask Maps never names me?
Start with your Google Business Profile basics: main category, services, hours and description. Google says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local results.
Sources
- Google, The Keyword, How we’re reimagining Maps with Gemini (March 12, 2026): Ask Maps launch; Maps analyzes information from over 300 million places, including reviews from more than 500 million contributors.
- Google, The Keyword, Ask Maps gets more helpful with food ordering and more (August 6, 2026): rollout to Canada and 150+ countries in English; food ordering with partners such as Square and Toast; remembered conversations; conversational edits, including hours read from a photo of a sign, rolling out first in the U.S.
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google: “Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results”; relevance, distance and prominence; replying to reviews.
- Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google: customer-facing hours, special hours, the business description, and businesses that should not list hours.
- Whitespark, Local Search Ranking Factors 2026: 47 local SEO practitioners scored 187 factors. Primary category first, proximity second, open at the time of search fifth, review rating sixth, review count ninth, review recency eleventh; geotagged photos top the myths list. Expert survey, directional.
- Google India, The Keyword, Ask anything about any place on Maps with Gemini (March 12, 2026): Ask Maps highlights “insider tips from real people and web content.”
Next step
See your map before you change anything
The free Map Pack audit scans your coverage and scores your profile. One client per trade, per city. No guaranteed rankings.