News Summary

Yelp has launched an updated AI assistant designed to streamline user experience by allowing users to ask questions, make restaurant reservations, order food delivery, and book services directly within the platform. Originally introduced in 2024, the AI assistant leverages platform data to facilitate a range of actions without leaving the conversational flow. Users can now order through DoorDash and Grubhub, book appointments via Vagaro and ZocDoc, and use Calendly for other business appointments. The feature is initially available on iOS and Android, with a desktop version and broader business rollout planned for later this year. Yelp aims to transform from a review platform to an ‘answers and action’ platform, integrating with external providers to complete transactions. The company also announced enhancements to the app, including natural language search capabilities and AI-powered tagging for business media galleries.