Yelp Launches 35+ AI Features with Paid Call AIs

Yelp has rolled out more than 35 AI-driven features in its 2025 Fall Product Release, including an expanded Yelp Assistant, Menu Vision, Popular Offerings, and two AI call-answering services, Yelp Host and Yelp Receptionist. Host (for table-service restaurants) and Receptionist (for eligible local businesses) can handle incoming calls 24/7 — taking, modifying or cancelling reservations, capturing special requests, providing wait times, vetting leads and sending follow-up texts — and integrate with Yelp Guest Manager and other booking systems. Pricing starts at $149/month for Host (or $99/month for Yelp Guest Manager customers) and $99/month for Receptionist. Menu Vision uses AR and text recognition to let diners scan menus for dish photos and review snippets, while the Assistant draws on reviews, photos, business pages and websites to produce evidence-backed answers and remember past queries. Yelp says the features rely on user-generated business data to limit AI hallucinations, though critics warn the call-answering AIs may still make mistakes and could encourage some restaurants to replace human hosts.