Short of a time machine that will transport us into the future and allow us to see the tactics we should double down on, brands must pay attention to what the AI search engines are paying attention to right now. And Reddit is in the middle of it all.

How AI changed search – a brief history

When ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in late 2022, it didn’t just introduce the world to conversational AI, it rewired how people seek out their information online. Suddenly, users weren’t tapping keywords into a search bar; they were asking full questions and expecting clear answers.

ChatGPT was quickly followed by Perplexity. Then Google itself was forced to innovate to keep up, quickly launching Google Gemini and Google AI overviews. It means that while Google is still dominant, search is no longer ruled by one main gatekeeper. In April 2025 a blog by Perplexity argued that Google had held an “illegal monopoly” over search for too long and that choice is the remedy. It certainly reflects a huge shift in momentum for search.

There is some good news here for brands. Search is fragmenting, so it’s no longer a race to page one of the Google search results. The focus now should be on being visible where these AI tools source their answers – and that’s exactly where Reddit comes in.

Brands can’t ignore Reddit any longer

Reddit is not new – it has been around since 2005 and can be described as an old-school forum-style social media platform. Its core functionality is organised around communities called subreddits. But with over 97 million daily active users, many brands still don’t have a clear presence there. Why? It’s a community-driven conversation platform where anonymity is protected and self-promotion is quickly rejected.

But that’s not a reason to ignore it, in fact, it’s an extremely valuable source of honest feedback when used effectively.

It’s also one of the most valuable information sources for search platforms such as Google and Perplexity. Most notably, in 2024 Google signed a deal worth $60 million per year to make Reddit’s content available for training its AI models. The result? Reddit became the most-cited single site that Google AI overviews pulls from. Reddit is also frequently cited as a source by Perplexity.

What does this mean for brands? If you want visibility, you can’t avoid having a presence on Reddit, but the ecosystem of the site means that you need to tread carefully.

Here’s our step-by-step guide on using Reddit for brand visibility.

Set up your profile

Unlike LinkedIn where you may be able to get away with a corporate handle, Reddit demands authenticity. You’ll need to appoint a real spokesperson to be the face of the brand; the founder or a senior lead, such as the CMO may work well.

Reddit rewards transparency, so use a real head and shoulders photograph as your image and choose a username that sounds human, such as ‘James_financeadvisor’.  In your bio, explain who you are and clearly state your affiliation with your brand. For example, “I’m a certified financial adviser and I’m here to answer your questions and share insight on pensions, taxes, and financial planning.”

Join discussions on subreddits

The real value of Reddit is to engage in the subreddits. Reddit awards you ‘points’ for your engagement through its ‘karma’ system. This score reflects your contributions and reputation within the Reddit community. It's earned through posting fresh content in relevant subreddits, the number of upvotes on your posts and comments, though your points decrease with downvotes. However, it can take more votes to gain a point of karma on a post than it can on a comment.

So, it’s best to be very active by commenting and participating. Start by identifying the relevant subreddits in your sector. If you operate in a particularly niche sector, you could try subreddits such as r/SmallBusinessUK, r/marketing, or r/UKpersonalfinance

Use the Reddit search bar to discover relevant threads and get involved by adding genuinely relevant insights. You must be transparent about who you are, for example, “I work for a local bus operator in Manchester – happy to share what we’ve learnt in rolling out our new bus timetable.” Interested readers will visit your profile to learn more about you and who you represent.

Each comment and post contribute to your Reddit karma, rewarding your contribution.

Users are more likely to trust you the more karma you have, but you also get other privileges. Number one being that AI tools will surface your comments higher as a credible source. Conversely, a low karma score can be automatically filtered and flagged as spam, and you can be blocked from posting in key subreddits.

Start posting

Reddit lets you share 300-word posts to your profile, similar to a LinkedIn update. These should be thought leadership in style; think bite-sized helpful tips or reactions to news stories relevant to your industry.

The most important thing to remember is to avoid self-promotion as Reddit can deem this ‘spam’ and therefore punish your posts.

It’s also important to keep discussions on the platform as much as possible. External links are allowed occasionally, but Reddit likes to keep most of the value on the platform to maximise engagement.

Lead a discussion

Once you’ve gained more of an understanding of Reddit’s culture and built some presence, consider starting your own subreddit, especially if you’re in a niche industry or you’re a local brand. Make sure that your subreddit doesn’t exist already or can offer another angle to provide useful information to interested users.

You can even use Reddit to crowdsource feedback, for example, “we’re considering building a new budgeting app – what features would you like to see included?”

It’s also a great place to drip-feed research insights and findings from your research team.

Be consistent

Post frequency on Reddit is not the same as other social networking platforms, and you don’t need to post daily. A typical posting schedule may involve posting a question and then engaging a couple of weeks later to follow up on feedback and provide updates. This way, you’ll start to build a loyal and committed community.

In between, focus on around two to three comments per week across various subreddit threads – this can be enough to grow visibility.

Always be prepared to follow up on discussions, as the Reddit community loves updates and transparency. You’ll gain more credibility from following up on threads than from constantly starting new ones. Discussions can take place over several hours and even days, so ensure you’re ready with your responses and get ready to engage.

Be prepared to handle criticism

The nature of the Reddit community is honesty, sometimes brutally honest, and some people choose to remain anonymous so that they can express what they really think. Therefore, be prepared to always be challenged. Negative comments on Reddit are not the end of the world, it’s the nature of the platform after all.

The rewards outweigh the risks, and like any other strategy for handling negative criticism, when handled well, tough questions and critique can actually build trust and demonstrate that your brand is responsive and human.

Boost your visibility

Remember that your strategy on Reddit is all about discoverability, building trust, and being transparent.

Reddit content ranks extremely highly by Google. The search engine often surfaces comments from a Reddit thread that links to terms that people are searching, even if they are way down in the comment history – and even if they are years old! Perplexity also frequently elevates Reddit’s user-generated content as a trusted source.

To summarise, it’s good practice to follow this advice when posting on Reddit:

• Always be transparent about who you are and where you work
• Always find a way to add as much value as possible to the Reddit community
• Share new insights, share opinions on recent news stories and regulations, and share advice on active subreddits
• Always be polite and thank users for feedback, even if it’s critical
• Where necessary, acknowledge where your brand may have fallen short and say what you’re doing about it
• Remember to revisit subreddits to share updates and assess feedback
• Be prepared that some subreddits don’t want advice from companies as they view it as too overtly promotional; be prepared to walk away and find another that does

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