I’ve always thought of Reddit as a little bit different from other social media platforms.
It’s a little corner of the internet where people actually help each other instead of tearing each other down, a digital oasis where thoughtful discussion trumps clout-chasing (most of the time). It’s perhaps what people thought social media could and should be back in its formative days.
It turns out I’m not alone in that assessment. LLMs seem to agree that, as the self-proclaimed ‘front page of the internet,’ Reddit stands apart from the rest. In fact, AI might just think Reddit is the best source on the entire internet.
For communicators adapting to a world in which LLMs are fast becoming the natural first port of call for research and information gathering, that’s something we need to pay attention to.
The site for cites
Today (depending on when you’re reading – AI moves fast), Reddit leads all websites in the LLM charts with a citation frequency of 40.1% across AI-generated responses (followed by Wikipedia at 26.3%).[1]
It almost sounds unbelievable, but more than two out of every five times an AI cites a source, it’s gained it via a Reddit thread.
When you ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude a question, there’s a significant chance that the answer you receive is heavily influenced by someone’s comment on r/AskScience, r/PersonalFinance, or any of the thousands of other subreddits where anonymous users share their thoughts.
And this is all very deliberate. In 2024, Reddit signed a US$60 million deal with Google that allowed the search engine to use Reddit as a training source for its LLMs.[2] What was once an organic preference has now become a commercial partnership, cementing Reddit’s role as a primary knowledge source for the AI age.
Why do LLMs love Reddit?
LLMs are drawn to peer-to-peer platforms because they are perceived to provide authenticity. Real people, sharing real experiences and having real conversations (let’s ignore the ‘LinkedIn Voices’ for a second in our assessment here).
People are becoming increasingly concerned about AI-generated slop flooding the internet. Against that tide, Reddit feels like a place where you can still find genuine human insight rigorously curated by strong community moderation.
LLMs recognise this too, and are increasingly prioritising that peer-to-peer content because it offers the authentic perspective and human trustworthiness that users are craving.[3]
Should you be on Reddit?
Let’s just put these two simple but striking statements together:
- Over 40% of sources cited by major LLMs will have been sourced from Reddit
- Over 50% of professionals now use LLMs for research and information gathering
I’m sure it’s making you think about whether you need to be looking at Reddit as a comms channel pretty quickly.
The opportunity is certainly undeniable. We’ve entered the ‘GEO era’, where instead of optimising for search engines, the future will be about optimising for how language models interpret and surface their content when responding to queries.
Against that backdrop, Reddit and its attractiveness to LLM fits perfectly as a way to up a brand’s GEO game, in turn improving organic traffic and increasing brand visibility.
But there’s a knack to it
It’s not as simple as just jumping in though, so stop creating that profile and keep reading for just a second or two.
To engage Reddit authentically as a brand, you need to do some ground work and preparation. Companies that post content without understanding the rules and tone of the platform often face backlash in the form of downvotes, bans, or even public shaming.
The ethical tightrope is even thinner. ‘Astroturfing’, the term for creating fake accounts to promote a particular brand or viewpoint, and other deceptive practices can lead to severe backlash from users and Reddit itself.
Authentically engaging with Reddit
If B2B brands are going to engage on Reddit, and many legitimately should, the best approach is to go in with a focus on genuine value creation.
That means:
- Showing up where you have actual expertise. For example, if you’re a cybersecurity company, contributing thoughtfully to discussions in r/cybersecurity isn’t manipulation, it’s expertise sharing.
- Being transparent about who you are. Many successful brand accounts on Reddit openly identify themselves. They don’t pretend to be casual users who just happen to love their product.
- Playing the long game. Authentic community-led discussions often outperform polished campaigns by aligning naturally with Reddit user expectations. But it’s a slower burner. The secret’s in answering questions, sharing insights, admitting when you don’t know something. Build credibility over time.
- Respecting the community rules. Each subreddit is different. What works in r/entrepreneur might get you banned from r/sysadmin. It’s important to spend time watching and learning what the specific unwritten rules and norms are within the various communities on the platform before you jump in.
One strand of a GEO campaign
It’s also important to recognise that LLMs and their learning and citation algorithms are always changing.
If too many entities try to game Reddit too obviously and create spam that completely devalues the platform, there’s no doubt that Reddit will clamp down and LLMs will move away from relying on the peer-to-peer network so heavily.
This may therefore be a time-limited opportunity. That said, even if LLMs move on from Reddit, it’s a good reminder that the platform is a great way for brands to speak more authentically and directly to very niche audiences.
But overall, the biggest single thing to remember as a marketer considering Reddit as a comms channel is this: the platform’s value to LLMs exists because it was built on authentic human interaction.
Every inauthentic contribution erodes that value, not just for Reddit, but for the entire information ecosystem that AI now depends on. So when we, as marketers, opt to engage on the platform on behalf of brands, we have a moral duty to ensure we are truly adding value and acting in a transparent, positive way.
A condensed version of this article originally appeared on PRMoment: https://www.prmoment.com/opinion/llms-think-reddit-is-the-answer-to-everything-should-pr
[1] https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-cited-websites-by-ai-models/
[2] https://www.reuters.com/technology/reddit-ai-content-licensing-deal-with-google-sources-say-2024-02-22/
[3] https://www.thebridgechronicle.com/tech/reddit-second-most-cited-google-ai-overviews-impact
