Yelp to Let AI Call U.S. Restaurants for Diners' Wait Times

Yelp plans to let U.S. iOS users ask an AI agent to call restaurants for current wait times, giving diners another way to assess walk-in options before leaving home.

The feature, called Check for Me, is due to roll out over the coming months. It will work with eligible U.S. restaurants where walk-ins are possible. Users can start a request from a restaurant’s Yelp page or through Yelp Assistant.

A diner enters a party size and phone number, and the agent calls the restaurant to ask about the wait. Yelp will send the answer by text within minutes, giving the diner information to use when deciding whether to visit. The call checks the current wait; the separate OpenTable feature handles reservations.

OpenTable reservations are already available through Yelp Assistant on iOS, allowing users to book without leaving the app. Yelp is also adding scheduled reminders and suggestions informed by earlier chats and reviews. Users could, for example, set a recurring reminder to find ideas for weekend activities.

The assistant lets users reopen conversations from the past 30 days. Yelp plans to make their full chat history available in the coming weeks. Its personalization features can draw on preferences users have mentioned in previous conversations, bringing those details into later searches for restaurants and services.

Yelp is also introducing personal lists, starting with “Been Here” and “Want to Go.” Users can filter saved places by location, category and cuisine, change their order, add notes and share the lists. Weekly suggestions based on saved places and rankings are planned for November. Yelp also plans to convert existing collections into lists and add a map view later this year.

For service businesses, Yelp plans to launch Smart Lead Reply in November. The $30-a-month tool will answer questions sent through Request a Quote, collect project details and help qualify inquiries. It will be available in eligible business categories, and owners will be able to set instructions for how the agent handles conversations.