Did Brands’ Rush to Reddit Kill Its ChatGPT Citations?

Reddit has become an increasingly important platform in the AI ecosystem because its huge volume of genuine human conversations, opinions and recommendations provides valuable information for Large Language Models (LLMs). However, The Drum reports that Reddit citations within ChatGPT Search fell by more than 86% over just four days in August, having previously represented an average 3.83% of ChatGPT citations.

LLMs (Large Language Models) are the technology behind tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude. Rather than simply returning a list of websites like traditional search, they can interpret questions and generate direct, conversational answers. This is changing how people discover information and potentially how they discover, compare and evaluate brands.

This has led to the growth of GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) essentially the AI equivalent or evolution of SEO. While SEO asks “How do we get our website to rank highly on Google?”, GEO asks “How do we ensure our brand is understood, mentioned or cited when an AI answers a relevant question?”.

Reddit became valuable to marketers because its authentic conversations were frequently cited by AI platforms. As brands began trying to influence these discussions for greater AI visibility, they risked undermining the authenticity that made Reddit valuable. The recent fall in ChatGPT citations highlights how quickly AI source preferences can change.

What does this mean for us?

The key takeaway is that brands shouldn't try to “stage” GEO by flooding whichever platform is currently favoured by ChatGPT. Just as SEO evolved away from tactics such as keyword stuffing, AI platforms will continue adjusting how they identify useful and trustworthy information.

Instead, clients should focus on building genuine digital authority across multiple sources. That means authoritative website content, expert thought leadership, credible publisher and PR coverage, useful social content, genuine community participation and consistent information about the brand across the wider web.

This also means SEO, PR, social, content and media strategies become increasingly interconnected. Rather than treating GEO as another standalone channel, we should consider how the client's entire digital footprint influences discoverability.

Source: https://www.thedrum.com/news/did-the-brand-rush-to-reddit-kill-the-platform-s-chatgpt-citations