Yelp adds restaurant wait-time calls to its AI assistant, but rollout timing is unclear

Finding out whether dinner means a long wait could soon require a text rather than a phone conversation. Yelp’s October 20 Assistant update introduces Check for Me, an AI agent designed to call restaurants and text back wait times. Waitlist access and more personalized suggestions accompany it, though accounts differ on when the calling feature becomes available.

A phone call before the trip

Check for Me starts on a restaurant’s page in the Yelp app. Users enter their party size and phone number, and the agent calls the restaurant to ask about the wait. According to TechCrunch, Yelp then texts the result so the diner can decide whether to visit. The call supplies information for that decision; joining a queue is handled through the separate Yelp Waitlist integration.

Availability is less clear than the intended workflow. CNET describes Check for Me as rolling out and says text updates should arrive within a few minutes. Digital Trends, however, attributes a later schedule to Yelp: arrival in the next few months, starting with iPhone users in the United States. That account gives no Android launch date.

Reservations and queues enter the conversation

The Assistant update also brings OpenTable booking into the app, letting users reserve a restaurant without leaving Yelp. Digital Trends describes access to tens of thousands of restaurants and says this integration is iOS-only for now. Yelp Waitlist serves a different need: users can get in line before arriving, then receive status updates through the Assistant, including a notification when their table becomes available.

There may also be another AI on the receiving end of a call. Yelp introduced a voice service for restaurants and service providers last year, TechCrunch notes. Its reporter, Ivan Mehta, raises the possibility that a customer’s agent could reach a restaurant’s agent and that their conversation could break down. That is a potential complication, not a demonstrated failure of Check for Me.

Suggestions that remember—and return on schedule

Personalization draws on more than the latest request. Yelp says the Assistant can use earlier chats and users’ review histories to shape its answers. Someone who recently asked about vegan restaurants, for example, may be asked whether they want more vegan options. Weather forecasts add another kind of context: the Assistant can consider local conditions when helping with reservations, such as a patio booking on a rainy evening.

Two ways to keep planning

• Keep Me Posted lets users schedule recurring recommendation notifications. Examples include date-night ideas every Thursday or dog-friendly hikes once a month, tying suggestions to a schedule the user chooses.
• My Lists lets users save, rank and share places. It starts with “Been Here” and “Want to Go” lists, and supports notes, reordering and filters for location, category and cuisine.

Those saved choices will also feed future suggestions. Yelp says weekly personalized recommendations based on saved items and rankings will start in November. Further list changes are planned for later this year, including converting collections into lists, refreshing the lists tab and adding a map view.

The Assistant’s memory also has a user-facing component. Users can access their past 30 days of chat history in the app, according to TechCrunch, with full history promised soon.