Google’s ‘Ask for Me’ uses AI to call local businesses for you

Google is trying out a new tool that lets AI call businesses to ask questions for you. The feature, called Ask for Me, collects information about the pricing and availability of a service, but it’s only available for nail salons and auto shops for now.

Once you enable the experiment on Google Search Labs, you might see an “Ask for Me” prompt when looking for local nail salons or auto shops in Search. Select it, and Google will ask a series of questions, like whether looking to get an oil change or tile rotation, what kind of car you have, and when you want to book an appointment. You’ll also have to enter your email address or phone number, where you’ll receive updates about your request.

In a post on X, Google product lead Rose Yao said the feature is built using Duplex, a tool that similarly uses AI to make reservations or book appointments over the phone. With Ask for Me, Google spokesperson Craig Ewer tells The Verge that “every call begins by announcing that it’s an automated system calling from Google on behalf of a user.”

Businesses can opt out of receiving the automated calls from their Google Business Profile settings, or by asking Google not to call them when they receive a call. Ewer says Google has call quotas in place to ensure businesses don’t get calls too often, adding that any information it collects “can be used to help with similar requests from other users.“

But, just like we saw with Duplex, there’s bound to be some confusion when mechanics or nail salon owners pick up the phone and hear an AI calling from Google on the other end.