Square, Google Let Restaurants Offer Conversational AI Ordering

This offering brings food and beverage sellers into Ask Maps, part of Google Maps, letting customers find restaurants and place orders by asking questions, Square said in a news release provided to PYMNTS. Thursday (Aug. 6)

“The way people find a restaurant to book, a cafe to visit, or take-out to order is evolving,” said Morgan Kuntze, global partnerships lead at Block, Square’s parent. 

“Our expanded work with Google means Square sellers show up in those conversations, without having to manually update their details across the many channels their business is present.”

According to the release, Square food and beverage sellers who create a Google Business Profile can surface in Ask Maps results and have new order flows activated. Their menus, hours, and location details will automatically sync from Square Dashboard, with no added setup, contracts, or fees necessary, the release said.

“For the millions of businesses who utilize Square to run their operations, being found by the right customer at the right moment is critical to growth,” the company added.

“Ask Maps can give Square customers an intuitive way to find and order from local favorites, with prompts like: ‘Order spicy pad kee mao with seafood for me to pick up on my way home.’”

Aside from discovery, customers in the U.S. can use Ask Maps to browse Square sellers’ menus, customize orders, and checkout with Order by Cash App, the release said.

In other conversational AI news, recent PYMNTS Intelligence research shows that the technology is shifting from “a customer service enhancement into a primary interface layer between consumers and financial institutions,” as covered here in June.

Customers who have already switched financial institutions (FIs) were 122% more likely than average to want AI chat support, suggesting its new role as a key determiner of FI choice.

With traditional banking interfaces, customers must navigate systems created around products and workflows, searching menus, choosing services and learning app structures. 

“Conversational AI reverses that model. When the interaction becomes conversational rather than procedural, a consumer no longer needs to know where to locate a dispute form or how to calculate mortgage affordability,” the report added.

“A customer may ask an AI assistant how to optimize monthly cash flow, refinance debt, compare savings yields or select the best rewards card for an upcoming purchase. The conversation itself becomes the gateway to financial activity.”