Yelp rolls out AI receptionist that “genuinely sounds human”

Yelp’s new artificial intelligence (AI) can answer calls and take reservations for “understaffed” restaurants.

The San Francisco-based firm is rolling out its AI-powered call-answering services, Yelp Receptionist and Yelp Host, to “help restaurants and local businesses never miss a call.”

According to Yelp, its new AI services can take calls around the clock, whether to respond to customer questions or handle reservations.

“Yelp Host and Yelp Receptionist ask intelligent follow-up questions, take and summarize messages, manage reservations and leads, transfer callers when needed, and filter spam,” explained Craig Saldanha, chief product officer at Yelp.

“Unlike alternative call bots, these solutions combine large language models with Yelp’s high-quality data and proprietary voice system, for a smarter, faster, and more human-like AI voice tailored to each individual business,” Saldanha said in a blog post.

Yelp is one of the most popular platforms in the US to find, rate, and review local businesses, including restaurants. It attracts millions of unique monthly users and reported a record $370 million in revenue in the second quarter of 2025, with a net income of $44 million.

Most of its growth was driven by ad sales and the rollout of AI-powered features, some of which are offered to businesses on a subscription basis.

The new Yelp Receptionist starts at $99 per month for “eligible” local businesses, while Yelp Host is aimed at table-service restaurants, starting at $149 per month.

Both services are pre-trained on Yelp’s business information and are fully customizable to reflect each client’s brand.

Businesses can set a greeting, choose the AI agent’s name and voice, define which questions it may ask callers, and include details about special offers, pricing, and other information.

However, relying on AI systems for bookings and customer service comes with its own set of risks.

Earlier this year, Taco Bell had to put the rollout of its AI-powered drive-thrus on hold after a prankster ordered 18,000 cups of water, while McDonald’s hiring chatbot platform exposed 64 million job applications.

Meanwhile, one recent study showed that restaurant booking platforms are “overrun” with bots trying to steal data.

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