Google Is Testing Gemini Calls to Businesses for Pixel 11 Owners

A call to a shop may now begin with a customer’s phone number but Gemini doing the talking. Google is testing Call for Me, which places calls to businesses for Pixel 11 owners in the US. The experiment moves beyond helping someone get through a phone menu: Gemini can speak with whoever answers and handle a request while the customer watches.

From request to conversation

The starting point is a request to Gemini to make a call. It may ask follow-up questions before dialing, then identifies itself when the business answers. It can work through an automated menu, wait on hold and carry on a back-and-forth conversation. That sequence is what makes this more than a tool that simply alerts you when a person picks up.

Google says the feature can tackle different kinds of errands, rather than only ask a business for information. The examples span a short question about stock and requests that require the business to act:

• Ask a store whether a particular product is in stock.
• Make a restaurant reservation or move an existing appointment.
• Ask a business to put items on hold.

What the assistant can say for you

Google says Gemini can share personal information that the user approves for the call. That matters for tasks such as moving an appointment: asking for a different date may require more than a generic question to the business. Approval to share information and the option to step in give the customer controls, though neither removes the need to pay attention if the details of a request matter.

The assistant is aimed at businesses, not every number someone might want to dial. Google says it will not call some establishments, including emergency services. For a business whose number Gemini cannot find, a user can supply the number instead. Those boundaries leave the customer with a choice about where to direct the call, but not a promise that every request will be completed.

A small test for an unpredictable job

Access is narrow. Call for Me is an English-language beta for Pixel 11 owners in the US who have a Gemini subscription and join the Phone by Google app’s public beta. Google says it is starting small because real conversations are nuanced. It specifically wants to test how the feature performs across accents and noisy environments—conditions that a tidy demonstration cannot settle.

Google has tried automated business calls before. Its earlier Duplex service could call restaurants to book tables but was later shut down. Last year’s Ask for Me let Gemini call businesses to inquire about pricing or services. Pixel calling tools also already help users navigate menus or wait on hold. The distinction in this test is the wider set of actions Google says Gemini can handle during the conversation, including reservations and appointment changes.

The customer may skip the conversation, but whoever answers at the business still has to deal with Gemini. A call can veer away from the planned task, or the person answering may assume the assistant is a spam caller and hang up. Google says Gemini will end the call politely if the business cannot meet the request. The beta will test whether it can do that—and manage less predictable exchanges—without the customer having to rescue the call.