{"id":78841,"date":"2026-04-12T12:25:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/ask-maps-elevates-local-merchants\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T12:53:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T12:53:53","slug":"ask-maps-elevates-local-merchants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/ask-maps-elevates-local-merchants\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Ask Maps&#8217; Elevates Local Merchants"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Google Maps latest AI-driven feature is a big opportunity for local businesses to elevate visibility.<\/p>\n<p>Consumers can now \u201cAsk Maps\u201d and receive local shopping or activity options in seconds. For example, I prompted \u201cAny fun things to do this weekend?\u201d and Maps returned local workshops, markets, and more.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1562555\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Google-Maps-response-e1775992934928.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1562555\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u201cAsk Maps\u201d found many fun things to do.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The feature can drive traffic to local merchants for low-intent queries, i.e., when consumers are unaware of a business or its products.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how to appear in \u201cAsk Maps\u201d AI responses.<\/p>\n<h4>Google Business Profile<\/h4>\n<p>Google Maps pulls info from many sources, especially\u00a0<span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/business.google.com\/en-all\/business-profile\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener external noreferrer\" data-wpel-link=\"external\">Business Profiles<\/a>, <\/span>to match shopper queries.<\/p>\n<p>Take the time to provide comprehensive details about your business, such as hours of operation, location, accessibility, expertise, social media presence, and more. Use the \u201cUpdates\u201d feature to announce time-sensitive events such as sales, giveaways, and product demos.<\/p>\n<h4>On your site<\/h4>\n<p>Consumers ask Maps about seemingly anything. To get found, provide <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/ai-prompts-for-better-product-descriptions\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">extensive details<\/a> on your site.<\/p>\n<p>For example, include your products\u2019 prices, materials, sizes, use cases, warranties, availability, testimonials \u2014 anything a shopper could ask Maps.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cIs it good for certain [weather] conditions?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWill it work for [xx]?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cIs it suitable for children?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cCan you deliver?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cDo you have Mother\u2019s Day gifts?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Publish content to solve common consumer needs and problems, such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cWhat type of fertilizer should I use in the spring?\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cDo you sell rain gear?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Market events everywhere<\/h4>\n<p>Unique events such as seasonal promos and workshops can attract shoppers unfamiliar with a business.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Business Profile Updates:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>List on local event calendars,<\/li>\n<li>Announce it in a blog post,<\/li>\n<li>Inform local media: newspapers, television, radio,<\/li>\n<li>Post on social media and invite followers to spread the word.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In short, the new \u201cAsk Maps\u201d feature is good news for local businesses <a href=\"https:\/\/www.practicalecommerce.com\/how-ai-shopping-impacts-main-street-retail\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">competing<\/a> with mass-market brands and shopping destinations.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"pld-like-dislike-wrap pld-template-2\">\r\n    <div class=\"pld-like-wrap  pld-common-wrap\">\r\n    <a href=\"javascript:void(0)\" class=\"pld-like-trigger pld-like-dislike-trigger  \" title=\"\" data-post-id=\"78841\" data-trigger-type=\"like\" data-restriction=\"no\" data-already-liked=\"0\">\r\n                        <i class=\"fas fa-heart\"><\/i>\r\n                <\/a>\r\n    <span class=\"pld-like-count-wrap pld-count-wrap\">    <\/span>\r\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google Maps latest AI-driven feature is a big opportunity for local businesses to elevate visibility. Consumers can now \u201cAsk Maps\u201d and receive local shopping or activity options in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":78843,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,42],"tags":[78,45,10],"class_list":["post-78841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-commerce-shopping","category-tips-opportunities","tag-ai","tag-innovation","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ask-Maps-Elevates-Local-Merchants.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78841"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78844,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78841\/revisions\/78844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dralysstore.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}