# Beyond the Menu Tree: How Yelp Built a Smarter Customer Success Chatbot with AI

DevFeed: [Beyond the Menu Tree: How Yelp Built a Smarter Customer Success Chatbot with AI](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/beyond-the-menu-tree-how-yelp-built-a-smarter-customer-success-chatbot-with-ai-27424.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://engineeringblog.yelp.com/2026/05/beyond-menu-tree.html>)

Author: Lina Lee, Machine Learning Engineer; Nelson Lee, Engineering Manager

Published: 2026-05-27T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [Yelp](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/yelp.md>)

Topics: [Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/retrieval-augmented-generation-rag.md>), [Support](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/support.md>), [AI Chat](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-chat.md>), [Large Language Model](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/llm.md>), [AI Development](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/ai-development.md>)

Tags: [ai](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/ai.md>), [architecture](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/architecture.md>), [customer](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/customer.md>), [deep-dive](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/deep-dive.md>), [engineering](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/engineering.md>), [large-language-model](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/large-language-model.md>), [legacy](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/legacy.md>), [llm](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/llm.md>), [rag](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/rag.md>), [retrieval](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/retrieval.md>), [support](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/support.md>), [technical](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/technical.md>), [workflow](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/workflow.md>)

## AI overview

Yelp describes replacing its legacy Customer Success chatbot's fixed menu and phrase matching with an LLM-assisted system connected to an internal knowledge base through a Retrieval Augmented Generation pipeline. The system routes customer queries into specialized workflows, including question answering, refunds, and billing.

## Source excerpt

The Evolution of Support: From Fixed Phrases to Conversation At Yelp, delivering responsive and accurate customer support is a core priority. For years, our legacy Customer Success (CS) Chatbot provided support by guiding users through a static support experience. Users either navigated a 2-step menu tree or typed a query that was matched against a fixed set of phrases to retrieve an answer. While functional, the legacy chatbot had a key limitation: its reliance on rigid matching meant that if a query didn't fit the menu structure or precisely match a known phrase, the user wouldn't be able to get...