Analytics firm Semrush has revealed that Reddit is a highly prominent source for Google's new AI Overviews, ranking as the second most-cited website, only behind Quora. This finding emerged from Semrush's study on how AI-powered search is influencing web traffic, highlighting Reddit's critical role in providing rich information for highly specific AI prompts, often due to its extensive collection of niche questions and answers.

Reddit's relationship with Google is multifaceted and evolving. Following its public listing last year, Reddit is under increased pressure to boost advertising revenue and achieve profitability. A significant development in this dynamic is the reported $60 million partnership forged in 2024, which permits Google to train its AI models using Reddit's vast content. Google has stated that this collaboration aims to "facilitate more content-forward displays of Reddit information" within search results.

This partnership and Reddit's favored status in Google Search, especially with the introduction of AI Overviews, have contributed to an increase in Reddit's overall traffic. This surge in traffic is crucial for attracting more advertisers to the platform. However, analysts at Redburn have noted that much of this accelerated user growth is "misconstrued," as it is predominantly driven by "logged-out users." These users typically arrive on the platform via Google Search, seeking quick answers to queries, and consequently spend very little time on Reddit, making them less valuable from an advertising perspective.

Despite its frequent citation by Google AI Overviews, the natural language summary format of these overviews poses a potential challenge for Reddit. The concern among analysts is that by providing comprehensive answers directly at the top of the search results page, AI Overviews might reduce the likelihood of users clicking through to the original source, including Reddit itself. This apprehension was reflected in a fall in Reddit's stock value in May, following the launch of Google's new AI Mode, as investors and analysts expressed concerns that the feature could diminish direct traffic to the social media forum.