Yelp has unveiled a range of new features to close out the year, including AI-powered review insights, a personalized home feed with diverse content types, and a revamped inbox for business owners.
For consumers, Yelp is now categorizing reviews into themes like food quality, service, and ambiance. Each theme is accompanied by a sentiment score ranging from 1 to 100 and classified as positive, neutral, or critical. Tapping on a specific category brings up relevant reviews, making it easier to understand a restaurant or nightlife spot’s strengths and weaknesses. These AI-powered insights are currently available for restaurant, food, and nightlife businesses on iOS.
In addition to these insights, Yelp has already been providing AI-generated summaries at the top of business listings. This new feature leverages the vast volume of user reviews to highlight key aspects of businesses. According to Craig Saldanha, Yelp’s Chief Product Officer, large language models (LLMs) are instrumental in analyzing and categorizing reviews—even when certain themes aren’t explicitly mentioned. For instance, a comment like “drinks came out quickly” would be categorized under “service” without the word “service” being directly stated.
Earlier this year, Yelp introduced a visual feed to enhance the user experience. Building on that, the platform now includes autoplay user videos, trending searches, and popular businesses nearby. Additionally, users will see new recognitions and badges tied to achievements or specific practices, such as tipping policies, providing more context about businesses.
Yelp has also expanded its AI-powered assistant, which connects users with service providers like cleaners or contractors. Customers can now opt to be contacted via text or phone, with their number masked for privacy. Updates also include a feature where service providers can adjust quotes if users modify project details, streamlining the communication process.
For business owners, Yelp has integrated its platform with Apple Maps, enabling users to request quotes directly. The inbox for businesses has been revamped with redesigned job cards and AI-generated summaries to provide quick insights into incoming job opportunities.
Yelp’s advancements align with a broader trend in utilizing existing data to enhance user experiences. Saldanha highlighted that the platform’s millions of reviews, combined with AI, allow Yelp to present information that feels both precise and personalized, helping users uncover specific details faster.
Competitors like Google are also tapping into review data to create AI-generated summaries, marking a shared focus on transforming vast user data into actionable insights.
