For years, consumer platforms have aimed to retain users by offering more services. With the emergence of AI chatbots, the trend is to enable users to perform tasks within the chat interface. Yelp’s latest update allows users to inquire, make restaurant reservations, order food, and book professionals through its enhanced AI assistant.
Yelp introduced the AI assistant in 2024 to assist users in finding services based on their needs. The platform now enables users to perform more tasks by combining data with AI.
In a TechCrunch demo, Yelp’s SVP of product, Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, showed the assistant helping to find dog-friendly hiking spots, takeout places along the way, restaurant recommendations for weekend plans, and home painting services, all within the chat.
Ramesh expressed that Yelp aims to be a place for questions, answers, and actions, evolving from a review platform to an action platform. Investments are heading in this direction.
Users can tap a restaurant or service page for more information, grounded in platform details, business websites, and reviews, minimizing incorrect answers.
The assistant resides in a new app tab, centrally located for easy access, available on iOS and Android initially, with a desktop version and broader rollout expected later.
Yelp also announced integration with external providers like DoorDash, Grubhub, Vagaro, ZocDoc, and Repairpal for actions such as ordering and appointments. Calendly integration is available for other appointment-based businesses.
Currently, actions lead to the provider’s app or page, but this may change. Agentic integration for services like DoorDash or Grubhub is still a work in progress.
Alongside the new assistant, Yelp introduced quality-of-life updates. Users can now view dish photos while scanning menus, a feature launched last year.
Additionally, users can search a business’s media gallery with natural language, and AI-powered tools will assist business owners with photo tagging and grouping.