A study by PromptWatch titled “Reddit Citations Are Dropping in ChatGPT” revealed that Reddit citations on ChatGPT fell drastically from around 4% to 0.5% in the past few days, particularly between 14- 17 August.
The Reddit ChatGPT citations drop report has also observed similar trends over Google AI overview and AI mode, but the drop is not that stark in these 2 domains as compared to ChatGPT.
The study has much to understand and learn about AI algorithms.
What The Report Says about Reddit ChatGPT Citations?
The report shows that before 8th August, the % of Reddit citations used to lie between 3-4%. However, it showed a drop on 8th August, and then it further crashed on 14th August, settling in the range of 0.5-0.8%.
Promptwatch considers the change in ChatGPT’s query fan-out methods as the cause of this drop.
It says ChatGPT is now emphasizing more on site:domain.com searches, indicating a shift in its query fan-out strategy. As per the stats provided, earlier the site:domain.com strategy was used for 0.3-0.5% of fan-out, but it jumped to 16-18% on 8 August this year.
Knowledge Pills: site:domain.com searches aim to search a query solely from any particular website. For example, searching for site:wikipedia.org elephant will fetch results only from Wikipedia that relate to elephants.
So here we can see the pattern.
The study has also revealed that the Reddit citations in the Google AI overview are also sliding, but receding gradually.
It shows Reddit citation % remained at approximately 2.5 and 2.3 on AI overview and AI mode in the 1st week of July. But it fell to 2.15 and 1.5 on August 17, sliding gently over time.
Also, Promptwatch reported such drops in September last year when the Reddit citation percentage on ChatGPT fell from around 10% to 2-3 %.
Suggested Read: Google AI Search Clicks Statement: Claims AI Features Send Billions of Clicks Every Week
The Possible Solutions
The reason that many LLMs consider Reddit a dependable source is that Reddit is harder to spam, and it has cracked down on attempts to manipulate to attract LLMs’ attention, thus supporting unbiased information.
But it is not always going to remain the same.
To stay in AI citations and brand mentions, make sure you:
- Build A Real Brand: Using Reddit just to bluff the AI algorithm and gather citations won’t work anymore. Make sure the site genuinely helps the users.
- Consider Other Available Avenues: Reddit is the top but not the only source from where LLMs gather their information. For this, Neil Patel suggests spreading the presence on third-party platforms like Substack and LinkedIn, comparison sites like Capterra, editorial microsites, and social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook.
- Your Website Is Your Safest Harbor: Make sure your website has all the content you put on different brand channels to make it an all-encompassing source for the audience. As AI searches prefer original research, try providing as fresh, unique, and valuable information as you can.
So focus on a holistic marketing strategy rather than trying to please the trending platform to get momentous attention.
How Digital Marketers Reacted?
Gijs de Groot, CEO and Co-Founder of Promptwatch, said something very startling while sharing this news in a LinkedIn post. He said:
“This shows once again the true nature of AI Search, it is not as predictable and stable as traditional SEO, it is a constant moving target with updates that can break a strategy from one day to the next.”
Also, Michelle Marcelline, the Co-Founder of PromptingCo, disclosed that similar drops in Reddit citations are not seen over Perplexity and Gemini and also suggested keeping content on websites is a paramount imperative. The excerpts from her post are as follows:
In the sequence, Josh Blyskal, the Co-founder of Profound, suggested not to deviate from the marketing strategy right away; rather, bear patience.
See what he recommends.
Sum Up
Considering the PromptWatch study about Reddit ChatGPT citations, the past happenings, and the speculations bursting on different channels, we suggest you stay calm, let the dust settle, and not make prompt changes to your SEO and marketing strategies.
Also, diversify your brand presence to buffer such sudden algorithmic shifts in the future.
