Yelp uses AI to look at reviews and businesses can’t edit or opt-out

Yelp began in July 2004 in San Francisco, CA, and was founded by Jeremy Soppelman and Russel Simmons. Today, the company announced over 20 updates for consumers and business owners, and they will deploy artificial intelligence (AI) to “describe what you can expect” at a restaurant or club to generate company summaries. “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,” according to Yelp. The company also wants to reward passionate reviewers and has implemented a “Recognitions” program. They have updated the home feed and search experience.

The updated home feed and search interface highlight visually stunning material in an effort to make the discovery process more visually stimulating. Through Yelp Connect postings, users can anticipate relevant images and automatically play videos from companies specializing in food, dining, and entertainment, in addition to Collections from Yelp Elites. The goal is to produce a more interesting investigation of nearby companies. In the upcoming months, it will make its way to Android after initially rolling out on iOS.

Yelp will show recent reviews recommended by the AI software

Since company summaries are “AI generated based on a reliable number of recent reviews that are recommended by our automated recommendation software,” consumers and businesses cannot currently alter them, according to PCMag’s Akhil Kuduvalli Ramesh, SVP of Consumer Product at Yelp. “If a business owner or user believes the summary is inaccurate, they can always report issues by contacting Yelp Support, which will be reviewed quickly by Yelp’s moderators.” These summaries are available on iOS now, and Yelp will roll out to desktop and Android later in 2024.

Very helpful for those looking to find information quickly, Yelp is updating its questions, like the “Request a Quote” feature. Yelp will now take into account what each business offers. The company has rolled out pre-fill and skip questions based on your search, which will significantly speed up the search process.

Yelp will also save your tabs via the new “Projects” feature. It even takes you through a review of your reviews and continues its collections of “Local Picks (in your city) and includes photos of a dish or entrée you mention in your review.

Featured Image Credit: Kampus Production; Pexels

Deanna Ritchie

Managing Editor at ReadWrite

Deanna is an editor at ReadWrite. Previously she worked as the Editor in Chief for Startup Grind, Editor in Chief for Calendar, editor at Entrepreneur media, and has over 20+ years of experience in content management and content development.