At this point, anyone that uses the internet (i.e. everyone) knows what Reddit is. Even if you’re not an active Reddit user, you’ve most likely ended up there at one point or another - more than likely while searching a question or advice through Google. Reddit is a place where users can share their thoughts, seek advice from peers, tell their stories and receive judgment. More recently, it’s also become a hotspot for finding real answers to search queries.
Since Google’s November core update, Reddit has seen a major boost in keyword rankings and traffic. These core changes have negatively impacted websites, positively impacted larger sites, and positively impacted Reddit for user search queries. Although no one knows what’s going on under the hood at Google, many have attributed this Reddit spike to users wanting more helpful information/answers from real people, rather than generic blog posts that are manipulated for search engine rankings. Many of which may be heavily influenced and written using generative AI tools (like ChatGPT).
While website owners may not like this change, some users may prefer it, as it does (in some capacity) offer more helpful content and answers to search queries (this is open for debate, but a conversation for another time).
But, how helpful is Reddit really? Are users getting the best answers through this medium? How do we know that AI isn’t being used on Reddit?
Understanding how much AI, if any, is being used on Reddit can be difficult, due to both the sheer size of Reddit’s community/posts and detecting AI accurately. Despite the difficulty, we had our team dig into this to get a better understanding - and although we can’t get the full scope of this answer, we do know that AI is being used in some Reddit forums.
Below is our analysis and links to more detailed data on AI in Reddit.
In this dataset, we looked at three popular judgement subreddits: TrueOffMyChest, RelationshipAdvice, and AmITheAsshole. The above graph shows AI content detected for the year 2023 in the subreddit AITA. Below is a summary of our findings:
You can read the full study here: AI in Reddit: Are You Getting Advice from an AI or Human?
In this dataset, we examined multiple subreddits related to SEO and digital marketing. The graph above shows the percentage of AI in particular subreddits in 2024 so far. Here are the main takeaways from the data:
You can read the full study here: Up to 45% AI Content in SEO & Marketing Subreddits
In this study, we examined two popular writing-based subreddits: NoSleep and Fantasy. Although we saw varying AI data when comparing both year over year, we did see a large spike in AI content for both subreddits in 2024 (so far). Below is a summary of the findings:
You can read the full study here: 174% Increase in AI Content in Popular Writing Subreddits