MA
AI News: 24 Things You Need To Know This WeekMatt Wolfe23 Oct 2026
Yelp can now call restaurants on your behalf to check wait times and ask about menu items, even as Yelp blocks third-party agents.
Yelp app feature where an AI voice agent phones a restaurant to check wait times and texts the result to the user.
Updated EU status checked Last shown
Yelp AI restaurant calls at a glance
- What is Yelp AI restaurant calls?
- Yelp AI restaurant calls is an agent from Yelp. Yelp app feature where an AI voice agent phones a restaurant to check wait times and texts the result to the user.
- Who makes Yelp AI restaurant calls?
- Yelp AI restaurant calls is made by Yelp.
- Does Yelp AI restaurant calls work in the EU?
- Unverified. No explicit evidence found. The provided pages (TechCrunch coverage) do not state regional availability for this feature, and the TechCrunch terms snippet is about TechCrunch, not Yelp. Last verified 14 Nov 2026.
- How much does Yelp AI restaurant calls cost?
- Pricing unknown. No price stated for Check for Me in the provided coverage. The separate business product Smart Lead Reply costs $30/month. Licence: Proprietary.
- Where was Yelp AI restaurant calls shown?
- In 1 creator video by Matt Wolfe. Most recently by Matt Wolfe on 23 Oct 2026, at 20:28 in “AI News: 24 Things You Need To Know This Week”.
Sources: the vendor's own pages (linked above) and creator videos at the linked timestamps. EU status is information, not legal advice; see how we check.
About
"Check for Me" is a feature in the Yelp app, announced in October 2026, that lets a voice AI agent call a restaurant on the user's behalf. It appears on restaurant pages, where the user enters a party size and phone number. The agent phones the restaurant to check the wait time and texts the answer back, so the user can decide whether to go.
It is part of a wider Yelp AI update that also includes an OpenTable booking integration in the Yelp AI assistant, preference memory across chats, 30 days of chat history, custom reminders, and user-built "Been Here" and "Want to Go" lists. Yelp had launched a voice agent for restaurants and service providers the year before; this feature covers the consumer side. TechCrunch notes that a user's agent may end up talking to a restaurant's own agent, which could cause the conversation to break down. A YouTube summary also mentions the agent can ask about menu items; the TechCrunch article only describes wait times.
Yelp's terms are not provided here. TechCrunch's coverage does not state a price for Check for Me or give a regional rollout. The separate paid Smart Lead Reply product for businesses costs $30 per month.
Key features
- AI voice agent calls a restaurant to check wait times
- User enters party size and phone number on the restaurant page
- Results are sent to the user by text message
- Part of the Yelp AI assistant update with OpenTable booking and saved preferences
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