Yelp to bring reviews and ratings to ChatGPT under OpenAI partnership: Report

OpenAI has partnered with Yelp to bring the platform's reviews, ratings, photos, and other business information directly into ChatGPT responses, expanding the chatbot's ability to answer local search queries.

Under the agreement, ChatGPT will display Yelp branding and links whenever its content is used, although OpenAI will control how the information is presented. Yelp also plans to integrate its "Request a Quote" feature into ChatGPT, allowing users to contact local service providers and request estimates without leaving the chatbot. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the partnership.

Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman said the company's extensive database of human-written reviews makes it particularly valuable for AI-powered local search. The deal builds on Yelp's existing strategy of licensing its data to platforms such as Apple Maps and Yahoo, extending that approach into the generative AI era.

Data Licensing instead of competition

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The partnership reflects a broader shift among companies with proprietary datasets, many of which are choosing to license their content to AI developers rather than compete directly with them. Reddit has also signed a licensing agreement with OpenAI, while several publishers have entered similar partnerships. Others, including The New York Times, have instead pursued legal action to protect their content from being used to train large language models.

For OpenAI, the agreement helps improve the quality of ChatGPT's responses by incorporating trusted, real-world business information instead of relying solely on AI-generated content.

Past collaborations with Google

Despite embracing AI partnerships, Yelp remains cautious. The company previously licensed its content to Google before the relationship deteriorated into years of disputes over Google's local search practices. Yelp is currently suing Google, alleging the company unfairly favored its own local search results.

Stoppelman said making Yelp's content available across third-party platforms ultimately strengthens the brand by reaching consumers wherever they search. As AI increasingly becomes the starting point for finding information online, partnerships like this highlight how content providers are weighing the benefits of working with AI platforms against competing with them.