Systems and processes for operating an intelligent automated assistant within a computer-generated reality (CGR) environment are provided. For example, a user input invoking a digital assistant session is received, and in response, a digital assistant session is initiated. Initiating the digital assistant session includes positioning a digital assistant object at a first location within the CGR environment but outside of the currently-displayed portion of the CGR environment at a first time, and providing a first output indicating the location of the digital assistant object.