Yelp Launches AI Tools for Better Local Discovery and Ads

Yelp has unveiled a major update packed with over 20 AI-powered features to enhance how users discover and connect with local businesses. From smarter review insights to streamlined connections with service professionals and advanced tools for business owners, these innovations aim to transform the Yelp experience for both consumers and businesses.

AI-Powered Review Insights: Faster, Smarter Decisions

Yelp introduces Review Insights, a feature leveraging large language models (LLMs) to analyze reviewer sentiment on critical aspects of a business.

Key Features of Review Insights:

• Sentiment Scores: Each business page now displays aggregated sentiment scores (positive, neutral, or critical) ranging from 1 to 100 for specific topics, such as food quality, service, ambiance, wait times, and drink options.

• Contextual Analysis: Even when reviews don’t explicitly mention a topic, LLMs extract and surface relevant insights, saving users time.

• Interactive Drill-Downs: Tapping a sentiment score reveals a collection of reviews focused on that specific topic, giving users a deeper understanding of a business.

• Currently available on iOS for restaurant, food, and nightlife categories, Review Insights will expand to service categories in 2024.

Enhanced Business Discovery: Personalized and Immersive

Yelp’s discovery tools now make finding local businesses easier and more engaging with personalized recommendations and rich visual content.

Personalized Home Feed:

• Dynamic Content: Autoplay user videos, trending searches, and collections of businesses (e.g., “Hot & New” and businesses featured in Yelp's top lists) to inspire exploration.

• Tailored Recommendations: AI-powered personalization will adapt the feed to reflect user preferences, rolling out in the coming weeks.

Trending Searches:

• Displays popular search queries in your area, updated dynamically to show what’s trending locally. Available now on iOS and coming to Android early next year.

AI-Stitched Videos:

• Combines real photos, reviews, and business data to create immersive video previews for restaurants, showcasing ambiance, popular dishes, and more.

Updated Business Pages:

• Recognitions: Highlights top reviewers who specialize in a category, with links to their other reviews for additional recommendations. Expanded to over 220 new categories, including home services, beauty, and active life categories. Recognitions are now accessible on desktop and will be available on Android early next year, expanding beyond their current availability on iOS.

• Tipping Policies: Displays details like whether tipping is optional, mandatory for large parties, or included in the bill, along with information on credit card fees and payment methods like Venmo and PayPal. These attributes are listed under the “Payments” section in the amenities tab on a business’s Yelp page. Business owners can add them at no cost by logging into their Yelp for Business account and updating the “Business Information” section.

• Improved Navigation: A new personalized action panel has a streamlined design that lets users jump to sections like amenities or reviews, available on iOS and Android. The new “People also search for” section uses AI to provide relevant search recommendations tailored to your search intent within specific categories, offering more options to find the right business. This feature is currently available on desktop and will launch on iOS next month.

Yelp Assistant: Smarter Connections with Service Pros

Yelp Assistant, a conversational AI feature, makes it easier to connect with service professionals for your projects.

Key Enhancements:

• Text and Call Support: Users can now receive responses from pros via text or phone calls while maintaining privacy by masking their phone numbers. Yelp Assistant is now accessible through new conversational prompts on search results pages on iOS, in addition to the Projects tab available across all platforms. Text and calling support, along with conversational prompts, will expand to Android and desktop early next year.

• Project Editing: Add photos or update details after submitting a request, with automatic notifications sent to all service pros who received the original inquiry. This update is currently available on iOS with desktop and Android coming next year.

• Apple Maps Integration: Request quotes directly through Apple Maps business pages by clicking the "Quote" button, seamlessly linking users to Yelp’s quote system. You can effortlessly request quotes from pros across more than 200 home, local, auto, professional, and events categories. These updates simplify project coordination and ensure users get accurate quotes with minimal effort.

AI-Powered Tools for Business Owners

Business owners benefit from AI-driven tools designed to enhance lead management, ad performance, and competitive analysis.

Highlights for Businesses:

• Smart Ad Selection: Automatically selects and tests the most engaging reviews and photos to optimize ad performance. Helps advertisers maximize their return on ad spend without requiring advanced marketing expertise. This free feature is available to all advertisers.

• Enhanced Inbox: Redesigned to display AI-generated summaries of leads, including project details, location, and job type, making it easier for service pros to prioritize inquiries.

• Competitive Insights Dashboard: Allows businesses to compare their page views with up to three competitors, providing actionable insights to refine growth strategies.

• Seasonal Budgeting: Enables businesses to adjust ad spend during off-peak times with automatic restarts when ready.

• Support Center: Refreshed content tailored to the advertiser’s needs, simplifies navigation, and provides clear answers to common questions.

What This Means

Yelp’s latest features emphasize the growing role of AI in transforming local discovery and business engagement. For users, tools like Review Insights and Yelp Assistant make finding and connecting with the right businesses faster, easier, and more enjoyable. For businesses, AI-driven solutions like Smart Ad Selection and enhanced lead management improve efficiency and reach.

As Yelp continues to innovate, these updates set a new standard for how communities connect, paving the way for a more personalized and effective local search experience.

Editor’s Note: This article was created by Alicia Shapiro, CMO of AiNews.com, with writing, image, and idea-generation support from ChatGPT, an AI assistant. However, the final perspective and editorial choices are solely Alicia Shapiro’s. Special thanks to ChatGPT for assistance with research and editorial support in crafting this article.