Yelp’s AI-powered solutions promise to answer calls, take reservations, and manage bookings for “understaffed” restaurants. Yelp Host and Yelp Receptionist are part of a broader push from the company and similar platforms embracing AI to streamline customer management “around the clock.”
Host is an AI agent that can answer calls from guests and manage tables, Yelp said. The AI can take reservations over the phone, modify or cancel bookings, provide up-to-date waiting times, and even capture special requests, as well as answer questions about the restaurant, like whether or not it has vegan options or welcomes dogs. It will also be able to send guests links to menus, join waitlists, or place orders for pickup or delivery through an automated follow-up text.
Yelp first previewed the Host tool in April. It will be available to restaurants starting from $149 a month, or $99 a month for Yelp Guest Manager customers. New features are on the way, too, and the company said Host will be able to add diners directly to the Yelp Waitlist “in the coming weeks.”
Yelp is also launching Yelp Receptionist this week, an AI agent it says will handle incoming calls for businesses. Similar to Host, Yelp said the tool will answer calls, respond to customer questions, and collect details needed to vet leads, provide quotes, and schedule appointments. Both will come pre-trained on Yelp’s business data and be ready to “work out-of-the-box to answer calls 24/7, or only when extra coverage is needed.”
Receptionist will only be available for “eligible” businesses to begin with, starting at $99 a month, but Yelp said it “will be widely available for local businesses across categories in the coming months.”
The tools are among several AI updates announced today as part of Yelp’s fall release roster, including making its AI chatbot assistant available on all platforms and in Canada, a new feature that brings up photos and reviews when you point your phone at menus, and an AI-powered voice search to “make it easy to find what you need on Yelp by searching like how you’d speak.” They join a growing range of AI features that can already stitch user content together to create restaurant reviews, help summarize customer reviews, and match users with service professionals in their area.
Vocal AI agents like Host and Receptionist are part of a broader trend within the service and hospitality industry as Yelp and platforms like DoorDash tap technology as a means of helping businesses focus on in-person interactions and core services.
Companies like Google are also working on similar products, but for customers, letting AI tools call businesses, ask questions, and make bookings on users’ behalf. Maybe the time of AIs calling AIs is upon us.
