Yelp today announced a new AI-powered chatbot for consumers to help them connect with relevant businesses for their tasks. The company joins a long list of organizations that rely on AI chatbots as a supporting medium.
The company is rolling out the AI assistant in its iOS app under the Projects tab and plans to expand it to Android later this year. Yelp said the chatbot uses OpenAI’s large language models (LLMs) along with its own data to ask users questions about their problems and connect them with relevant professionals for the job.
Instead of using a traditional search box to find different professionals for the problem, you can describe the problem directly in the chat interface.
The bot asks follow-up questions to collect more information, your zip code, and create a project. You can see messages from professionals about their projects as soon as the bot sends them information. You can respond to these conversations with a custom reply or use the app’s quick reply feature.
Photo credit: Yelp
The company is also introducing a new “Project Ideas” section to encourage you to start a new project that you might search for services on Yelp. Current suggestions include maintaining your home, installing new lighting in your home, and improving your outdoor space. Later this summer, the company will make this feature more personalized with recommendations and checklists.
“AI allows us to transform the way people discover and connect with local businesses,” Yelp Chief Product Officer Craig Saldanha said in a statement.
“Yelp Assistant is a game-changer in the way service providers are hired, reducing the friction for consumers to find the right professional for their needs while giving professionals the information they need to evaluate and win jobs,” he added .
The company isn’t immediately thinking about using the AI chatbot experience for restaurant search.
“We are working to understand how this type of natural language search might be used more frequently on our platform in the future to evaluate how we can best meet this consumer need, including finding restaurants and services,” Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, SVP of Product at the company, told TechCrunch via email.
Yelp Fusion AI
In addition to making the bot available to consumers, the company is also launching an API to allow other websites to integrate an AI-powered business discovery bot. Users visiting this third-party website can ask the chatbot for suggestions like “A vegan brunch place open at 9am this Saturday” or “Suggest a good workout studio in Miami with a swimming pool.”
Yelp said the bot will return relevant suggestions with information including Yelp reviews, pricing details, review highlights, photos and AI-powered business summaries.
Photo credit: Yelp
Companies can test the new Fusion API with 30 days of access. Currently the API supports single-turn requests and responses, with support for multi-turn chat coming later this year.
Yelp already had a Fusion API for companies like Amazon, Apple, Ford, and Mailchimp to integrate Yelp content into their products. The new version brings a conversational chatbot experience to the game.
New guest management tools for restaurants
Yelp is also revamping its guest manager experience for more than 11,000 restaurants in its network. The new Guest Manager design allows restaurant operators to see cover flow for better staff utilization, view real-time table status, and add notes for shift managers.
For customers, Yelp is rolling out waitlist updates with more accurate wait times and SMS wait status updates. Soon, the company will send users text messages with meal recommendations before they take their seats.
Photo credit: Yelp
The company is also revamping the design of the Yelp kiosk so users can easily join the waitlist and check in at the restaurant.
In 2023, Yelp generated net revenue of $1.34 billion, representing year-over-year growth of 12%. After a $3 million decline in 2022, the company saw a 173% increase in net income, posting a profit of $99 million. While Yelp stock is up over 35% year-over-year, it is down around 12% year-to-date.