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Yelp

Connecting Yelp to UpSmith means every new lead is answered within moments, at any hour, instead of waiting for someone to get to it.

Setup takes about a minute and you do it yourself. Unlike most lead sources, there's no key to copy and nothing to send to Yelp — you authorize UpSmith from your Yelp Business account and UpSmith handles the rest.

Connect it

  1. Go to Integrations and click Connect on the Yelp tile.

  2. You're sent to Yelp to sign in and authorize UpSmith. UpSmith asks for access to your leads and your business list — nothing else.

  3. Yelp sends you back to UpSmith and you'll see Yelp connected.

  4. Behind the scenes UpSmith subscribes each of your authorized Yelp businesses to lead delivery, and re-checks that subscription every day so it can't quietly lapse.

One more step before anyone gets answered

Connecting also sets up the Yelp lead-response campaign for you and points your lead responder at it — but it is created paused, so nothing goes out to your customers until someone turns it on.

Tell your UpSmith contact once you're connected, or email support@upsmith.com, and we'll switch it on and watch the first few conversations with you.

If your Yelp account covers more than one location

The card opens automatically with an amber note: "This Yelp account covers {N} locations and all of them send leads here. If some belong to another location, choose the ones for this org below."

Under Businesses sending leads to this org, tick the ones that belong here and click Save selection. Until you choose, every business on that Yelp account sends its leads to this UpSmith account.

What the card shows you

Click Show details for:

  • Environment — Production for real leads.

  • Last webhook — the most recent lead Yelp delivered. The fastest check that leads are flowing.

  • Last subscription sync — the daily re-check.

  • Last token refresh — the last time your Yelp authorization renewed itself.

What a Yelp lead looks like

Yelp gives UpSmith less than most sources, and it's worth knowing what to expect:

  • The opening message is the customer's own words. Whatever they wrote, plus their answers to Yelp's project questions, are read into your agent's first message — so it opens with their actual request instead of asking again.

  • Location is a ZIP code only. Yelp passes a postal code, not a street address, city or state.

  • The email address is temporary. Yelp gives out a relay address that expires, not the customer's real inbox. Don't rely on it for anything later.

  • The phone number arrives only after the customer opts in. Until then your agent replies inside the Yelp conversation so the lead isn't left waiting. Once Yelp releases the number, the conversation moves to text.

  • If someone on your team replies in Yelp by hand, the agent stands down on that conversation and leaves it to you.

  • Your Yelp response standing is protected. When your agent answers somewhere Yelp can't see — by text, say — UpSmith marks the lead as replied in Yelp so your response rate reflects the work.

Turning it off

Click Disconnect. You'll be asked to confirm: "This revokes UpSmith's access to your Yelp account and stops new Yelp leads from reaching your agent."

There's no pause on Yelp — disconnect stops it, and Connect re-authorizes when you want it back. Disconnecting genuinely unregisters UpSmith on Yelp's side rather than just switching a flag here, so reconnecting sets the lead delivery up again from scratch. It takes a minute and nothing is lost, but it isn't instant.

Troubleshooting

Leads are arriving but nobody is answering them. The Yelp campaign is created paused. Email support@upsmith.com and we'll turn it on.

"This Yelp connection expired." Yelp's authorization ran out. Click Reconnect and authorize again. Leads stop arriving while it's expired, so don't sit on it. (Reconnect only appears for an expired connection — see the next item for other problems.)

A red panel with an error message. Read what it says, then disconnect and connect again. If it comes straight back, send us the message and we'll look at it — this state doesn't offer a Reconnect button.

Nothing on the Integrations page tells you Yelp has a problem. The Yelp tile only shows connected or not; error and expiry states appear once you open the card. Worth opening it if leads have gone quiet.

Nothing is arriving. Check Last webhook under Show details. If it's blank or stale, confirm the right businesses are ticked under Businesses sending leads to this org — a location that isn't selected doesn't send here.

"Yelp didn't return any businesses for this account. The daily sync will retry." Yelp hasn't handed back your business list yet. It retries on its own each day; if it's still empty tomorrow, email support.

The authorization failed part-way. The Yelp authorization link is only good for about ten minutes. If you stepped away mid-way, start again from Connect.

Two UpSmith accounts share one Yelp login. Leads can end up ambiguous and get dropped. Email support@upsmith.com before connecting the second one.

The card says Yelp isn't connected but you know it is. A brief problem reaching UpSmith looks the same as never having connected. Refresh before assuming anything broke.

Common questions

Do I need an API key? No. Yelp is the one lead source with nothing to copy.

Do I have to email Yelp or ask them to set anything up? No. UpSmith registers for lead delivery itself using the access you granted.

Can I pause Yelp for a while? Not directly — disconnect, then reconnect when you want it back. Everything reconnects in a minute.

Can I choose which of my locations send leads here? Yes, when your Yelp account has more than one. See above.

Can I change the business name my agent uses on Yelp leads? Not from the card. Email support@upsmith.com and we'll set it for you.

Why does a lead have no phone number? Yelp holds the number back until the customer opts in to sharing it. Your agent replies in the Yelp thread in the meantime.

Where to go next