Yelp Launchs AI-Generated Videos in App Feed

Yelp Debuts AI-Generated Videos in iOS Feed

Yelp is rolling out AI-generated videos to its home page feed on the iOS app, turning written reviews and user photos into dynamic narrated slideshows. Powered by large language models, ElevenLabs voice synthesis and Amazon Transcribe captions, these videos aim to deliver a quick, visual summary of a restaurant’s highlights.

How It Works

• Text-to-Speech Narration: LLMs extract review snippets and generate AI-spoken summaries.
• Automated Captions: Amazon Transcribe converts the narration into on-screen text.
• Photo Slideshows: User-uploaded images turn into a scrollable gallery of dishes and ambiance.

Yelp updates these videos as new reviews and photos come in, tailoring them to your activity on the app. The company aims to populate every eligible business page, so frequency and variety depend on how you interact with listings.

Privacy and Oversight Concerns

Neither businesses nor reviewers can preview or opt out of having their content used, raising questions about consent and data rights. While viewers can flag inaccurate or offensive videos, oversight remains reactive. Yelp says it will perform broad audits and update its approach based on feedback.

Looking Ahead

As AI-driven content becomes mainstream, businesses must weigh engagement gains against privacy and accuracy risks. Yelp’s experiment underscores the need for transparent consent flows and continuous model auditing—areas where analytics firms can step in to bridge trust gaps.