Yelp Data Enhances Perplexity’s Chatbot for Improved User Experience

Perplexity Partners with Yelp to Enhance Chatbot Recommendations

Chatbots as Search Engines

In an interview with The Zero Byte, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas revealed that many users are treating chatbots like search engines. To cater to this trend, Perplexity is integrating Yelp’s data, including maps, reviews, and other details, to provide restaurant recommendations directly from the source.

“Our underlying motivation is that we started off as this tool that appealed to people doing fact checks and research. But research can be on anything, like what if you’re a coffee addict, you’d want to know where the good coffee shops are,”

says Srinivas.

Perplexity’s Unique Approach

As highlighted by The Zero Byte‘s David Pierce, Perplexity’s ability to combine text and links in its responses sets it apart from other chatbots like Copilot, Gemini, or ChatGPT. Srinivas explains that this consideration played a role in choosing Yelp as a partner. Yelp’s data allows Perplexity to provide a range of information, such as maps, photos, and even quoted reviews.

Licensing Data, Not Training Models

While the financial details of the deal were not disclosed, Perplexity emphasizes that it will not use Yelp’s data to train any models. The company currently relies on existing models like GPT and Claude 2 for its chatbot. The integration is part of Yelp’s Fusion program, which licenses data to third parties, including BMW.

“By integrating our highly trusted and rich local data into Perplexity, we’re able to provide their users with reliable local search results,”

says Chad Richard, SVP of business & corporate development at Yelp, in an email to The Zero Byte.

The Race for Up-to-Date Information

Perplexity joins a growing list of AI companies striking deals for access to continually refreshed, up-to-date information. Google is reportedly paying Reddit $60 million a year for real-time data and training its AI models, while OpenAI has signed agreements with news publishers like Axel Springer for training data.

Advantages Over Other Chatbots

While other chatbots can suggest cafes and restaurants, much of their data comes from information learned from the internet. Some chatbots, like Google’s Gemini, benefit from access to services that aggregate business information, such as Google Maps, allowing them to provide details like hours of operation, menus, and maps.

Future Integrations

Perplexity plans to expand its integrations in the future, having already partnered with the answer engine WolframAlpha for mathematical computations. Srinivas hinted at potential collaborations with providers of shopping data or financial data.

Perplexity’s Yelp integration is also available on mobile.