Google a brand name followed by the words “worth it.” Count how many of the first-page results are Reddit threads. Then ask ChatGPT or Gemini whether that same brand is worth buying, and compare the answer with the discussions you just found. Look for the experiences, concerns and comparisons that appear in both.
At RECHO, we use this exercise to understand the conversations surrounding a brand at the moment someone is considering a purchase. In one footwear category we audited, the highest-ranking “worth it” thread about the brand was more than a decade old. It was still appearing prominently in search, and we saw the same themes reflected in AI-generated answers. A stranger’s ten-year-old comment was outranking the company’s own website at the exact moment a potential customer was deciding whether to buy.
For businesses accustomed to managing their message through websites, advertising and carefully developed content, that is a consequential discovery. A conversation the marketing team may never have noticed can continue shaping how customers understand the company for years.
As consumers turn to AI tools for recommendations and comparisons, brand visibility increasingly depends on this wider information ecosystem. An AI-generated answer can introduce a company, frame its strengths and weaknesses, or leave it out of consideration altogether. Understanding that visibility begins with examining the conversations customers are already having.
Why human conversations matter
Reddit discussions often begin with exactly the questions customers bring to AI tools: Does this product work? Is the premium version worth paying for? Which company offers better support? What should I know before signing up?
The responses can include details that are difficult to find in official product descriptions. Someone explains how a pair of shoes held up after six months. Another describes a frustrating return process. Other participants challenge the account, suggest alternatives or explain why their experience differed.
For a customer making a decision, that exchange provides context. It reveals how a product performs under different circumstances and which tradeoffs matter to people who have used it. Disagreement can be useful, too: a buyer can recognize which reviewer’s circumstances most closely resemble their own.
Those discussions also have a long life. A thread can continue appearing in search well after its original participants stop contributing. When the experiences and perspectives it contains are reflected in an AI answer, that history reaches another audience.
Similarities between a Reddit discussion and an AI response do not establish exactly how a model produced its answer. They do, however, help identify the narratives surrounding a brand and the information customers are likely to encounter.
What we are seeing at RECHO
Otterly’s 2026 tracking puts Reddit in roughly 40 percent of AI answers across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. Our own per-query tracking across client categories is consistent with that broader pattern.
Within our programs, two observations have been particularly useful. Material that exists nowhere else online has shown roughly three times the citation likelihood. Our interpretation is that an original account or insight gives AI systems something distinct to reference, rather than another repetition of a widely distributed claim.
We have also observed citation share on tracked queries typically building by 6 to 12 percent month over month once a consistent posting cadence is established. These figures describe observations from our programs; outcomes depend on the category, questions and content involved.
Together, these findings suggest that original contributions sustained over time can help build visibility. A detailed explanation from someone with direct knowledge can answer a question that existing content leaves unresolved. A series of those contributions creates a public record that customers and AI systems may encounter repeatedly.
For businesses, this makes the quality of their contributions consequential. Repeating the same marketing claim across more channels adds little information. Sharing a useful explanation, a specific experience or an answer to an unresolved question gives people something more substantial to consider.
Finding the gaps in a brand’s public story
An audit sometimes reveals a valuable story the company has overlooked.
In one case, the most engaged Reddit thread about a brand concerned a sensitive corporate topic. The top comment praised how the company had handled it. Yet the brand had never acknowledged the discussion or followed up.
Someone had already articulated a compelling reason to trust the company. That account had been circulating in search for years, while the business missed an opportunity to understand what people valued about its response and consider where additional context would help.
A useful Reddit audit therefore extends beyond counting mentions or flagging criticism. Businesses should examine the questions people repeatedly ask, the comparisons they make and the experiences they use to support their opinions. Brand, product, executive and competitor mentions can all contribute to that picture.
High-ranking threads merit particular attention. They may contain outdated information, unresolved questions or comparisons with products that have since changed. They can also reveal where a competitor has accumulated a richer history of discussion.
These findings should reach beyond the marketing team. Recurring questions can expose unclear product information. Repeated complaints can identify a customer experience problem. Detailed praise can show which strengths customers recognize and describe in their own words.
Participating in ways that earn credibility
Effective participation begins with understanding the community. Each subreddit has its own rules, expectations and tolerance for commercial involvement. A contribution that is welcome in one may be inappropriate in another.
When a company representative participates, the affiliation should be clear. The contribution should answer the question at hand, provide relevant information and give readers something useful. Internal subject-matter experts can be particularly helpful when their knowledge adds substance to the discussion.
Businesses can also use what they learn to improve resources on their own channels. If customers repeatedly ask about compatibility, pricing, limitations or implementation, those questions deserve clear answers in language people actually use.
Credibility depends on how the company behaves over time. Fabricated reviews, undisclosed affiliations and coordinated manipulation undermine the trust that makes these conversations valuable. Flooding a community with promotional posts can damage a company’s standing with the people it wants to reach.
A sustained record of helpful contributions gives readers evidence to evaluate. It also allows a business to learn the community’s concerns and respond with greater understanding. Showing up only when there is something to promote leaves much less room to build that relationship.
Measuring visibility and business value
Companies should track how they appear in AI answers to important category questions, alongside the Reddit discussions that surface in traditional search. The goal is to understand whether the brand is represented accurately, what attributes it is associated with and how it compares with competitors.
Useful measures include citation share, sentiment, share of conversation and recurring factual errors. Where the data allows, businesses can also examine referral traffic, branded searches, qualified leads and assisted conversions.
These measures require careful interpretation. AI responses can vary, and an individual mention does not establish a commercial outcome.
