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

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.

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Introducing Yelp Assistant, a new conversational AI feature that redefines the way consumers connect with businesses across thousands of service categories within home, local, auto, beauty, and more. (Photo: Business Wire)

“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.