Waymo Just Launched in Orlando. What AI Disruption Means for How Customers Find Your Business.

On February 24, 2026, Waymo opened its self-driving ride-hailing service in Orlando — covering Universal, parts of Walt Disney World, and Orlando International Airport. For most people, it's a transportation story. For local businesses, it's something more. Waymo is an Alphabet company, powered by the same AI ecosystem as Google Search and Google Maps. When a passenger asks the vehicle's AI to recommend a restaurant or navigate to a business, it makes that decision based on the same digital signals that determine who appears in Google's AI Overviews, who gets recommended by voice assistants, and who surfaces in ChatGPT when someone asks for a local business. The AI disruption to customer discovery is already here. The question is whether your business is positioned to be found in the new landscape.