How Do AI Models Know Your Location? It's Not Just Your GPS
Z
Zack Saadioui
8/12/2025
How Do AI Models Know Your Location? & It's Not Just Your GPS
Ever get that slightly creepy feeling when an app knows EXACTLY where you are? Or when you ask an AI chatbot a random question & it somehow gives you a localized answer? It's not magic, & it's not just your phone's GPS. Turns out, AI models have a whole bag of tricks to figure out your location, & it's happening more than you probably think.
It’s one of those things that’s both incredibly useful & a little unsettling. On one hand, location-aware AI can give you hyper-relevant information, like finding the nearest coffee shop or providing real-time traffic updates. On the other hand, it raises some serious questions about privacy.
So, how exactly are these AI models pinpointing your location, what are the real privacy risks, & most importantly, what can you do about it? Let's dive in, because honestly, understanding this stuff is key to taking back control of your digital life.
The Tech Behind the Tracking: More Than Just Satellites
First things first, let's get into the nitty-gritty of how this all works. It's not one single technology, but a combination of methods that AI systems use to get a fix on your location.
1. The Obvious One: Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)
This is the one everyone knows. GPS (the most famous example of a GNSS) uses signals from satellites to determine your precise location on Earth. When an AI model has access to your device's GPS data, it’s getting the most accurate location information possible. This is what navigation apps like Google Maps or Waze primarily rely on. An AI system can then take this data & use it for all sorts of things, from telling you the weather to guiding you to your destination.
2. Wi-Fi & Bluetooth: The Indoor Navigators
Here's where it gets a bit more clever. What happens when you're indoors & can't get a good satellite signal? That's where Wi-Fi & Bluetooth come in. Your phone is constantly scanning for nearby Wi-Fi networks & Bluetooth beacons. Even if you're not connected to a network, your phone can see the names & signal strengths of the networks around you.
AI models can use this information to pinpoint your location with surprising accuracy. They do this by cross-referencing the networks your device can see with massive databases of known Wi-Fi network locations. It's a bit like a digital fingerprint for a specific place. The same principle applies to Bluetooth beacons, which are often used in places like malls & airports to track foot traffic & provide location-specific information.
3. Cellular Signals: The Ever-Present Backup
Even if you have GPS, Wi-Fi, & Bluetooth turned off, your phone is still communicating with cell towers. By measuring the signal strength from multiple towers, your mobile carrier can triangulate your position. While not as precise as GPS, it can still give a pretty good idea of your general location. AI models can tap into this data, providing a fallback for when other methods aren't available.
4. IP Address: Your Digital Zip Code
Every time you connect to the internet, your device is assigned an IP address. This address is linked to your internet service provider & can be used to determine your approximate geographic location, right down to your city or even your neighborhood. It's not pinpoint accurate, but it’s often enough for an AI to give you localized search results or ads.
5. Device Sensors & Movement Patterns
Modern smartphones are packed with sensors – accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers – that can detect movement, orientation, & even changes in altitude. AI models, particularly those focused on things like fitness tracking or navigation, can analyze this data to understand your movements & predict your location. For example, if you're moving at a certain speed & following a pattern consistent with driving, an AI can infer that you're on a road.
6. Image Metadata: The Hidden Clues
This is a big one that a lot of people don't think about. When you take a photo with your phone, it often embeds a bunch of data into the image file, including the GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken. This is called EXIF data. If you upload that photo to a social media platform or share it with an AI chatbot, you could be unknowingly revealing your location. Some AIs are now so advanced they can even analyze the visual content of an image – a storefront, a landmark, a street sign – to figure out where you are.
Why Do AI Models Want Your Location Anyway? The Personalization Engine
So, why all this effort to know where you are? The short answer is personalization. By understanding your location, AI models can provide you with a much more relevant & useful experience.
Think about it:
Local Search: When you ask an AI "Where's the best pizza near me?", it needs your location to give you a helpful answer.
Recommendations: AI-powered recommendation engines use your location to suggest nearby restaurants, events, or shops you might be interested in.
Targeted Advertising: This is the big one for many companies. By knowing your location, advertisers can show you ads for businesses in your area, making it more likely that you'll become a customer.
Traffic & Navigation: Apps like Waze & Google Maps use real-time location data from thousands of users to analyze traffic patterns & suggest the fastest routes.
Smart Cities & Urban Planning: On a larger scale, AI analyzes aggregated location data to help city planners make better decisions about infrastructure, public transportation, & more.
For businesses, this is a HUGE deal. Imagine a customer lands on your website. Instead of a generic greeting, a chatbot pops up & says, "Hey, I see you're in [City]. Did you know we have a store just a few blocks away?" That's the power of location-aware AI.
This is where platforms like Arsturn come into play. Arsturn helps businesses create custom AI chatbots trained on their own data. By integrating location awareness, these chatbots can provide incredibly personalized customer experiences. For instance, a retail business using an Arsturn chatbot could offer location-specific promotions, direct customers to the nearest physical store, or even answer questions about local stock availability. It's all about creating a more meaningful connection with the audience through personalized, conversational AI.
The Dark Side of Location Tracking: What Are the Privacy Risks?
Okay, so personalized experiences are great, but what's the trade-off? The more these AI models know about your location, the more they know about YOU. & that can be a little scary.
Here are some of the biggest privacy concerns:
Building a Detailed Profile: Your location history can reveal a LOT about you – where you live, where you work, what doctors you visit, what political rallies you attend. This information can be used to build a surprisingly detailed profile of your life, which could be used in ways you're not comfortable with.
Data Breaches: What happens if a company that has your location data gets hacked? Suddenly, your movements could be exposed to malicious actors.
Surveillance & Monitoring: There's a fine line between providing a helpful service & constant surveillance. The widespread collection of location data raises concerns about government overreach & the potential for a "Big Brother" society.
Lack of Transparency & Control: A lot of the time, we don't even know our location data is being collected, let alone who it's being shared with. Many apps & services have vague privacy policies that make it hard to understand what you're actually agreeing to.
Inaccurate Inferences: AI models can sometimes make incorrect assumptions based on your location data, leading to biased or unfair outcomes. For example, an AI might incorrectly flag someone as high-risk for a loan based on the neighborhood they live in.
It's a classic case of convenience versus privacy. The key is to be aware of the risks & to take steps to protect yourself.
Taking Back Control: How to Toggle Your Location Settings
The good news is, you're not powerless. You have a lot of control over who gets to see your location data. Here's a breakdown of how to lock things down on your devices & in your favorite AI apps.
On Your Smartphone (iOS & Android)
Your phone is the primary source of location data for most AI models, so this is the first place you should look.
For iPhone Users:
General Location Services: Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services. Here, you can turn off location services entirely, but that will break a lot of useful apps (like Maps). A better approach is to manage permissions on an app-by-app basis.
App-Specific Permissions: In the Location Services menu, you'll see a list of all the apps that have requested access to your location. You can choose from a few options for each app:
Never: The app can never access your location.
Ask Next Time Or When I Share: The app has to ask for permission every time it wants your location.
While Using the App: The app can only access your location when it's open & you're actively using it. This is a good option for most apps.
Always: The app can access your location at any time, even in the background. Be VERY selective about which apps you give this permission to.
Precise Location: For some apps, you'll see a toggle for "Precise Location." If you turn this off, the app will only get your approximate location, which is a great way to protect your privacy while still getting some of the benefits of location services.
System Services: Scroll all the way to the bottom of the Location Services menu & you'll find "System Services." This is where you can control location access for things like Apple Pay, location-based alerts, & a bunch of other background processes. It's worth going through these & turning off anything you don't need.
For Android Users:
The steps can vary slightly depending on your phone's manufacturer, but the general process is similar.
General Location Services: Go to Settings > Location. Here, you can toggle location services on or off for your entire device.
App-Specific Permissions: In the Location menu, you should see an option for "App location permissions." This will show you a list of apps that have access to your location. Just like on iOS, you can set permissions for each app:
Don't allow: The app can't access your location.
Ask every time: The app has to ask for permission each time it wants your location.
Allow only while using the app: This is the recommended setting for most apps.
Allow all the time: The app can access your location anytime. Use this one sparingly.
Precise Location: Android also has a "Use precise location" toggle for each app. Turning this off is a great way to limit how much information you're sharing.
Google Location History: This is a big one. Go to your Google Account settings (you can usually find this in your phone's main settings menu). Find "Data & privacy" & then "Location History." You can pause this to stop Google from saving a detailed map of where you've been. You can also set it to auto-delete your history after a certain period.
For Specific AI Chatbots
Even if you have your phone's location settings locked down, some AI chatbots have their own location settings you need to be aware of.
ChatGPT:
Image Metadata: Be careful about the images you upload to ChatGPT. As we mentioned earlier, they can contain location data. The best way to avoid this is to use a third-party app to strip the metadata from your photos before you upload them.
Opting Out of Training: While not directly a location setting, it's important to know that OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) uses your conversations to train its models by default. You can opt out of this by going to your settings & turning off "Chat History & Training."
Google Gemini (formerly Bard):
Gemini Apps Activity: Google has a specific setting called "Gemini Apps Activity." This is turned ON by default & allows Google to use your chats (including location data) for training purposes. You can turn this off by going to myactivity.google.com/product/gemini.
Location Permissions: Gemini will always collect some location data to provide relevant responses (like for weather queries). However, you can manage how it uses this data. In your Google Account settings, you can pause "Location History" & review your "Web & App Activity" settings.
Extensions: Gemini can connect to other Google apps like Maps & Workspace. Be mindful of these extensions, as they can give Gemini access to more of your data, including location information. You can manage these in Gemini's settings.
The Future of Location AI & Your Role In It
Location-aware AI isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's only going to get more sophisticated. We're talking about AI that can predict your future movements, understand the context of your location (are you at work, at home, on vacation?), & provide even more personalized experiences.
For businesses, the opportunities are massive. Using conversational AI platforms like Arsturn, companies can build meaningful connections with their audience by providing instant, personalized support based on a user's location & needs. An Arsturn-powered chatbot on a real estate website, for example, could instantly provide information on properties near the user, schedule viewings at local open houses, & answer questions about specific neighborhoods. It's about using technology to create a better, more efficient, & more personal customer journey.
But as users, we need to be active participants in this future. We need to be aware of how our data is being used & we need to make conscious choices about what we're willing to share. The tools to control our privacy are there, we just need to use them.
So, take a few minutes to go through your phone's settings. Review the permissions you've granted to your apps. & the next time an AI model seems to know a little too much about you, you'll know exactly how it's happening.
Hope this was helpful! Let me know what you think in the comments.