Yext this week announced the launch of its expanded AI Review Generation feature. It lets businesses request and manage reviews from 80 supported review sites including Google, and Facebook. In other words, it’s meant to save time and headaches with a single touchpoint to do it all.
For example, available actions in AI Review Generation include collection, management, and responses to customer reviews that are otherwise spread across those 80 sites. The “AI” part in the name of the feature takes form in automated review collection, management – and most notably – responses.
That last part is a key attribute and likely the selling point that resonates most among local businesses. Whether it’s time-starved SMBs or larger multi-location businesses, it’s all about using AI for tangible time savings or scaling one’s capabilities. Otherwise, impactful action items often go unfulfilled.
“I hear from customers every day that managing their reputation can feel overwhelming,” Yext VP of Product Management Chris Brownlee told Localogy, “but we know just how crucial this is to building trust and driving conversions. That’s why we are constantly looking for ways to make reputation management as simple as possible.”
Under the Hood
According to Brownlee, the need for this tool is underscored by a few realities. First, 71% of customers report that reviews influence their decisions and trust in brands; and 69% expect responses within a week. Responding to reviews can also increase star ratings and drive 3x increases in clickthrough rates.
But despite all that, businesses are, again, resource-constrained. So this week’s announcement looks to help them on three levels: Boosting response rate through automated copy, decreasing response time through streamlining the process, and increasing customer review volume through automated outreach.
Going under the hood, Yext lists a few key components that help accomplish these ends.
Review Invitations: Effortlessly invite customers to share their feedback with a selection of pre-built and customizable email and text templates, all featuring relevant brand information.
Review Generation URLs: Generate more reviews with unique, localized URLs that can be shared through invitations, business cards, ads, and receipts.
Customizable Settings: Tailor review generation settings to meet specific goals, such as managing invitation frequency, overseeing first-party pages, and encouraging reviews on third-party sites.
In-Platform Analytics: Monitor review performance across all locations with comprehensive analytics, including success rates, average ratings, and conversion rates.
Pain Pill
Stepping back, all the above builds on Yext Social. This is a broader social media management tool for multi-location (MULO) brands to optimize their social presence & promotion. Given that it’s a MULO play, the value proposition rests on managing social activity at scale, and to do so through a single platform.
Yext is also framing it as an AI-powered engine. This is logical given not only AI’s positive spin these days but Yext’s competence and investment in the technology. In other words, it’s not just marketing vapor but tangible AI integrations that do things like automate social monitoring, and content creation.
As we’ve said, AI is most successful when it can be a pain pill for marketers, helping automate the things that they dread doing. That translates to rote aspects of marketing such as writing headlines for social posts, captions for images, or – as seen in this week’s update – responding to customer reviews.
And it’s already working, as Yext customer Ochsner Health has seen tangible time savings in its reputation management. As a healthcare provider, it’s a lightning rod for reviews that flow from poignant moments in people’s lives, so a tool to manage it is welcomed. We’ll keep watching for more evidence.
