Author | Chatmeter TeamDate Posted | January 8, 2019

How does Yelp impact voice search and my VEO strategy?

The voice search revolution has arrived. 75% of smart speaker users and 69% of mobile or embedded voice assistant users conduct voice searches daily or weekly, according to a 2018 Accenture study. It’s estimated that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be conducted via voice. Is your business prepared for this change in search trends?

Did you know that Yelp is the largest local listing provider for voice search on both mobile devices and smart speakers?  In this post, we’re going to focus on Yelp listings and why ensuring that your Yelp business page is accurate, active, and up-to-date is one of the best ways for your customers to find you throughout the voice search ecosystem.

Yelp’s Impact on Voice Search

Yelp has a major influence on local voice search through its integration into some of the biggest names in voice search including Amazon Alexa, Siri, and Samsung Bixby. Amazon Echo is one of the easiest ways for users to get more information about a local business. Users can simply ask Alexa for a type of business nearby and quickly learn more about that specific business by asking about things like the business phone number, the average star rating, and even links to reviews. Yelp is also the listing provider for Apple Maps which can be easily accessed by Siri. As you can see below, local searches conducted by Siri result in listing information pulled from Yelp.

Smart Speakers

We know that Yelp is integrated into Amazon and Apple smart speakers, but the newcomer, Sonos, is also powered by Amazon Alexa which means it too pulls listing information from Yelp for local searches. According to NPR and Edison Research, 1 in 6 Americans owns a smart speaker. Amazon, Apple, and Sonos take up 69.8% of the smart speaker market share as of May 2018.  Because of this, Yelp is now powering local search listings to the majority of smart speaker users.

Mobile Voice Assistants

In 2017, ComScore reported a total of 85.8 million iPhone devices in circulation among people 13 and older in the US. According to Voicebot.ai in that same year, Siri made up 48.4% of the mobile voice assistant market share. Combined with Amazon Alexa’s 10.1% market share, Yelp is integrated into more than half the mobile voice assistant market.

Voice Search Adoption and Usage

35.6 million Americans use voice search at least once a month. When it comes to mobile search, voice is 3x more likely to be used than text and ⅓ of mobile searches have local intent. Voice search is built for on-the-go searches, its hands-free design makes it the perfect way for people to search while driving either through built-in navigation or mobile devices. Because of this on-the-go usage, voice search users are more likely to choose the first and only speakable result, which makes a business’s Yelp presence even more valuable than ever.

Another great insight about voice search is that it’s used by all ages. Seniors (ages 55+) make up 20% of smart speaker ownership. There is also a correlation between income and voice search as 31% of voice search users are in the top 25% of household income. This falls in line with Yelp’s user base (in a study by ComScore, August 2018) in which 49% of Yelp users have a household income of over $100,000.

How to be Relevant in Voice Search

As you can see Yelp is a vital part of local voice search. In order to be relevant in voice search, it’s essential you claim, clean, and optimize your Yelp listings. Businesses who complete their Yelp page have 5x more customer leads per month than those who have uncompleted profiles*.

Here is how a complete profile increases leads*:

  • Businesses with photos get 12x the customer leads.
  • Businesses who provide hours have 2.5x the page views.
  • Including a phone number can get businesses up to 66% more customer leads.
  • Adding your website to your Yelp listing can result in up to 129% more page views.

Because of Yelp results are so prevalent in voice search results, it’s more important than ever that you stay on top of your Yelp listings. Keep them updated and accurate, respond to reviews, and make sure your profile is complete with great photos. As a local business, the best way to stay relevant in voice search is to optimize your listings.

To find out how to keep up with multiple locations, request a free demo, to learn more about how our Yelp Knowledge partnership makes managing multiple Yelp listings easy.