The news: Reddit is repositioning itself from a social forum to an answer engine. On its latest earnings call, CEO Steve Huffman said genAI search will be “better for most queries” and could become a major revenue driver, per TechCrunch.
“There’s a type of query we’re particularly good at … which is questions that have no answers, where the answer actually is multiple perspectives from lots of people,” Huffman said.
The company has merged traditional navigation search with AI-powered Reddit Answers, betting that its strength lies in responses to complex, opinion-based questions. And although monetization has not yet begun, leadership framed search as a large, untapped market.
Why it’s worth watching: Reddit’s user growth supports the shift. Weekly active search users climbed over 30% YoY, from 60 million users to 80 million. And weekly active users for Reddit Answers grew from 1 million in Q1 2025 to 15 million in Q4 2025.
Ad dollars are following attention, Reddit reported 2025 ad revenues of $2.1 billion, a 74% YoY increase. We forecast its ad business will grow 46.3% between 2025 and 2027. That growth gives Reddit room to test AI-native formats without immediate pressure.
Content licensing to AI firms is boosting revenues beyond ads, with “other” revenues increasing 22% YoY to $140 million in 2025, per TechCrunch.
Implications for brands: Expanding into search is a natural move for Reddit because millions already use it to find recommendations, compare experiences, and pressure-test decisions through community feedback—behavior that mirrors how people use modern search engines.
Brands looking at Reddit’s user base and engagement should optimize community presence for AI summarization. High-quality, authentic participation in subreddits will shape AI answers.
- Monitor how product conversations surface in Reddit Answers before ads launch.
- Prepare for AI-native placements embedded in conversational results.
- Treat Reddit as both a media channel and data partner as licensing expands.