Developer Overview
Yuba - The Open Standard for AI-Native Business Discovery
Overview
Yuba is an open, platform-agnostic specification for representing business data optimized for AI platforms. It enables AI systems to discover, understand, and reference businesses.
Why Yuba?
Traditional business data formats (Google Business Profile, Yelp API, schema.org) were designed for web search and human browsing. Yuba is purpose-built for the AI-native era where:
AI systems discover businesses, not search engines
Structured data enables discovery, not scraped pages
AI visibility matters, not just click-through
Trust signals matter more than SEO optimization
Design Principles
Standard-Agnostic: Works with MCP, ChatGPT Plugins, custom APIs
AI-Optimized: Structured for LLM understanding and reasoning
Privacy-First: Built-in PII sanitization and consent management
Business-Controlled: Operators own and control their data
Trust-Enabled: Verification, reviews, and fraud detection built-in
Analytics-Rich: Captures citations and API calls (see analytics capabilities)
Schema Components
Core Entities
Business Profile: Identity, services, media, exclusive content
Availability: Real-time booking slots, capacity, pricing
Reviews & Trust: Ratings, responses, verification status
Analytics Events: Impressions, citations, intent progression
Protocol Definitions
MCP Tools: Standardized tool catalog for Model Context Protocol
REST API: OpenAPI specification for HTTP integrations
Webhooks: Event-driven notifications
Data Export: Portable data formats
Trust & Safety
Verification Schema: Identity verification, business legitimacy
Fraud Detection: Risk scoring, anomaly detection
Content Moderation: Automated and human review workflows
Analytics & Intelligence
Upstream Metrics: Pre-click visibility, zero-click exposure
Attribution: Multi-touch journey tracking
Intent Progression: Awareness → Consideration → Conversion
Competitive Benchmarking: Category-level insights
Quick Start
Adoption
Yuba is an open standard available for:
Yuba Platform: Reference implementation (this repository)
AI platforms, tourism boards, and local business tools
Note: Yuba is in early access. We're actively working with early adopters to refine the standard.
Governance
Yuba is maintained as an open standard with community input. See GOVERNANCE.md for contribution guidelines.
Documentation
License
Yuba is released under MIT License. See LICENSE for details.
Version: 1.0.0 Status: Early Access Last Updated: December 2025
Last updated