What’s the Vibe? Yelp Rolls Out AI-Powered Business Summaries

Yelp today announced more than 20 updates for consumers and business owners, including AI-powered business summaries, recognition for passionate reviewers, and an updated visual home feed and search experience.

For the business summaries, Yelp will use AI to look at recent reviews to “describe what you can expect” at a restaurant or club. “These unique summaries highlight what the business is best known for based on first-hand reviews from users—such as the atmosphere, service, amenities, value, or a popular dish,” Yelp says.

AI-powered business summaries (Credit: Yelp)

For now, Yelp users and businesses can’t edit business summaries since they are “AI generated based on a reliable number of recent reviews that are recommended by our automated recommendation software,” Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, SVP of Consumer Product at Yelp, tells PCMag. “If a business owner or user believes the summary is inaccurate they can always report issues by contacting Yelp Support, which will be reviewed by Yelp’s moderators quickly.”

AI-powered business summaries are available on iOS and will roll out to Android and desktop later this year. 

For its most active contributors, Yelp is implementing Recognitions, which can be earned for writing at least three reviews per year for businesses in specific categories. Recognitions will be displayed in the “Achievements” section on the “Me Tab” in the Yelp iOS app. In the future, they’ll show up next to reviews on business pages for the same category.

To make the discovery experience more visual, Yelp has revamped its home feed and search experience, spotlighting high-quality visual content. Users can expect relevant photos and autoplay video updates from restaurant, food, and nightlife businesses via Yelp Connect posts, as well as Collections from Yelp Elites. The plan is to generate a more engaging exploration of local businesses. It’s rolling out first on iOS and coming to Android in the coming months.

For those seeking local services, Yelp is updating the questions included in its “Request a Quote” feature to take into consideration what each business offers. Yelp will also pre-fill or skip questions based on your search to speed up the process. Keep tabs on things via the new “Projects” feature.