Yelp is licensing its reviews, ratings, photos, and other local business information to OpenAI, bringing its content directly into ChatGPT responses, according to Axios.
The partnership gives ChatGPT another source of real-time local business information as AI assistants compete more directly with traditional search engines for everyday consumer queries.
When users ask ChatGPT for local recommendations, responses can include Yelp reviews, ratings, photos, and business details. Yelp branding and links will appear alongside the information, and the companies plan to add Yelp’s “Request a Quote” feature, allowing users to contact local service providers directly from ChatGPT.
For marketers, the agreement reflects a broader shift in how consumers discover businesses. As AI assistants become another destination for local search, brands increasingly depend on third-party data sources to shape how they appear in AI-generated recommendations.
The deal also illustrates how companies with proprietary data are adapting to generative AI. Rather than competing with AI platforms for user attention, Yelp is extending the same distribution strategy it uses with platforms such as Apple Maps by making its content available inside ChatGPT.
That approach mirrors similar licensing agreements between OpenAI and publishers, Reddit, and other companies with proprietary content. The strategy gives AI platforms access to trusted, up-to-date information while creating new distribution channels for content owners.
The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and Axios reported that the deal does not prevent Yelp from licensing its data to other AI companies.
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Constantine von Hoffman is senior editor of MarTech. A veteran journalist, Con has covered business, finance, marketing and tech for CBSNews.com, Brandweek, CMO, and Inc. He has been city editor of the Boston Herald, news producer at NPR, and has written for Harvard Business Review, Boston Magazine, Sierra, and many other publications. He has also been a professional stand-up comedian, given talks at anime and gaming conventions on everything from My Neighbor Totoro to the history of dice and boardgames, and is author of the magical realist novel John Henry the Revelator. He lives in Boston with his wife, Jennifer, and either too many or too few dogs.
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