Yelp’s updated AI assistant can answer questions and book a restaurant or service in one conversation

Source: TechCrunch

Overview

For years, consumer platforms have tried to keep users within their apps by offering more services. After the rise of AI chatbots, the trend has shifted toward allowing people to use an assistant for both queries and actions without leaving the conversational flow. With its latest update, Yelp lets users ask questions, make restaurant reservations, order food delivery, and book service professionals — all through its updated AI assistant.

Yelp debuted the AI assistant in 2024 to help people search for different services based on their problem【TechCrunch article】. The platform now pairs its extensive business data with the AI assistant to enable a broader range of tasks.

Demo

In a demo seen by TechCrunch, Yelp’s SVP of product, Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, used the assistant to:

• Search for dog‑friendly hiking spots that don’t require a leash.
• Find take‑out places along the route, with an option to place an order on DoorDash.
• Get restaurant recommendations for a weekend plan, check availability, and book a table.
• Query about painting a friend’s new Victorian house without leaving the chat.

“We would really like consumers to reconceive Yelp as a place where they can ask questions and get answers, not just that, but also complete the action. That’s Yelp reconceiving from a review platform to an answers‑and‑action platform,” Kuduvalli told TechCrunch.

Users can tap a specific restaurant or service page to view more details or ask follow‑up questions. Because the assistant’s knowledge is grounded in business listings, websites, and user reviews, Yelp claims the chance of incorrect answers is minimal.

Integration with External Providers

Yelp has integrated with several external providers to complete actions directly from the chat:

• Food delivery: DoorDash, Grubhub
• Fitness & beauty appointments: Vagaro
• Doctor appointments: ZocDoc
• Car repair: RepairPal
• General appointment booking: Calendly

These actions redirect users to the provider’s app or page; the transaction is not fully completed within the chat window. Kuduvalli noted that while redirection is the current approach, future iterations might become more “agentic.”

Availability

• Mobile: The assistant is available in a new tab within the Yelp app, positioned at the center of the bottom navigation bar, on both iOS and Android at launch.
• Business coverage: Initially supports eligible pages such as restaurants, retail shops, and attractions.
• Future rollout: Desktop support and broader business categories are slated for later in the year.

Additional App Updates

Beyond the AI assistant, Yelp is rolling out quality‑of‑life improvements:

• Menu scanning: Users can scan a menu and view photos of dishes posted by other users. The scanned dishes appear directly within the app.
  
  Image credit: Yelp

• Media gallery search: Users will be able to search a business’s media gallery using natural‑language queries instead of keywords.

• AI‑powered tagging: Business owners will receive automated tagging and grouping of before‑and‑after photos, reducing manual effort.

Visuals

Image credit: Yelp