Search Query Understanding with LLMs: From Ideation to Production

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Loc Trinh, Software Engineer; Ali Rokni, Tech Lead; John Hawksley, Group Tech Lead
- Feb 4, 2025
How we bring LLM intelligence to millions of daily searches at Yelp. From the moment a user enters a search query to when we present a list of results, understanding the user’s intent is crucial for meeting their needs. Were they looking for a general category of business for that evening, a particular dish or service, or one specific business nearby? Does the query contain nuanced location or attribute information? Is the query misspelled? Is their phrasing unusual, so that it might not align well with our business data? All of the above questions represent Natural Language Understanding tasks where...
