Yelp Integration Overview | Yext Hitchhikers Platform
Listings and Reviews features for Yelp are dependent on a couple of factors, including size and relationship with Yext and/or Yelp. There are three categories a business can three under: SMB, Multiple Enterprise Client (MEC), and Yelp Knowledge customer.
SMB
- Listings: Only supported for accounts with less than 5 locations
- Reviews: 3 truncated (150 characters) reviews per listing
Location Limit
SMBs with 5 or more locations will not be eligible for Yelp. Yelp only allows for 4 locations to be active, and then it is considered a chain.
Larger Chain Errors
Yelp may incorrectly flag a business as a larger chain, which causes the listing to become unavailable in the dashboard. This typically happens when a business has a more generic business name. If you see this unavailable reason, please reach out to your account team.
Mutual Enterprise Client (MEC)
- Listings: Only supported for clients that have a paid relationship with both Yelp and Yext. This is called the Mutual Enterprise Clients (MECs) Manual launch process with Yelp.
- Reviews:
- MECs: 200 full-text reviews for MECs pulled through API with real-time updates
- Review Response is available as an add-on.
I am an enterprise client with a paid relationship with Yelp, but this listing is still getting an authorization failure. Why?
We are only allowed to sync approved locations that have a paid advertising listing on Yelp. If you see a location go unavailable, there is a chance that the listing was not included in the approved location sync. You can check if the listing is a paid listing by looking on the right-hand side under “More Business Info” for “This business is a Yelp advertiser”.
Yelp Knowledge
- Listings: Only supported for clients that purchase Yelp Knowledge through Yext
- Reviews: 200 full-text reviews (pulled through API, real-time updates). Review Response is available as an add-on.
| Functionality | Small Business | MEC |
|---|---|---|
| Update basic fields (Hours, Phone, Website, etc.) |  |
|
| Update special fields (Holiday Hours, Photos, Attributes) | |
|
| Menu syncing (Menu Listings only) | |
|
| Yelp review syncing | 3; limited text | 200; full text |
| Yelp review response |  |
|
Business Eligibility
Yelp eligibility guidelines can be found in the Yext documentation. If a business is deemed ineligible by Yelp, the business will have the status “Not Synced” with the following unavailable reason: “Yelp indicated that they were unable to verify your business…”
Eligible Businesses
- Local Businesses & Services
- Local Places
- Local Flavor
- Annual Events
- Opening Soon Businesses
- Pop-up shops*
- If pop-up shops are local, have a physical location, provide some kind of service to people, and are customer-facing to do business, we acknowledge them as eligible Yelp listings (unless they fall into the categories of an ineligible business).
Ineligible Businesses
Most of the ineligible businesses fall into the following categories: Lead generation companies, direct sales, online only, product vendors, short term events, B2B, and businesses without a local presence.
- ATMs
- B2B entities serving only corporate/government clients
- Corporate Offices
- E-commerce Products, Direct Sellers and/or Direct Sales
- Kiosks/Vending Machines
- Online Only or E-commerce Businesses
- Online Directories/Referral Services
- Spam
- Retail store departments & additional services
Cancellation of Yelp Services
If you cancel services with Yelp, we remove all photos and special hours that have been sent through Yext.
We remove photos because only the source of the photos has permission to remove the photos.