Yelp will use AI to help restaurants answer calls and make phone reservations

Yelp has announced new AI-powered call answering features for restaurants and services as part of its Spring Product Release. With the service, currently under development, the company hopes that "businesses never have to miss a call again.” 

"In this next step of our product transformation, we’re continuing to harness AI to unlock the potential of Yelp’s rich data in ways that build trust and simplify decision-making — whether users are hiring a pro or booking a reservation," Yelp's chief product officer, Craig Saldanha, said in a statement. "By grounding our AI in real consumer behavior and business data, we’re creating intuitive, transparent features that improve the experience for everyone on Yelp."

">The AI-powered system "will be fully integrated into Yelp's platform with customizable features and the ability to answer general questions, filter spam, transfer calls when needed, and capture messages." For restaurants, it will make reservations, put guests on a waitlist and highlight deals like happy hours. It will be part of Yelp Guest Manager, which is also getting a few updates to streamline operations — plus, a new Guest Experience Survey. 

Users calling services will be able to provide project details, get answers to follow-up questions and receive a call back from the company. For example, if a person has an issue with their car, they can give information to the AI system and receive potential solutions. Every business will be able to customize the AI service's greetings, choose when a call should be forwarded and determine follow-up questions.

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