Reddit's relationship with Google is complicated.
Social media forums that were released last year and have not been pressured to attract advertisers and make money have recently enjoyed priorities on Google search.
And it appears that they prefer to cite Reddit ruins as Google launched an AI overview, a natural language overview of search results at the top of the page.
Analytics Firm Semrush shared data this month on how AI-driven searches affect traffic. Reddit has been found to be the second-cited website in Google AI overview, following Quora.
“Quora and Reddit users answer niche questions that have not been addressed elsewhere. They are a wealth of information sources for very specific AI prompts,” the study author wrote. “As Google partners with Reddit and trains the system using Reddit data, Reddit could also work well.”
Reddit and Google joined a $60 million-worth partnership reported in 2024, allowing Google to train AI models with Reddit content. Google said the deal will “increase content forward displays for Reddit information.”
All of this helped Reddit increase traffic last year. This could potentially seduce more advertisers.
However, that traffic comes from what you would call logged out users, not the Reddit account owner, nor is it a regular visitor. Redburn analysts have “misunderstand” much of Reddit's growth.
“Accelerated user growth has been driven primarily by logged-out users who have arrived on the platform via Google search,” Redburn analyst wrote in March. “These users usually spend most of their time on the platform, as they are looking for answers to queries, which is not much value for Reddit.”
Also, while Google AI overviews may often cite Reddit as the source, the way search results are displayed in natural language summary means that many searchers are less likely to click on Reddit itself.
Reddit's stock fell in May after Google launched a new AI mode. This is because the analysts involved said the new features are likely to reduce traffic to Reddit.
Representatives from Reddit and Quora did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
