Yelp's AI Chatbot: Real Reviews, Real Connections

0:00It's April 22nd, I'm Cori with the story, this is Durham News today, driven by AI. Yelp just dropped a new AI chatbot to help you dig through reviews super quick. Say you want to spot for coffee with your dog, and it'll pull up top picks back by actual user feedback. CEO Jeremy Stoblin, who's run the show for 22 years, says it scans 500 reviews in seconds, way faster than scrolling the first few, yourself. This tool stands out from big players like Chad GPT or Google's AI, because it always shows the reviews it used. Yelp built it after finding most folks' worry about AI spitting out fake info. It's rolling out now to make searches feel more personal and trustworthy. The AI boom has jacked up tech stocks, but Yelp's price is flat since late 2022, right after Chad GPT launched. They pull over 70% of US web traffic from Google, and free ad-based sites like theirs are hurting as users turn to chatbots. Yelp's fighting back with an anti-trust suit against Google set for trial in May 2028.

1:03They've also licensed review data to open AI and aim to boost their $1.5 billion in yearly revenue by driving more traffic. With this tech finding that perfect needle in the review haystack, Yelp's betting are real connections to keep users coming back strong.