Yelp Inc., the company connecting people with local businesses, announced its Spring Product Release with over 35 new features and updates. These updates improve how consumers discover, connect, and complete tasks with local businesses. The release introduces Yelp Assistant, an AI-powered chatbot offering instant answers, trusted recommendations, and seamless booking in one conversation. It supports services from restaurant reservations to beauty appointments. New integrations with Vagaro, Zocdoc, and Calendly expand scheduling across more categories on Yelp. Meanwhile, upgrades to AI-powered Menu Vision make food choices more visual and engaging. The release also adds new advertiser tools, including an AI-powered support chatbot and enhanced advertising capabilities.
Enhancing Discovery and Action
The tool works across every category on Yelp. It leverages hundreds of millions of reviews, photos, and business details to provide specific, trustworthy recommendations.
Craig Saldanha, chief product officer at Yelp, noted the evolution of the platform:
“The new Yelp Assistant is our most significant AI product evolution yet as we reconceive Yelp around instant answers and seamless actions. The experiences and opinions from real people that power every recommendation are what set Yelp Assistant apart, delivering trustworthy results that help consumers make confident decisions, faster. And for the first time, consumers can seamlessly move from discovery to action in a single conversation with new and enhanced integrations, from booking a table to ordering delivery or scheduling an appointment. As we transform Yelp with AI, this is only the beginning of a more conversational, personalized, and action-oriented Yelp experience.”
“Through our expanded integration with Yelp, we’re making it easier than ever for consumers to move from discovery to booking in just a few taps,” said Fred Helou, CEO of Vagaro. “By connecting Yelp’s powerful search and recommendation platform with Vagaro’s robust scheduling capabilities, beauty, wellness, and fitness businesses can capture high-intent customers at the exact moment they’re ready to book. We’re excited to partner with Yelp to deliver a more seamless, end-to-end experience that benefits both businesses and their clients.”
More ways to book, order and schedule on Yelp
New integrations with Vagaro, Zocdoc, and Calendly expand booking and scheduling capabilities. Consumers can now book appointments for beauty, wellness, and healthcare services directly within the app. Furthermore, the updated Menu Vision feature now overlays photos of dishes directly onto menus viewed through a phone camera. Advertisers also gain a new AI-powered support chatbot to help resolve issues more efficiently. These updates aim to make finding and transacting with local businesses faster and more intuitive for users everywhere.
“Booking a doctor’s appointment should be just as easy as booking dinner,” said Oliver Kharraz, MD, founder and CEO of Zocdoc. “Integrating Zocdoc’s healthcare access infrastructure into Yelp is another step toward making access to in-network care simple and immediate, wherever patients begin their search.”
“Scheduling should be the easiest part of winning a new customer,” said Chirag Chheda, CTO of Calendly. “Our integration with Yelp makes that a reality for service professionals by bringing Calendly’s real-time availability directly into the conversation when a customer is ready to book. This partnership represents a deeper expansion into home services, connecting our scheduling platform with one of the largest marketplaces where high-intent consumers discover and connect with businesses every day. We’re excited to help service pros on Yelp turn more leads into appointments with less effort.”
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News Source: Businesswire.com
