What Reddit's ChatGPT citations collapse means for marketers

Reddit citations within ChatGPT's answers appear to be cratering.

It's not bad news for CMOs.

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The SEO community is in a frenzy over recent data suggesting that ChatGPT has abruptly stopped citing Reddit in its answers nearly as often.

For CMOs who have put time into cracking Reddit, the trend might not be as dire as it sounds.

AI visibility firm Promptwatch kicked off the debate last week by publishing data showing that Reddit's share of ChatGPT citations plunged by 86% in mid-August.

Three other AI visibility firms told me they witnessed similar drops.

The shift became a hot topic in the marketing world because it comes as more brands are investing in paid and organic Reddit strategies — some with an eye on boosting their visibility on AI platforms.

The headline number doesn't tell the whole story, however.

AI SEO researcher Suganthan Mohanadasan , who runs Reddit marketing agency Snippet Digital, examined the behind-the-scenes web requests ChatGPT makes when researching an answer.

He found ChatGPT was still regularly consulting Reddit when formulating answers — it was simply citing it less often in the final response users see.

Per his findings, brand websites were credited more often.

Hooray for inbound website traffic! Still, Tim de Rosen, CEO of AIVO, a startup that measures brand performance across AI platforms, said the sudden drop should be a "wake-up call for CMOs." "If your AI visibility strategy is built on chasing citations from any single source, you're exposed to exactly this kind of collapse," de Rosen told me.