Google has started letting Gemini place phone calls to businesses on a user’s behalf. Gemini Call for Me reached Pixel 11 owners in the United States on 24 September 2026 as an early preview. It requires a paid Google AI subscription and a beta build of the Phone by Google app.
What Call for Me Does on a Call
Gemini dials a business from the user’s own number, works through the menu, waits on hold and then talks to whoever picks up.
Google’s help page lists three categories of task. Gemini can get business hours, product availability, service quotes “and other information”; it can “book, confirm, and manage appointments and reservations”; and it can “navigate phone menus and wait on hold”. In practice that covers asking a hardware store whether an item is in stock, moving a haircut appointment, or adding a request to a restaurant booking.
The call is not placed from a Google server. Google told TechCrunch that “Call for Me will also use your own personal phone number to make calls, which will be dialed directly from your phone”, so the business sees the caller ID it would normally see.
Before anything is dialled, the Gemini app shows the number it intends to call and the information it plans to give or ask for. The user confirms that screen first. During the call a live transcript runs in the app, and the user can take the conversation over at any point.
Who Can Use It: Google’s Seven Conditions
Every one of Google’s seven requirements has to be met at once, and four of them rule out most of the world.
- Age and country: be 18 or over and in the United States.
- Handset and SIM: use a Pixel 11 phone with a US SIM card. The preview covers the Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL and 11 Pro Fold.
- Gemini account: be signed in to the Gemini mobile app.
- Subscription: hold a Google AI subscription. There is no free tier for this feature.
- Phone app: run the Public Beta version of Phone by Google, which is enrolled through the app’s testing programme on the Play Store, not the stable release.
- App version: run the latest version of the Gemini mobile app.
- Language: have the device language set to English.
As of 26 September 2026, Call for Me is a United States preview only. Google has not given a date for any other country, for non-Pixel Android phones, for older Pixel models, or for the stable release of Phone by Google. Google says it is making the feature available gradually, so meeting all seven conditions does not guarantee it has arrived.
Four Things Gemini Will Not Do on the Phone
Google has fenced the feature off from emergencies, money, personal data and sales calls.
- Emergency calls: Gemini cannot dial 911 or any other emergency service. Google’s guidance is to call those numbers yourself.
- Financial transactions: it cannot complete a payment or read out card details.
- Sensitive personal information: it will not pass on things such as passwords or a Social Security number.
- Telemarketing: it cannot be pointed at a list and used to make sales calls.
Those limits matter because the feature is aimed at exactly the errands where a business often asks for a card number to hold a booking. In that situation the user has to take over.
What the Person Answering Hears
The business gets told, in the first few seconds, that it is speaking to software and that the line is recorded.
According to Google’s help page, “Gemini starts every call by disclosing that it’s an AI assistant from Google calling on a recorded line on your behalf, stating your name”. So a shop owner hears the assistant identify itself, name the customer it is acting for, and say the call is being recorded, before any request is made.
There is also an exit for the people on the receiving end, and it is the part of this launch that has gone almost unreported. Google runs an opt-out page for anyone who does not want to take automated calls from Gemini users; the same page lets them opt back in later. That control belongs to the person answering the phone, not to the Pixel owner making the call.
Google has not published a retention period for the recordings or the transcripts, and has not said whether a business can ask for a call to be deleted.
How Call for Me Compares With Google Duplex
Google tried this in 2018 with Duplex, and the difference is disclosure.
| Duplex (2018) | Call for Me (2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| First shown | Google I/O, May 2018 | 24 September 2026 |
| Told the business it was AI | Not at launch; Google added disclosure after criticism | Yes, at the start of every call |
| Told the business it was recording | Not stated at launch | Yes, in the same opening |
| User view during the call | None | Live transcript, with hand-over |
| Recipient opt-out | None offered | Yes, via a Google opt-out page |
| Access | Assistant users, expanded to 43 US states by March 2019 | US Pixel 11 owners on a paid Google AI plan |
The 2018 demonstration drew criticism because the salon and restaurant staff in Google’s recordings appeared not to know they were talking to a machine. Google conceded within days that Duplex would identify itself. Eight years on, that concession is built into the product from the first call, and Gemini has replaced Google Assistant as the system doing the talking.
Where It Sits in Pixel’s Call Features
Call for Me is the first Pixel feature that speaks for the user rather than filtering or waiting on their behalf.
Pixel phones have handled parts of a call for years: Hold for Me waits in a queue and pings the user when a human answers, and Call Screen answers unknown incoming numbers and transcribes what the caller says. Both keep the user as the one who eventually talks. Call for Me removes that step for outgoing calls, which is why Google has wrapped it in a confirmation screen, a live transcript and a spoken disclosure.
The paywall is consistent with how Google has been releasing Gemini features this year: the Gemini app for Windows arrived free while its heavier capabilities stayed behind a paid plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Gemini Call for Me Available Outside the United States?
No. Google’s requirements include being in the United States and using a US SIM card, and the company has not announced a date for any other country.
Do I Need to Pay for Gemini Call for Me?
Yes. A Google AI subscription is one of the seven conditions. Google has not said whether the feature will reach free accounts later.
Does the Business Know It Is Talking to AI?
Yes. Google says Gemini opens every call by identifying itself as an AI assistant from Google, naming the person it is calling for, and stating that the line is recorded.
Can I Stop Gemini Calling Me?
Yes. Google provides an opt-out page for people who do not want to receive automated calls placed by Gemini users, and the same page allows opting back in.
Which Pixel Phones Support Call for Me?
The Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, Pixel 11 Pro XL and Pixel 11 Pro Fold. Older Pixel models are not included in the preview.
Can Gemini Pay for Something on the Call?
No. Google bars the feature from completing financial transactions and from sharing sensitive personal information, so a booking that needs a card number has to be finished by the user.
