Yelp is now the most-cited local platform when AI answers questions about local businesses. Here’s how to claim, complete and maintain a page AI will actually pull from.
Foundation and AirOps tracked citations in over 28 million AI responses to local business questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Mode in Q4 2025. Yelp got 3.4 times more citations than the next closest local platform. Among those local platforms, Yelp took 72.5% of the citations on Google AI Mode and 62.1% on Perplexity. (Foundation: Yelp dominates AI local discovery)
The twist that changes how you optimize: over 91% of those Yelp citations came from category searches, not brand names. Think "best plumber near me" or "good ramen open now." You don’t need to rank for a thousand keywords. You need to be the cleanest answer to the category questions people in your area actually ask.
Six steps below. Most of it takes one weekend.
Map Your Category Questions
Before you touch your page, write down the questions a customer would type. Start with these.
"Best [your service] near me"
"Top-rated [your service] in [your city]"
"[Your service] open now in [neighborhood]"
"Affordable or luxury [your service]"
"[Your service] for [specific job]", like "plumber for water heater repair"
Run them in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Mode for your city and note which businesses get named. That’s your benchmark. The prompt below turns it into a scorecard.
AI Visibility Benchmark
You are a local search analyst. I want to know how visible my business is when people ask AI tools for recommendations in my area.
My business: [business name]
What we do: [your service, e.g. "mobile dog grooming"]
City and neighborhoods we serve: [city, neighborhoods]
My top 3 competitors: [names]
Step 1. Write 8 category questions a real customer in my area would ask an AI assistant. Mix "best [service] near me", "top-rated [service] in [city]", "[service] open now in [neighborhood]", budget or luxury versions, and 2 specific-job versions. No questions that use my business name.
Step 2. I will run each question in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Mode and paste the answers below. For each answer, list every business named and every source cited (Yelp, Google, Reddit, a blog, etc.).
Step 3. Give me a scorecard table: question | tool | was I named (yes/no) | which competitors were named | sources cited.
Step 4. Give me the 5 changes most likely to get me named more often, ranked by effort vs. impact. Tie each one to something you saw in the answers.
Rules: only use what is in the answers I paste. If a tool gave no sources, say so. Do not guess at how any AI ranks businesses.
[Paste the AI answers here]
Business name exactly as it appears on your storefront, website and Google Business Profile. No keywords stuffed in.
Address and phone identical everywhere you’re listed.
Hours, including holiday hours, so you can show up for "open now" searches.
Service area, naming the neighborhoods you cover if you travel or deliver.
About the business (specialties and history). Say what you do, who you serve and the specific jobs people search for.
Photos. I aim for 20 or more, covering the outside and inside of your space, the work in action, the team and you.
Services, menu and pricing in Yelp’s structured fields, not dumped into the description.
Website link with a UTM tag so you can see Yelp traffic in your analytics.
Write My Yelp About Section
You are a copywriter who writes Yelp business pages for local businesses. Write the "About the business" section for my Yelp page.
Inputs:
- Business name: [name]
- What we do and the specific jobs we're known for: [list]
- Who we serve: [types of customers]
- Neighborhoods we cover: [list]
- How long we've been open and how we started: [1 to 3 sentences]
- What makes us different: [2 or 3 real points]
- Phrases customers use in our reviews: [paste 5 to 10 short review quotes]
Steps:
1. Pull the category words and customer phrases that show up most in the reviews.
2. Write a Specialties section (120 to 200 words) that names the exact services and jobs people search for, in plain language.
3. Write a History section (60 to 120 words) in a warm, human voice.
4. List the 3 Yelp categories you'd pick, most specific first, and say why.
Rules: no keyword stuffing, no claims I didn't give you (no "best in town", no awards, no prices), no emojis, no exclamation points. Write like a real owner talking, not an ad.
02
Pick the most specific categories
Yelp lets you choose up to three categories, and they decide which category searches you can match. Be as specific as Yelp allows. A Thai massage studio should pick "Thai Massage," not just "Massage," because there’s less competition for the exact match.
Spend 15 minutes on your top three competitors’ pages and note their categories. If they’re all "Hair Salons" and you specialize in extensions, a more specific category is your opening. Check Yelp’s category options every six months, since new ones get added.
03
Reviews: recency over volume
A steady trickle of fresh reviews looks healthier than a pile from 2021, and a sudden surge can trip Yelp’s recommendation software.
Never ask for reviews. Yelp’s policy bans asking anyone to review you, including after a survey. You can let people know you’re on Yelp with a link or a "Find us on Yelp" sign.
Respond to every review within a week, publicly or privately from your business account.
Answer negative reviews calmly and specifically. AI reads replies too.
Steal your customers’ words. If five reviews say "family-friendly," put that phrase in your About section.
Review Reply Drafter
You are helping me, a local business owner, reply to Yelp reviews. Replies are public, so future customers and AI tools will read them.
My business: [name and what we do]
My name for sign-offs: [first name]
Our fix-it policy: [e.g. "free redo within 7 days", "full refund on request"]
For each review I paste:
1. Tell me in one line what the customer actually cares about.
2. Write a public reply of 40 to 90 words. Thank them by first name if they gave one, mention the specific service they had, and for anything under 4 stars, own the issue, say what we're changing and invite them to contact me directly.
3. Flag any review that may break Yelp's rules (for example, it's about a different business) so I can report it instead of replying.
Rules: never offer anything in exchange for changing or removing a review. Never argue or share private customer details. Never ask anyone to leave a review. Sound like a real person, not a template.
[Paste reviews here]
04
Make your name, address and phone match everywhere
Different phone numbers or name spellings across listings make it harder for AI to trust that it’s all one business. Do a one-hour audit.
Open Yelp, Google Business Profile, Facebook, your Instagram bio, your website footer and Apple Maps.
Check the business name matches character for character ("&" vs "and", "LLC" or no "LLC").
Check the phone and address, down to the suite number.
Put a reminder on your calendar to redo it every six months.
05
Keep it fresh every month
Set a 30-minute monthly ritual.
Add 3 to 5 new photos (new work, new staff, seasonal updates).
Update hours for holidays or closures coming up.
Reply to every review from the past month.
Rerun your benchmark prompt and see who’s getting named now.
Update your About section if you added a service or spotted new phrases in reviews.
06
Track what Yelp sends you
Check your Yelp business dashboard and the UTM traffic in your analytics once a month. If a category search starts naming you, note what you changed that month and do more of it.