Yahoo! Search Adds AI Restaurant & Local Dining Features

TOKYO, Japan — LY Corporation announced Friday the addition of three new features to the Odekake AI Assistant in Yahoo Japan Search, expanding the tool's restaurant-discovery capabilities.

According to the company, the update uses OpenAI's API and enables users to search for dining options based on situational descriptions, such as venues suitable for solo dining or group outings.

The system returns up to 10 results per query, displaying AI-generated summaries with price ranges, ratings, and review counts.

Each result can be expanded to display up to five user reviews.

Two additional features focus on regional dining:

• One feature identifies restaurant chains specific to a given prefecture, excluding national franchises, and provides information on popular menu items and store locations.
• The other feature identifies regional specialty dishes by area and lists restaurants where they are available.

The features are accessible through the Yahoo Japan app on iOS and Android, mobile web browsers, and the LINE app. The service is unavailable to users under 13.

LY Corporation reported that the update followed an internal survey of 2,000 smartphone users in 2025. Approximately 42 percent of respondents indicated difficulty considering specific circumstances when searching for dining options.

The company noted that it does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of AI-generated outputs.