Yext Launches Conversational UI In Winter '18 Release

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Yext, Inc. (NYSE: YEXT), the leader in Digital Knowledge Management, today announced early access for its Winter '18 Product Release. Packed with powerful, next-generation updates, the Winter '18 Release offers Yext users an entirely new way to update their digital knowledge, deep insights to help them make informed decisions, and more.

"We are witnessing a major platform shift fueled by the rise of intelligence. As services strive to give you a more thoughtful, direct answer, they need more knowledge about your business," said Howard Lerman, Yext Founder and CEO. "Today's launch is about giving businesses new ways to control their essential digital knowledge, in more places, and across more types of entities."

With the new Yext Knowledge Assistant, updating Yext is now as easy as texting a friend. First unveiled onstage at ONWARD 17, the Knowledge Assistant is a breakthrough conversational UI that allows Yext users to update the public data about their businesses. Businesses can use Facebook Messenger or SMS text messaging to make crucial updates to the Yext Knowledge Manager ? like uploading a photo, changing store hours, or responding to reviews ? in real time, without needing to log in or install an app. The Knowledge Assistant is smart, and can even text the user to remind them of an upcoming holiday that might warrant a change in store hours, so customers don't show up to a closed storefront.

"Digital knowledge is changing constantly, so to unlock its full power, businesses need a way for their teams to easily and conveniently update their knowledge," said Marc Ferrentino, Chief Strategy Officer at Yext. "The Knowledge Assistant lets you simply text Yext updates using a smart, conversational interface, and will fundamentally improve a business's ability to manage its digital knowledge."

The Winter '18 Release also includes:

• New platform support for ATMs, drop boxes, charging stations, and retail kiosks: A new, tailored experience to control and manage key information about these entities. Banks can leverage this update to ensure consumers see accurate information about their ATMs, including the branches or offices in which those ATMs are located. Automotive companies can now highlight vehicle charging stations. Delivery and logistics companies can help customers find drop boxes and self-service locations. Retailers can now control data about coin-counting machines, self-serve rental stations, electronics trade-in stations, or other in-store kiosks.

• WeChat Location Mini Programs: Customers with locations in Mainland China, Hong Kong, or Macau can now use Yext to reach consumers in China on their platform of choice. With this new integration, businesses can manage and push out digital knowledge about their Chinese stores in Mandarin on WeChat via Yext, ensuring WeChat users in China can find their business locations.

• Sentiment Analysis: Customers with Yext Reviews can now gain deep insights from their reviews via natural language processing. Sentiment Analysis helps identify trending keywords and see how those keywords correlate with positive or negative sentiment, so Yext customers can better inform their business decisions.

• Competitive Intelligence: Businesses can see how their ratings and search performance stack up against the competitors of their choice, and use this information to make more informed marketing decisions.

"We are committed to innovating on behalf of our customers, and the new features in the Winter '18 Release represent a major step forward," Ferrentino said. "Today's release offers businesses more control of their brands across the intelligent services of the future, and more insights to inform their business decisions."

The features listed above are now available to eligible Yext customers for early access. For more information, visit the Yext website.

About Yext
Yext is pioneering a new category called Digital Knowledge Management, which gives businesses control of all of the public facts that they want consumers to know across the intelligent ecosystem. The Yext Knowledge Enginetm lets companies manage their digital knowledge in the cloud and sync it to over 100 services in the PowerListings® Network. Yext Listings, Pages, and Reviews enable businesses around the globe to facilitate face-to-face and digital interactions that boost brand awareness, drive foot traffic, and increase sales.

SOURCE Yext, Inc.