Yelp’s AI assistant can now scan restaurant menus to show you what dishes look like

Yelp is releasing multiple AI-powered updates Tuesday, including an updated AI assistant that can answer questions about restaurants, bars, local attractions, or retailers. The assistant can also scan a physical menu to provide information about dishes. Additionally, the company is improving search with support for natural language and voice queries, and highlighting popular offerings on business pages, including auto shops, hair salons, clothing stores, and parks.

The company launched an AI-powered assistant last year to help you connect with the right services by describing your problem. Yelp is now using similar technology to answer questions about other kinds of businesses, including a restaurant, bar, local attraction, and retailer. The assistant uses information from a business’s page, website, reviews, and photos to provide answers. For instance, you can ask about the kinds of animals you might see at a zoo.

Yelp is displaying pre-written questions on business pages based on frequently asked questions, so you don’t have to type them out yourself. The company said that the assistant for services will now remember your preferences and give you tailored recommendations for your next project.

The company is also improving search by allowing users to type questions in everyday language directly into the search box. The app will support these conversational queries through voice search.

Until now, Yelp has highlighted popular dishes and drinks on restaurant and bar pages. The company will now also show popular desserts on food outlets’ pages. Additionally, the company is expanding this feature to more than 100 business categories. Users will be able to see the top services offered by an outlet in a “most mentioned” section on each page — for instance, popular haircuts or color treatments at a salon.

Yelp is adding another AI-powered feature that helps diners explore menu items. Using AI image recognition, users can scan a physical menu with their phone camera and overlay bubbles will appear on screen over different dishes. Tap a bubble to see photos of that dish and read what diners have said about it.

With these new features, the company is making search more visual and conversational. In response to the rise of chat-style search tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, established players like Google have also added similar features to their search and Maps to aid the discovery of new places.

Earlier this year, the company previewed AI-powered voice agents for restaurants and services businesses. With its new update, these tools are now available to businesses. The company’s AI host can take bookings, answer questions, handle special requests, and change reservations for restaurants. Its AI receptionist for services businesses can gather project details, help qualify leads, and send call summaries to the business’s Yelp inbox. Other companies like Square and Kea are also providing AI-powered voice solutions for restaurants and order management.

With this fall release, Yelp is also launching several additional features: AI-generated videos that compile user photos and narrate information about restaurants and bars; expanded video uploads (from 10 to 30 seconds); a new visual summary of restaurants and bars using photos and videos; grouped before-and-after photos for service businesses; and a new section for planning future projects.