Yelp launches AI assistant for booking and ordering

Yelp Inc. (NYSE: YELP) introduced its AI-powered Yelp Assistant as part of a spring product release featuring over 35 new features and updates. The chatbot operates across all categories on the platform and enables users to discover businesses, get answers, and complete bookings within a single conversation.

The assistant can handle restaurant reservations through Yelp Guest Manager, food delivery orders via DoorDash and other platforms, service professional quotes across 450 categories, and appointments through new integrations. Users can access the feature through a dedicated "Assistant" tab on iOS and Android mobile applications.

New partnerships expand booking capabilities across the platform. Vagaro integration allows beauty and wellness appointment scheduling on iOS, with Android and desktop versions planned for later this year. Zocdoc integration enables healthcare provider booking on iOS, also expanding to other platforms later. Calendly integration lets service professionals connect their schedules for consumer booking.

"The new Yelp Assistant is our most significant AI product evolution yet as we reconceive Yelp around instant answers and seamless actions," said Craig Saldanha, chief product officer at Yelp.

The company enhanced its Menu Vision feature to overlay dish photos on restaurant menus when viewed through phone cameras. The tool now includes popularity badges and review access with improved item recognition across more establishments.

Additional updates include a personalized home feed powered by AI, natural language photo search within business galleries, and an AI support chatbot for advertisers. The assistant draws from hundreds of millions of reviews and photos from Yelp's community to provide recommendations and validate answers with user-generated content.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Liberty All-Star Equity Fund appoints Loomis Sayles as new manager
• M3-Brigade cancels shareholder meeting after terminating ReserveOne deal
• Bitmine announces NYSE listing for preferred stock, declares dividends