How Reddit is powering brand visibility in the LLM era
Reddit is now a top source for AI chat models. Here's how brands can stay visible in the age of large language models
As generative AI changes how people discover and evaluate information, it’s also forcing marketers to rethink the fundamentals of brand visibility. Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT are fast becoming the default way consumers learn, compare, and decide — often before they even visit a website.
This creates a new problem: brands can no longer rely solely on traditional SEO, paid search, or viral social content to show up where it matters. If you're not part of the LLM's knowledge base, you're invisible.
In a recent post, Jim Squires, Reddit’s EVP of Marketing and Growth, broke down how Reddit is emerging as a powerful driver of brand relevance in this new AI landscape. His message to marketers? Show up in the places AI is learning from — and Reddit is one of the biggest. This article breaks down Squires’ key insights and what they mean for marketers navigating this shift.
Short on time?
Here’s a table of contents for quick access:
- Why Reddit is showing up in AI chat responses
- What LLMs prioritize in content
- Case studies: Škoda Auto's co-creation with r/CarTalkUK
- Case studies: Kraft Heinz's creative thread hijack
- How to find your brand’s moment on Reddit
Patrecia Meliana
Reddit content is becoming LLM fuel
Reddit’s 20-year archive of conversations is becoming essential reading material for large language models. According to data from Profound, Reddit is the most-cited source across major AI platforms, outpacing more traditional content hubs.
What makes Reddit so valuable to these models is the authenticity. Unlike brand blogs or landing pages, Reddit posts are written by real people, debated in real time, and voted on by communities. That organic engagement gives LLMs the semiotic cues they’re trained to look for — like helpful responses, diverse perspectives, and natural question-and-answer formats.
For marketers, this means showing up on Reddit isn’t just good PR. It’s how your brand can enter the training data that LLMs rely on to answer user questions.
Patrecia Meliana
LLMs are indexing helpful, human content
According to Squires, helpfulness is the core criteria LLMs use to decide what gets included in their outputs. This is why Reddit’s structure — driven by conversation and community moderation — tends to surface in AI responses more often than corporate websites.
To take advantage of this, brands need to act like humans, not advertisers. That means participating in authentic dialogue, offering subject-matter expertise, and leaning into Reddit-native formats like AMAs.
Whether it's launching a new product or addressing common user pain points, your brand’s value should come from what it contributes to the conversation — not how loud it shouts.
Atikah Amalia
Skoda Auto's co-creation with r/CarTalkUK
Škoda leaned into Reddit's strength by inviting r/CarTalkUK users to help co-design its new Octavia model. The community voted on everything from paint color to engine type. This collaborative approach led to a 50% increase in Reddit mentions and a 74% jump in views to those mentions, based on Reddit’s internal data.
Kraft Heinz's creative thread hijack
In r/KitchenConfidential, a user posted photos of chopped chives daily until Reddit deemed them “perfect.” Philadelphia Cream Cheese jumped in with a tailored response: “Some heroes chop chives every day until Reddit says they’re perfect. We whip ours into cream cheese.”
The joke landed. Views on posts mentioning the brand surged 120%, and Philly Cream Cheese appeared in 13% more subreddits compared to its 2025 monthly average.
Both brands didn’t just place ads. They earned visibility by participating in moments that mattered to the community.
Find your niche and show up with intent
Reddit is not just one platform. It’s over 100,000 micro-communities focused on specific topics, needs, and subcultures. For marketers, this is a massive opportunity to find and engage with high-intent audiences.
Start with listening. Use tools to monitor where people are already discussing your brand, products, or category. Then add value in ways that match the community’s tone. Share seasonal tips in r/Frugal, respond to product feedback in r/BuyItForLife, or offer how-to insights in r/30PlusSkinCare.
This kind of micro-engagement builds real trust. According to Reddit data, 58% of users say their trust in a brand increases when it responds to a customer question in a thread.
Trust is the currency LLMs can't fake
The most important insight from Squires’ piece is this: trust cannot be manufactured by AI. You have to earn it.
Generative AI is collapsing search journeys into single summarized answers. If your brand isn’t part of the sources that LLMs pull from, you simply won’t be mentioned. But because these models reward helpful, human-centered content, marketers have a clear path to visibility — one that relies on service, not spend.
That shifts the metric of success from Cost Per Acquisition to Return on Engagement. The brands that win in the LLM era won’t be the loudest or flashiest. They’ll be the most trusted.
