As artificial intelligence reshapes how people discover information online, Justdial is positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation. The homegrown local search platform is integrating generative AI across its ecosystem to make business discovery faster, smarter, and more intuitive for both consumers and businesses.

In an interaction with Business Today, Shwetank Dixit, Chief Growth Officer at Justdial, shared how AI is helping the company solve long-standing user challenges, unlock the value of its massive data assets, and redefine the future of local search in India.

Why Generative AI Became the Next Step for Justdial

Justdial has spent over two decades connecting users with local businesses. With more than 4.3 crore listings and 14.8 crore user reviews, the platform sits on one of the largest local business datasets in the country.

According to Dixit, generative AI was a natural evolution.

The challenge was no longer data availability but how to present complex information in a simple, intuitive format. Generative AI enables Justdial to summarise reviews, create concise business descriptions, improve categorisation, and present relevant insights instantly, helping users make faster decisions while enhancing brand visibility for businesses.

Solving the Review Writing Problem With AI

One of the biggest friction points in local platforms is low-quality or incomplete user reviews. Many users struggle to articulate their experiences, often leaving vague feedback like “good service” or abandoning the review process entirely.

Justdial’s AI-powered review assistant directly addresses this issue.

By offering attribute-based prompts and keywords, the platform helps users recall and express specific aspects of their experience, such as service quality, ambience, pricing, or amenities. A built-in AI writing tool then converts these inputs into a well-structured review, which users can further edit to retain authenticity.

This approach makes reviews more detailed, readable, and useful for future customers.

Measurable Gains in User Engagement

The impact of AI-driven reviews has been significant.

Since introducing these features, Justdial has seen a 37% increase in review submissions, particularly in categories where user participation was previously low. While the time spent writing reviews has decreased due to AI efficiency, engagement with listings has improved, with users spending more time reading summarised and detailed reviews.

This shift reflects better content quality rather than superficial engagement metrics.

AI-Generated Business Summaries in Under 20 Words

Justdial is also using generative AI to create short, precise business summaries, giving users instant clarity about what a business offers.

These summaries are generated using verified internal data such as business categories, location, years of operation, amenities, and specialisations. The platform primarily uses GPT-3.5 with custom prompts designed for different industry verticals, ensuring relevance and accuracy across sectors like restaurants, hotels, and B2B services.

To avoid generic outputs, Justdial mandates a minimum data threshold and conducts regular human audits.

Tackling Bias, Accuracy, and Trust in AI Content

With AI-generated content, trust is critical. Justdial has implemented multiple safeguards to prevent bias, manipulation, or misleading summaries.

AI outputs undergo extensive testing before launch, followed by continuous audits from human moderators. User feedback, along with inputs from sales and customer support teams, plays a key role in fine-tuning the system. This hybrid approach ensures that AI enhances transparency rather than diluting credibility.

Balancing AI Innovation With Environmental Responsibility

AI infrastructure can be resource-intensive, and Justdial is conscious of its environmental footprint.

Instead of relying entirely on large language models, the company uses small language models (SLMs) like BERT for tasks such as classification, segmentation, and entity recognition. These models are energy-efficient, easier to fine-tune, and often more accurate for structured data tasks.

For complex content generation, larger models like GPT-4 are used selectively, while cloud infrastructure from Azure and Google Cloud helps optimise energy efficiency.

The Future of Local Search in an AI-Driven India

Dixit believes generative AI will enhance, not replace, the fundamentals of local search.

AI will make discovery richer and faster, particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, where digital adoption is accelerating. The next phase will also see strong growth in Indic-language AI, enabling small businesses to come online in their native languages.

Voice-based AI is another major opportunity. By allowing business owners to describe products and services conversationally, Justdial aims to lower barriers to digital participation and improve listing accuracy.

As data depth increases, businesses will gain actionable insights into customer behaviour, seasonal demand, and inventory planning, turning local search platforms into strategic decision tools.

Final Takeaway

Justdial’s embrace of generative AI marks a significant shift in how local search platforms operate. By focusing on clarity, trust, inclusivity, and efficiency, the company is not just modernising its product but reshaping how millions of Indians discover and evaluate businesses online.

As AI adoption deepens across regions and languages, Justdial’s strategy positions it strongly for the next phase of India’s digital growth story.