Reddit generates one in every five off-page citations that appear in AI search answers, with that share growing 30 percent year over year, according to data presented July 16 in a Search Engine Journal webinar by Uberall and Reddit. Amanda Kusner, Senior Solutions Consultant at Uberall, and Peter Wischmann, Senior Client Partner at Reddit, outlined a five-stage framework for multi-location businesses to improve visibility in AI-generated search responses.
TL;DR: Reddit supplies 20% of off-page citations in AI search answers, growing 30% annually, with Google now surfacing Reddit threads directly on business profiles, prompting Uberall and Reddit to release a five-play visibility framework for multi-location brands.
The presentation addressed how AI models decide which businesses to recommend in answer-based search results. Kusner reported that roughly 75 percent of businesses are absent from AI conversations happening about their category, leaving competitors or uncorrected information to fill the space.
Why AI Models Cite Reddit More Than Other Sources
AI search systems build answers by reading between five and sixteen different sources before responding to a query, Kusner said. A business’s own website accounts for approximately 15 percent of what the model finds, with the remaining 85 percent sourced from Reddit threads, review platforms, directories, and forums.
Reddit currently serves roughly 500 million weekly active users across more than 100,000 active communities, according to Wischmann. The platform leads every industry Uberall tracked in off-page citation share within AI search results.
“The shift is no longer from ranking to ranking better, it’s from ranking to being recommended,” Wischmann said during the session.
The webinar demonstrated which prompts and subreddits drive citations in specific categories, including a gap-mapping exercise both presenters use with multi-location brands. Australian businesses competing in local search visibility face the same citation dynamics, particularly in sectors where Reddit communities discuss local service providers, restaurants, retail locations, and professional services.
Google Surfaces Reddit Threads Directly on Business Profiles
Google has begun displaying Reddit threads directly on business profiles, positioned alongside core listing information such as address, phone number, and operating hours, Wischmann reported. The change means that unanswered questions posted in local subreddits now appear to every searcher who looks up the business.
“If a customer is asking a question in public, that’s not just noise, it’s a signal,” Wischmann said. “If that question sits unanswered, the brand leaves room for a competitor or for the internet to answer on their behalf.”
The subreddits Google surfaces around specific locations are typically the communities already shaping local consideration in that market. The integration affects how businesses must monitor and respond to Reddit discussions, particularly in location-specific threads where questions about service quality, pricing, or hours can reach searchers who never visit Reddit directly.
This development intersects with existing local SEO frameworks that prioritize Google Business Profile optimization, adding Reddit monitoring as a new component of local reputation management.
Location Data Accuracy Controls AI Visibility
Conflicting business information across Google, Apple, Yelp, and vertical directories creates a binary outcome when AI models attempt to cite a location, Kusner explained. When name, address, phone number, and hours conflict across platforms, the AI model either selects one version—potentially the incorrect one—or skips the business entirely from its answer.
The risk compounds on Reddit. A thread highlighting a wrong address or outdated hours can become the answer an AI model repeats indefinitely, Kusner said. Clean location data serves as the foundation of the five-play framework presented in the session, with local landing pages using schema markup and location-specific FAQs providing AI models with citable sources that originate from the business itself.
Reviews validate the claims those pages make, completing the data layer that AI models evaluate when deciding which businesses to recommend. The five-stage framework builds each play on the previous one, with the order of implementation determining effectiveness.
Businesses managing multiple locations should prioritize an SEO audit of their top 10 to 20 locations across the directories that matter most, Kusner said, confirming name, address, phone number, and hours match across all platforms.
Participation Strategy for Reddit Without Downvoting
Reddit communities reward participation and penalize promotional content, Wischmann said, referencing an analogy from Reddit’s CEO that describes Reddit as a city while other platforms function as a stage. Brands that contribute useful information and acknowledge community members who recommend them build public evidence of relevance, while brands that post polished promotional content face downvotes, flags, or public criticism.
“AI doesn’t just reward the most optimized brand, it rewards the most believable one,” Wischmann said. Believability originates from platforms where people compare, validate, recommend, and challenge businesses in public forums.
The approach scales. Wischmann cited Carl’s Jr., which drove a 176 percent behavioral lift and 85 percent lower cost per visit versus benchmark, measured through Foursquare foot-traffic data. The session detailed the engagement playbook behind those results, including when a branded subreddit makes strategic sense and the content format mix Carl’s Jr. deployed.
Australian multi-location businesses face similar dynamics in location-specific subreddits such as r/sydney, r/melbourne, and r/brisbane, where questions about local businesses generate threads that influence AI search recommendations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
What Happens Next
Multi-location businesses in Australia now face citation monitoring as a core component of organic search strategy, particularly for brands operating in sectors where Reddit communities actively discuss local options. The 30 percent annual growth rate in Reddit’s share of AI citations suggests the platform’s influence on AI-generated recommendations will continue expanding through 2026 and into 2027.
The integration of Reddit threads into Google Business Profiles means unanswered questions or outdated information in local subreddits now reach searchers who never visit Reddit directly, making thread monitoring and response a required activity rather than an optional social media tactic. Businesses that have not audited which Reddit threads currently discuss their locations or category should prioritize that work before competitors fill the information gaps with their own answers.
The five-play framework presented by Kusner and Wischmann offers a sequenced implementation path, with clean location data serving as the prerequisite for the remaining four plays. Australian businesses managing multiple locations should begin with a directory audit across Google, Apple, Yelp, and industry-specific platforms, confirming consistency before attempting Reddit engagement or AI-specific content strategies.