The news: A new Reddit report is highlighting the platform’s growing role in purchase decisions and in an AI-driven market.

• Half of US shoppers surveyed said they use Reddit to verify AI recommendations; over 1 in 3 UK shoppers said the same.
• Half of Reddit users said the platform is helpful for discovering something new.
• Respondents ranked Reddit above all social platforms for helping people make faster purchase decisions in both the US and the UK.
• US consumers were more likely to trust Reddit for verifying AI recommendations than they were friends or family (60% versus 53%, respectively). That trend was also true in the UK (49% versus 44%).
• 1 in 4 UK consumers surveyed said they immediately purchase a product after their decision is validated on Reddit.

The study shows that Reddit is depicting itself as not just a discovery destination, but a place where people fact-check, validate, and act on information found elsewhere—including information generated by AI.

Separately, Reddit is also highly visible within AI search itself: The platform is the top-cited domain across ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity, per Semrush (though other sources say it’s YouTube).

The context: AI is a paradox for Reddit. Its users rely on its content for answers, but AI search results give them Reddit’s content without the need to visit it directly.

That tradeoff is at the center of Reddit’s data licensing dispute with Google. Reddit is considering restricting Google’s access to its platform for AI training as its data licensing deal approaches a renewal, claiming that AI Overviews are eating into one of its main user acquisition channels by answering queries directly.

Implications for marketers: AI-generated results may increasingly become the place where consumers get initial recommendations, while Reddit could remain the place where they pressure-test those recommendations before purchasing. That means Reddit’s influence may grow even if its ability to convert influence into site traffic comes under pressure—though advertising on Reddit itself could lose some of its current value.

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