A Yelp sales rep calls between two estimates, selling ads again. You haven't opened your Yelp page in a year. The homeowners who call say they found you on Google, and lately a few say ChatGPT gave them your name.
So you wonder whether Yelp is worth any of your time now. The answer splits two ways: which assistant a homeowner asks, and whether you mean the free page or the ads.
Does Claude use Yelp when it recommends contractors?
Yes, often, in our test. In October 2026 we asked Claude and ChatGPT the same nine buyer questions about six home service trades in four US metros. We asked outside each assistant's app (how we ran the study).
Claude named Yelp in the text of 262 of 432 answers and cited a Yelp page in 237 (our ChatGPT and Claude comparison). No other site in that comparison, Google included, was named or linked in more of those answers.
Claude didn't go looking for Yelp, though. In the 864 answers behind our search counts, Claude ran 1,741 web searches, and not one included the word Yelp (what Claude searched for). Its searches looked for a service in a city, often with words such as "best" or "reviews".
Every page Claude cited came back from one of those searches. So the Yelp pages it cited turned up without anyone asking for Yelp.
Which directories Claude cited also changed with the trade (sites Claude cites, by trade). Painting wasn't one of the six trades, so search "best painting companies" with your city and state, then again with "reviews" added. Check which directories come back, and whether your company is on them.
Does ChatGPT use Yelp?
Hardly at all, in our test. ChatGPT named Yelp in 1 of its 432 answers and linked to it in none. Nearly half of its links went to the websites of the companies it named (see where ChatGPT gets its information).
We asked outside the ChatGPT app, and the app can answer differently. It may know where you are, remember earlier chats and use other settings.
Yelp also signed an agreement with OpenAI, announced in its results release of February 12, 2026.[1] In it, Yelp's chief executive said Yelp was extending the reach of its content "to power local discovery across the AI ecosystem."[1]
Axios reported in July 2026 that Yelp was licensing reviews, photos and other business information to OpenAI.[2] Yelp's chief executive told Axios that Yelp branding and links would appear when OpenAI used that content, with OpenAI deciding how that looks.[2]
OpenAI's own help page mentions Yelp for restaurants: ChatGPT may show reservation times from Yelp in the United States and Canada.[3] That's restaurants, not contractors. Neither Yelp's release nor OpenAI's page says how Yelp content shows up when a homeowner asks ChatGPT for a painter.
So the app may show Yelp content that our test never saw. Ask ChatGPT in the app for a painter in your town, and note whether Yelp comes up.
Is Yelp worth it for contractors without paying for ads?
Yes, if you claim the free page and fill it in. Claiming is free, and Yelp says a claimed page doesn't make you an advertiser.[4]
People who read reviews don't stop at one site:
97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, using about six review sites on average; the share using Google for reviews fell from 83% (2025) to 71% (2026).
Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey · (opens in a new tab) · n=1,002 US adults
Across all 2,376 answers of our main Claude study, we compared two groups. One held companies Claude named in at least a quarter of the answers for their city and trade. The other held sites its searches found but it didn't name.
In a separate check, Claude searched the web for each company's profiles. A Yelp profile came back for 63 of the 88 companies it named often, and for 27 of the 52 others (the website comparison). That's a pattern, not a cause: bigger companies tend to have more of everything.
Your Google profile still comes first, because buyers on Google Search and Maps see it. Yelp is one of the free listings worth claiming next, as our guide to business listings explains.
One hour on a painting company's Yelp page
- First 15 minutes: claim the page. Make the name, phone number, website and hours match your Google profile exactly.
- Next 15: add specialties in plain words, such as exterior repaints, cabinet painting and deck staining. Write a two-line owner bio: who runs the crews, and since when.
- Next 15: upload ten photos from real jobs: a finished exterior, kitchen cabinets before and after, a crew masking windows.
- Last 15: reply to your newest reviews as the owner, and answer any messages or quote requests waiting in the inbox.
- Leave out: any text, email or card that asks customers for a Yelp review.
Illustrative example
Should you ask customers for Yelp reviews?
No. Yelp asks businesses not to ask anyone for a review, including customers, mailing list subscribers, friends and family.[5] Its software may not recommend reviews that seem prompted, and Yelp says asking may hurt your rating.[5]
A few habits break Yelp's rules too:
- A review contest for your crew. Yelp says staff should never compete to collect reviews.[5]
- A feedback survey that ends with a Yelp link. Yelp says not to ask for reviews after asking for feedback in surveys or contact forms.[5]
- A discount or freebie for a review. Yelp's business terms bar incentives of any kind in exchange for reviews.[6]
- Reviews of your own company or a competitor. The same terms bar writing them.[6]
If the text you send after a job links to Google and Yelp, take the Yelp link out. Keep asking for Google reviews, with scripts that sound like you.
What you can do on Yelp is answer the reviews you get. A claimed page lets you respond with a comment or a direct message.[4]
80% of consumers are more likely to use a business that responds to all of its reviews; 89% expect owners to respond.
Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey · (opens in a new tab)
For a bad one, our advice on answering a negative Google review carries over: keep it short and offer to fix it by phone.
Should you pay for Yelp ads?
Only if the ads book jobs that pay for them. That's a lead-buying decision, and our test can't settle it: we counted what Claude and ChatGPT read, not ads.
Yelp's results release says its average cost per click rose in 2025, partly because of more advertiser demand in what Yelp calls its Services categories.[1]
Ads don't buy better reviews either. Yelp's business terms say buying ads doesn't influence its review software or let you change whether, where or how reviews appear.[6]
So judge an ad package like any other lead source: by booked jobs and their size, not by views. The free tools on a claimed page already show the views and leads Yelp generates for you.[4] Our guide to finding where your leads come from shows how to match them to booked jobs.
Before you sign, ask the rep:
- How many leads did painting companies near me get from ads last month?
- Can you show me which leads came from the ad and which from my free page?
- What does a click cost in my category here, and what did it cost a year ago?
- How long is the contract, and how do I cancel?
Before any ad money, fix the free basics: your website, your Google profile, your reviews and your listings. Google and AI assistants both read that foundation.
If you'd rather hand it off, each of our monthly plans covers both. Its local SEO work includes listing fixes, with Yelp among the listings we check. For AI search optimization, every month we run the same buyer questions across the AI assistants we test (currently ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity).
For an outside look at what to fix first, the Expert Action Plan ($149) is our full report plus a 30-minute consultation.
What Yelp and the AI companies decide
Yelp decides which reviews its software recommends. Its own terms say the software may sometimes hold back real reviews or miss fake ones.[6]
OpenAI and Anthropic decide what ChatGPT and Claude read, and how much weight Yelp gets. What we know of Yelp's agreement with OpenAI comes from Yelp's release and one news report.
Our counts cover one month, October 2026: nine questions, six trades and four metros, asked outside the apps. Other cities, trades and wordings can give other answers. The pages cited here were checked on November 1, 2026.
So look again every few months. Ask both assistants about your trade and town, and read your Yelp page the way a homeowner would.