Yelp has added a feature called Check for Me to its app. On a restaurant's page, the user enters the party size and a phone number. An AI agent then calls the venue, asks how long the wait for a table is, and texts back the answer.

It is part of a bigger update. Yelp's assistant can now book tables through OpenTable without leaving the app, remembers preferences from earlier chats, and sets reminders, such as sending weekend ideas every Friday. Businesses get a paid product, Smart Lead Reply, at $30 a month: an agent answers incoming leads and works out how ready the customer is to buy.

A bot calls, a bot answers

A year ago Yelp launched a voice agent for restaurants and service businesses — the side that answers calls. Now it covers the other side too. TechCrunch rightly points out that a diner's agent may well reach the restaurant's agent, and there is no guarantee two programs will hold a useful conversation.

Yelp is not the first. In recent weeks other personal assistants have also learned to phone businesses on a user's behalf, to book appointments and deal with support.

What it means for a business

  • Some incoming calls will come from robots, and they ask short questions: is there room, how long is the wait, what does it cost
  • If those answers are on the website or in the booking widget, an agent can read them instead of calling
  • A voice agent answering the phone needs to understand such requests and not get stuck on the greeting
  • The customer gets a text summary of the call: no tone, no small talk, just the facts

Our take

Opening hours, prices and booking forms on a site have long been read not just by people but by search engines and AI assistants. Now agents that make phone calls join them. The clearer and more current that information is, the fewer pointless calls and lost guests. The original story is on TechCrunch.