Yelp plans restaurant wait-time calls alongside a more capable assistant

Check for Me is scheduled to roll out on eligible US iOS restaurant pages, while OpenTable bookings and service-professional tools expand the wider workflow.

Yelp’s October 20 product announcement moves its assistant further from finding businesses toward taking specific actions. Its planned Check for Me feature will call a restaurant to ask about the wait and send the answer to the customer by text.

The customer supplies a party size and phone number. Yelp says the feature will roll out over the following months on eligible restaurant pages in the United States on iOS, with access through Yelp Assistant also planned. The announcement should not be read as universal availability today.

Separate the available integrations from the roadmap

Yelp says its assistant now connects to OpenTable for restaurant bookings on iOS and can help customers join a Yelp Waitlist. The fall release also adds ways to save, rank and share local businesses through My Lists.

For service professionals, Smart Lead Reply is scheduled for the next month at $30 per month in eligible Request a Quote categories. The proposed agent answers questions and gathers project details, while owners can supply information such as prices and scheduling links.

An answer still needs to reach the person

A restaurant wait-time call is a bounded task, but its usefulness depends on the complete handover. The service has to reach the business, interpret the response and give the diner enough context to decide what to do.

A quoted wait is also different from a confirmed reservation. Keeping that distinction clear prevents a helpful update from becoming a misleading promise.

The release illustrates two sides of local commerce: assistance for a customer making a decision and automation for a business responding to enquiries. Each feature’s rollout and supported setting remain part of the practical story.

Sources

- [Yelp announces Fall2026 product release](https://www.yelp-press.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2026/Yelp-Announces-More-Personalized--Yelp-Assistant-Agent-that-Checks-Restaurant-Wait-Times-and-AI-Tools-for-Service-Professionals/default.aspx) — Yelp