As the landscape of Chinese consumerism shifts from simple keyword searches to complex, multi-intent AI queries, Meituan is positioning itself as the indispensable bridge between physical reality and digital intelligence. Speaking at the 2026 China Catering Chain Summit, Meituan Senior Vice President Li Shubin emphasized that the fundamental challenge for merchants in the AI era is no longer just high-level digital transformation, but basic digital legibility. For a restaurant to survive in an automated ecosystem, it must first ensure that AI can 'read' and comprehend its physical operational state.
This strategy hinges on the realization that even the most advanced Large Language Models (LLMs) are effectively blind to the physical world unless provided with high-fidelity structured data. Li noted that consumer habits are evolving rapidly, with users now expressing nuanced demands that traditional search engines struggle to parse. If a store’s online profile fails to accurately reflect its real-world availability, menu, and ambiance, it effectively disappears from the AI-generated recommendation loop, regardless of its actual quality.
To cement its role as the primary data provider for this new era, Meituan’s subsidiary Dazhong Dianping has already funneled tens of billions of yuan into digitizing domestic physical information. Building on this legacy, the company recently announced an additional 3 billion RMB investment over the next five years to upgrade what it calls 'local life information infrastructure.' This initiative aims to provide a 'truth foundation' for AI models, ensuring that Meituan remains the gatekeeper of local commerce data in an increasingly automated market.
Beyond data infrastructure, Meituan is also moving toward personalized automation for its partners. The company intends to provide long-term merchants with proprietary AI assistants, lowering the barrier to entry for sophisticated digital management. By facilitating the transition from manual updates to AI-integrated operations, Meituan is not just defending its market share against rivals like ByteDance, but is redefining itself as the critical infrastructure layer for the next decade of the service industry.