Kakao has strengthened the place search feature of Kanana, an AI service that runs inside KakaoTalk. The key change is expanding the existing function, which had been limited to restaurant recommendations, into travel, culture, and daily convenience, and enabling users to complete everything from recommendations to search, sharing, and reservations within the conversation.
Kakao said on the 9th that it updated the place agent for Kanana in KakaoTalk on the 29th. With this revamp, users can receive recommendations for various place information—such as exhibitions, performances, movie theaters, tourist attractions, accommodations, gas stations, convenience stores, and auto repair shops—tailored to the context of their KakaoTalk chats. Some places can be booked directly inside KakaoTalk.
For example, when chatting with a friend about weekend plans, Kanana first suggests exhibition halls, pop-up stores, and nearby outing spots. Users can share the recommendations in the chat, decide on a place to visit together, and proceed with the reservation process. Kakao said user convenience has improved as the steps of switching to separate apps or webpages to find places have been reduced.
The recommendation function linked to schedules has also been strengthened. If a user registers a plan to visit a specific area with Kanana, the daily morning schedule briefing provides guidance on restaurants in the area, parking information for the destination, menu information, and more. After a place recommendation, follow-up questions a user might ask are automatically presented. For instance, after recommending a unique cafe, it helps the user continue exploring with detailed conditions such as places with good night views or places that allow pets.
Kakao plans to expand to KakaoTalk the composite place recommendation feature currently provided in Kanana in KakaoMap. When a user has a conversation such as "a one-night, two-day trip to Gangneung," it will suggest accommodations, tourist attractions, and restaurants as a bundle. The company is also considering a function that links travel itineraries with KakaoMap to display places to visit by time slot on the map.
This update is part of Kakao's agentic AI strategy. Agentic AI goes beyond simply answering users' questions to understanding intent and context, autonomously connecting necessary functions and aiding execution. Kakao plans to strengthen integration with internal services such as KakaoMap and KakaoTalk Reservation, while also expanding collaboration with external partners.
A Kakao official said, "With the strengthened place agent, recommendations, searches, sharing, and reservations can be handled within a single conversation flow," and added, "We will continue to expand agentic AI experiences that help users achieve their goals."