Are Reddit’s new search ads just an answer engine optimization play?

In a blog post published on November 3, Reddit revealed that it’s testing a new ad product. Alongside a “select group of eligible advertisers,” the social platform is experimenting with paid media posts that show up in its search results.

The new ads will harness Reddit’s “existing ad targeting” to surface relevant product recommendations on search pages. The blog post provided two examples of how that process could work: A search for “espresso station” could show results for coffee machines, beans, and mugs, and a query for “home office equipment” could deliver paid listings for monitors, desks, and chairs.

On their own, the search ads have plenty of utility for brands that want to reach Reddit’s growing community, which includes a large share of Millennial and Gen Z users. At the same time, the new format has intriguing connections to the emerging industry known as answer engine optimization (AEO).

AEO is a marketing strategy that uses paid media to affect the referrals made by generative AI models. Reddit was once the king of chatbot referrals; that advantage inspired other platforms to copy its signature layout.

YouTube has since snatched the chatbot referral crown from Reddit, and its ties to AEO strategies are a big reason why. Agencies are working with brands to produce creator content that shows up in future chatbot queries.

Compared to YouTube, Reddit isn’t really a creator hub. Its content is produced by users who typically stay anonymous and stick to text. The type of AEO companies like Zoom are doing on YouTube won’t necessarily work on Reddit.

So as funding continues to pour into the AEO industry, Reddit has to develop its own mechanisms for those marketers. One potential solution is a new video product that resembles TikTok. Those clips can make Reddit more creator-friendly while also retaining control of content that often goes viral on other platforms.

Now, with search ads, Reddit has another solution it can potentially sell to AEO firms. It is letting brands insert themselves on search pages that could be scraped by LLMs. That idea won’t make up the referral gap with YouTube all on its own, but it’s a step in the right direction.

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