Like everyone else, Yelp is getting into AI. The app offers a new chat assistant designed to help you find the professionals you need to complete projects around the house. While it won't help you find places to eat, I can't help but imagine that the AI feature will eventually spread to other parts of Yelp.

I decided to try out a new AI assistant that combines my own and OpenAI's Large Language Model (LLM). I also used the existing Yelp Projects tool to compare the results, and to be honest, I was a bit disappointed. But that is not the AI's fault.

All things considered, Yelp's AI assistant is intuitive and easy to use: on an iOS device, simply tap the Projects tab at the bottom of the screen and hit the button that says "Find the right pro with AI."

From there, you are taken to a chat screen where you can ask the assistant to do the job you need. In my case, I asked to find someone to clean my apartment.

Once you ask the initial question, the AI assistant will ask follow-up questions to find the best company for the job. In my case, it asked questions about my apartment, including how many bedrooms and bathrooms I had, whether I needed my carpets and windows cleaned, and whether I had any product preferences. It feels as if I am on the phone with a company trying to narrow down the appropriate type of cleaning.

Once all questions are answered, the AI asks if you want to submit your request or add other details. If you decide to submit, the AI sends the job to the sponsoring company for an offer.

The sponsoring company is where I got lost. In my case, I was sent to two local cleaners, one with one review on Yelp and the other with zero reviews. Sure, I am backed by Yelp's guarantee, which covers up to $2,500, but it would have been nice to see a wider selection, including more established brands.

I also tested the Project tab without the AI chat assistant and the results were the same. However, instead of framing it as a chat, Yelp simply let it go through various checkboxes to find the appropriate cleaner. The checkboxes were exactly the same questions the chatbot asked. At the end of the process I even got the same two unknown firms.

Are these cleaners great? Possibly, but I usually don't book someone to come to my house without a review. I don't know if the sponsored results mean that this is the company that Yelp actually feels is the right fit for the job, or the company that paid the most to push them to the forefront.

AI (and standard search) fulfills the promise of asking questions to find service professionals, but will be useless until it provides results based on actual Yelp reviews. After all, the entire platform is built around users giving their opinions, and if you only get results based on the highest bid, the results are not particularly useful.

Additionally, the fact that AI does not do anything different from standard search is disappointing. It seems like the company just wanted to ride the AI hype without actually building a tool that would stand out in a crowded space.

In a press release, Yelp touts that "With its effective and accurate matching capabilities, Yelp Assistant provides companies with relevant and detailed leads, allowing them to evaluate and hire projects more efficiently." The service's goal is to deliver leads to companies, not necessarily to deliver the right professionals to you, which is what I'm getting at.

Am I going to use either of these companies? I would give them a fair chance, but they are fighting an uphill battle of being "sponsored" with their lack of reviews.