Yelp Inc., the popular local business discovery and recommendation engine, today announced the launch of a new chatbot assistant alongside 35 new features and updates that will provide recommendations, answers, bookings and more. 

The company first introduced the Yelp Assistant to help customers hire service professionals and answer questions about individual businesses. Now it works across every part of the website. 

It lives in the “Assistant” tab on iOS and Android, and is powered by hundreds of millions of reviews, images, menus and detailed business information from the Yelp community. It can surface insights and handle complex questions and highly specific requests based on firsthand experiences. 

The assistant can also now go beyond merely providing information to take action on a customer’s behalf. “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,” Chief Product Officer Craig Saldanha said. 

Booking and ordering extend to numerous outlets and partnerships, the company said, including Vagaro Inc., Zocdoc Inc. and Calendly. Vagaro is a cloud-based beauty and wellness firm that allows consumers to book appointments such as haircuts, massages and nail services; with the assistant, users can soon find appointments at leading salons, spas and fitness outfits. Zocdoc provides an online healthcare marketplace that allows users to find in-network providers and book appointments instantly. 

“Booking a doctor’s appointment should be just as easy as booking dinner,” said Zocdoc founder and Chiff Executive Oliver Kharraz, M.D., adding that the integration with Yelp creates exactly that experience. 

Enhancing the user experience 

In addition to the Assistant, Yelp built in a broader user experience, with additional features including enhanced menus, a personalized home feed, smarter photo discovery and AI-powered chat support. 

Menu vision was introduced in 2025. It overlays photos of dishes, drinks and desserts directly over text-based menus when viewed through a phone camera. Menu items are ranked by popularity, and with a single tap, users can read community-generated reviews. The Yelp home feed on iOS now tailors relevant content to how users choose their recommendations, including immersive full-screen videos.  

Users can also use natural language to search for photos, helping them rediscover businesses and dishes that caught their attention. 

 Image: Yelp