Yelp
Yelp is one of the world's most influential local business review platforms — and a primary data source AI engines rely on when recommending local businesses, from restaurants and salons to plumbers and dentists.
Founded
2004
Headquarters
San Francisco, California, USA
Domain Authority
DA 93
Category
Pricing
Free tier available
What is Yelp?
Since 2004, Yelp has been the go-to platform for local business reviews in the United States and increasingly worldwide. With over 265 million cumulative reviews covering millions of businesses across every local service category — restaurants, healthcare, home services, retail, automotive, beauty, fitness and more — Yelp is the most comprehensive source of crowd-sourced local business intelligence on the web.
From a GEO/AEO perspective, Yelp is a foundational platform for local businesses. When someone asks an AI engine "Best Italian restaurant near me", "Reliable plumber in Brooklyn" or "Top-rated dentist in Austin", the AI model draws heavily on Yelp data — star ratings, review count, review content, business categories and service attributes. Yelp's long history, massive review volume and strict review filtering system give it a credibility that AI engines weight heavily. ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini all cite Yelp data regularly in local business recommendations.
Yelp's domain authority (DA 93) means that Yelp business pages rank prominently in search results for local queries, creating high-authority pages that AI engines crawl and reference. The platform's structured business data — categories, hours, price range, service attributes, photos, owner responses — provides precisely the kind of organized, machine-readable information that AI models need to generate specific, confident local recommendations.
Claiming and managing your Yelp business profile is free through Yelp for Business. You can update your business information, respond to reviews, add photos and track page views. Paid options include Yelp Ads for increased visibility and Yelp Reservations or Waitlist for restaurants — but the free profile, kept complete and actively managed, is what drives your AI visibility.
Pricing
Free business profile with full management tools. Yelp Ads available on a pay-per-click basis (budgets starting around $5/day). Premium features like Yelp Reservations for restaurants at additional cost.
Best for
Local businesses of all types — restaurants, healthcare providers, home services, retail shops, salons, auto repair, fitness studios, legal and financial services. Especially critical for businesses serving US customers, where Yelp's influence on AI recommendations is strongest.
AI Visibility Analysis
Why Yelp matters for GEO/AEO
DA 93 — one of the highest-authority local business platforms, treated as a primary source by AI engines for local recommendations
AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini) cite Yelp ratings and reviews as a top source for local business queries
265M+ cumulative reviews create a deep consensus signal that AI models treat as highly reliable for local services
Yelp's strict review filter adds credibility weight — AI engines recognize filtered reviews as more trustworthy than unfiltered platforms
Structured business attributes (hours, price range, service categories, amenities) enable precise matching of AI queries to your business
Frequently asked questions about Yelp
Why is Yelp important for AI visibility?
Is Yelp free for businesses?
How does Yelp's review filter affect AI visibility?
What should I include on my Yelp business profile?
How do AI engines use Yelp data differently from Google Reviews?
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View profile →Not sure where to list your brand?
Our AI Visibility Intelligence Platform analyzes your citation profile and identifies the directories that will have the most impact on your AI visibility.