1. A method for operating an autonomous vehicle, the method comprising the acts of: as a function of a provided geoposition for the autonomous vehicle, determining a first position of the autonomous vehicle in a first map, which represents a first geographic region; as a function of the determined first position of the autonomous vehicle in the first map, determining a map segment of a second map, the second map comprising several map segments, each of which represent predefined segments of a predefined second geographical region, wherein directly adjoining segments overlap one another; and as a function of detection data of at least one predefined environment sensor of the autonomous vehicle and as a function of second map data of the determined map segment, determining a second position of the autonomous vehicle in the determined map segment.