Yelp Announces Spring Product Release Featuring New AI-Powered Yelp Assistant

Yelp Assistant, a new conversational AI feature, reinvents how consumers connect with service professionals; Yelp Fusion AI API brings Yelp’s trusted content to third-party platforms through natural language search experiences; Revamped Yelp Guest Manager optimizes restaurants’ front of house

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP), the company that connects people with great local businesses, today announced its Spring Product Release with more than 15 updates and features that transform the way consumers and businesses connect. In Yelp’s most significant services product update to date, the company unveiled Yelp Assistant, a new conversational AI feature that will make it easier than ever for consumers to find and hire service professionals. The company also introduced the new Yelp Fusion AI API, which will bring Yelp’s trusted content to third-party platforms via natural language search, as well as a revamped Yelp Guest Manager experience that helps restaurants improve efficiency, seat more diners, and enhance guest experiences.

“AI enables us to transform the way people discover and connect with local businesses,” said Craig Saldanha, Yelp’s chief product officer. “Yelp Assistant is a game-changer for hiring service providers, alleviating friction for consumers in finding the right pro for their needs, while providing pros with helpful information to evaluate and win jobs. Our Spring Release demonstrates our accelerated pace of product innovation as we continue to meet and anticipate the evolving needs of our users, and establish Yelp as the go-to platform for home services.”

Yelp Assistant Leverages LLMs to Help Consumers Find and Connect with Service Professionals

Powered by Large Language Models (LLMs), Yelp Assistant intelligently understands the user’s issue and engages with them in a dialogue to collect necessary information and match them with businesses that are qualified to help with the project. Yelp Assistant is able to efficiently translate user problems and identify the right provider for their needs because it is powered by Yelp’s vast and reliable dataset, including Request a Quote, business information, and more, in addition to LLMs from OpenAI. With its effective and precise matching capabilities, Yelp Assistant delivers highly relevant, detailed leads to businesses, enabling them to more efficiently assess the project, better respond with accurate pricing and availability, and get hired.

Yelp Assistant is currently accessible on the Yelp iOS app through the ‘Projects’ tab, and can connect consumers with businesses across thousands of different services categories within home, local, auto, beauty, pet, real estate, professional, event planning, financial, and more.

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Yelp Fusion AI API Brings Natural Language Search to Third-Party Partners

Yelp Fusion AI API, a new LLM-powered partner solution, will bring Yelp’s trusted content and information to third-party platforms through natural language search, regardless of their prior AI capabilities. This new solution allows partners to enhance user experiences by allowing conversational queries, such as finding a brunch spot or a gym with specific amenities, without the need to acquire and manage data. Yelp Fusion AI API helps provide contextually relevant responses to their users, allowing seamless connections with local businesses to be made both on and off the Yelp platform.

The Yelp Fusion AI API is available for partners to integrate into their platform, and non-partners can test the AI API with 30-day access or by contacting Yelp to learn more.

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Enhancing Restaurant Front-of-House Operations with Yelp Guest Manager Updates

Yelp Guest Manager, the company’s comprehensive restaurant front-of-house solution, offers more than 11,000 restaurants a suite of new tools that increase efficiency, enhance diner experiences, and optimize table turnover. The new updates provide hosts with a deeper understanding of their guests’ needs, enabling more effective staff utilization, better preparedness for upcoming shifts, and streamlined operations. New business owner account updates include enhanced analytics with crucial data on table usage, seat delays and average turn times, as well as new user permissions functionalities, more online reservation management features, and soon enhanced traffic analytics.

“Utilizing Yelp Guest Manager across our 60+ locations nationwide has truly streamlined the dining experience for our customers, from joining the waitlist to being seated,“ shares Cai Palmiter, vice president of marketing at JINYA Ramen Bar. “The new cover flow and party highlights insights have significantly expedited seating, enhancing our guests’ dining experiences. Additionally, staff notes have made shift changes smoother than ever, benefiting both our customers and front-of-house team.”

For the diner experience, Yelp Guest Manager continues to improve Yelp Waitlist accuracy through the use of neural networks, in addition to providing consumers with new place-in-line text message updates. A redesigned Yelp Kiosk now supports diner self-check-in, freeing hosts to manage other front-of-house operations.