The Ross Simmonds Show RSS 19: Reddit Marketing: How to Drive Traffic & Win LLM Search (2025–2026)
In this episode of The Ross Simmonds Show, Ross dives deep into why Reddit has emerged as the most powerful organic marketing platform heading into 2025. From transforming million-dollar buying decisions to influencing AI language models like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews, Reddit isn't just a content site — it's a market-shaping force.
Ross unpacks exactly how and why Reddit has become a SERP-dominating player, how brands can harness its authenticity-fueled power, and introduces his signature Reddit marketing framework: R.O.S.S (Reddit Operating System of Scale).
Key Takeaways and Insights:
1. The Power of a Single Reddit Thread
- Deals are won or lost based on one Reddit post
- Reddit is no longer just memes — it’s shaping corporate decisions
2. The Rise of Reddit in Organic Search
- Reddit ranked 2nd after Wikipedia for Google search traffic in late 2024
- Outperformed YouTube in search visibility
- Took over bottom-of-funnel consideration traffic from platforms like G2 and Capterra
3. Why Traditional SEO is Failing
- Marketers ruined trust in content with affiliate-driven blog posts
- Reddit now draws 600M+ monthly visits from Google
- 1,328% YoY growth in Reddit's search visibility
4. Google's Algorithm Shift & Reddit’s Role
- Reddit's authentic content aligns with Google’s user-first approach
- Google’s $60M data licensing deal with Reddit (2024)
- New "Forums" search tab prioritizing Reddit threads
5. Reddit vs Traditional Media & Review Sites
- Reddit ranks for 5.7M+ transactional keywords
- Competes with giants like Wirecutter and New York Times for product discovery
- 5.1M overlapping keywords with major publishers
6. Reddit's Impact on AI Training
- Reddit content now foundational for LLMs (Large Language Models)
- Google, OpenAI, and others using Reddit content to train AI
- AI outputs now reflect sentiment from Reddit conversations
7. How Reddit Influences AI Answers
- Brand reputation on Reddit can directly influence AI-generated recommendations
- Reddit as a real-time, user-driven knowledge base for AI
Resources & Tools:
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