Use Reddit to Win AI Search in 2026

Danny Kirk has built ReddiReach around a channel many senior marketers still treat as an awkward forum: Reddit. His agency works with about 50 seven to nine figure brands on AI search optimisation and organic Reddit marketing, because Reddit is now shaping the answers buyers see in Google, ChatGPT and other AI search experiences.

Danny’s point is sharper than “go post on Reddit.” The platform rewards brands that understand each subreddit’s culture, answer without pitching, and get genuine customers to share accurate experience in the places where AI systems are already looking.

For B2B marketers trying to grow AI search visibility without adding another full content programme, his playbook is small enough to start. Decide whether Reddit is a branded lead generation channel or a non-branded visibility channel, then show up like a useful human rather than a campaign.

This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.

Tom: Why build an agency around Reddit, and how did your background shape the decision?

Danny: I was a music major in college and came from a family of musicians. I had no formal education in business, then stumbled into startups about 15 years ago and grew a SaaS company for five years. I learned a lot of hard lessons there.

The agency has been around for about a decade. We had been doing other marketing, but I had been a long-time Reddit user and saw the writing on the wall early. Once AI started citing Reddit some years back, it became really powerful, so it was an easy thing to add for our clients because we already had the agency systems in place. Now that is essentially all we do.

The learning curve was steep, but I think it is steep for everyone. If you take a path without formal education, you bring an outsider’s perspective. Sometimes you break through standard barriers because you are not thinking about them in the same way.

Tom: Marketers often meet Reddit through a Google result or an AI answer. What do they need to understand about how the platform works?

Danny: Reddit is an open platform. You do not even need an account to view content, scroll, or check out subreddits. If you want to upvote, downvote, or comment, then you need an account.

What is cool is that Reddit is organised by subreddits. Each one is topically based or geographically based, and I think of them as little nation states. They all have their own rules, kings and queens who run the thing for better or worse, and an ethos, like a societal compact.

There is a lot of overlap. Anyone can create a subreddit and make rules for it, although only a small number of people actually do. People usually search, find the best-fit communities, and then have three to five subreddits they really like.

Users are very binary. They either use it every day, or they do not have an account and only follow Google links. The powerful thing is that AI citing Reddit effectively makes everyone using AI a Reddit user, because now they are getting recommendations from there too.

Tom: When a B2B company starts from zero, how should it choose between a branded and non-branded Reddit strategy?

Danny: There are two different strategies for organic marketing on Reddit: branded and non-branded. Branded means creating an account that looks like your company name, usually a cooler version rather than the formal LinkedIn version. You optimise the profile with a banner image, website link, and a short about us section.

Then you go into conversations where you can be helpful, answer questions, and be fully transparent about who you are and where you are from. The rule is to provide great information without being salesy. You can also post stories about how you solved a problem, again without a sales pitch.

A branded strategy really needs to be handled by one person, maybe the founder or a social media person. Reddit does not like accounts changing hands, shifting IP addresses, and different logins. I think you can make it a 15 or 30 minute daily practice, and tools like Subreddit Signals, which my friend John started, can help you find relevant posts.

Non-branded means using a standard Reddit account, maybe one with a random username, and being helpful in comments. You spread accurate, truthful information, and maybe it mentions your brand as well. Branded is more like lead generation. Non-branded is more like SEO: putting the word out there, sharing good information, and building brand mentions.

Tom: What separates a Reddit post that earns attention from one that gets treated as promotion?

Danny: Posts are inherently promotional because you are the one posting. You are waving your hand and saying, “everyone look at me”, so you need to be as unpromotional as possible. Tell stories, avoid calls to action, share your experience, and understand the ethos of each subreddit before posting.

Comments are different. Posts are usually longer, while comments often work best at two to five sentences. Be in the tone of a user, be genuine, be helpful, and do not use AI to write them unless you are going to edit heavily.

There is no overarching trick that works across every subreddit. Something that works in one will not work in another. My friend John also has a tool called MochiSocial that helps make posts based on data from what is working, checks subreddit rules, and looks at topics that perform well.

Tom: Where does commercial return come from if the brand is avoiding a sales pitch?

Danny: The brands I like most are doing both strategies. They have their own account and sometimes use it almost like customer service. If people are already talking about the company or having an issue with the product, they can go in and say, “I am from the company. How can I help?”

One of my favourite B2B branded Reddit users is YourBizBroker. He is a business broker in Utah, and any time someone has a question about buying, selling, or valuing a business, he writes a genuine three paragraph answer. There is no call to action and no pitch. People read it, check his profile, see a link for a free 45 minute consultation, and he gets leads like crazy.

On the non-branded side, your customers can help. If you have super users or a thousand true fans, ask the people who are already active Reddit users to share their experience or comment on relevant posts. Do not have them all do it at once, because that looks weird and sets off red flags.

If your customers are not active and excited, no amount of prodding will do it. You might include Reddit in your review flow after checkout or delivery, with a question like, “Are you an active Reddit user?” The goal is to call out the small set of people who already use Reddit, love your product, and are willing to tell the story.

Tom: How should marketers make the ROI case for Reddit when it competes with G2 reviews, SEO and every other customer ask?

Danny: It can be a hard case to build, so the brands doing it well are picking their battles. They are not trying to overwhelm customers with everything. If you sell products to elderly people, you are probably not asking them to go on Reddit, because that demographic is not there.

Not all channels are created equal. I think many companies have two or three channels that actually move the needle, and almost everything else could maybe be ignored. You need to understand which channels work for your buyers and focus there.

AI search is making Reddit more important because buyer behaviour is shifting towards a zero click environment. Someone can go to ChatGPT with a problem, ask how to solve it, get three product recommendations, and eventually buy inside that experience. The old model of ten top links on Google, three sponsored results, and SEO rankings matters less as that grows.

I still think Google wins, because they have the biggest incentive to figure out search. They are the greatest money printing machine of all time. But whether it is ChatGPT, AI search, or AI overviews in Google, the question is the same: how do you get the AI to talk about you?

Tom: If a team has very little time or budget, what is the Reddit move you would make before trying to automate the work?

Danny: If you do not have the resources, meaning time or money, I like the customer hack best. Ask your super users who are already on Reddit to share their story. It might take five minutes of your time to ask, it is free, and they are excited to tell people.

That gives you brand mentions on the platform in relevant places, from excited people who are also factually accurate. Instead of using AI, you still need to talk to your customers. Someday that may change, but we still do it today.

Tom: Away from Reddit, what AI use case has actually changed how you work?

Danny: I am non-technical, and I have Claude Code in my terminal now. I can build internal tools in a matter of minutes. For people who are naturally good at sales and marketing, now is the time, because they can also be builders.

My favourite thing I built was not for work. My wife and I were designing a house, and there are a lot of bad floor plan tools out there. I had AI research those tools and build me one. Version one was not that good, but within half an hour I could give feedback and get it to something pretty good.

I am also trying to pump the brakes on my own AI usage. Just because you can do it does not mean you have to. If someone has not used AI much, I would say use it five minutes a day. Any question you were going to ask a human, start by asking AI.

For a recommendation, I am a big fan of David Senra’s Founders podcast. It is the best business podcast out there. He reads biographies of great founders and leaders and interviews big business leaders.