Morning. This week one of the big AI engines changed its mind about a very large website, and nobody sent a memo. Here is what it means for you, and the hour it takes to act on it.
ChatGPT dropped Reddit. Google did not.
reddit.com fell from 3.8% of ChatGPT citations to 0.5% in four days (Promptwatch). Our numbers this week: 18.6% of Google AI Overviews answers, 1.3% of ChatGPT (4,656 answers, Sep 1 to 6).
So Reddit is a Google play now. The short version:
- Search “[your category] reddit”. Open every thread from the last 12 months.
- Check which ones the AI Overview cites. Those count.
- Reply as yourself: “I run [product]”, who it suits, price. No sales copy.
- Ask two customers to add their own take.
- Re-check in 3 to 4 weeks.
The citation lift we measured after adding llms.txt to 212 sites for 60 days. It is not zero. It is also not the thing your LinkedIn feed says it is.
We asked five engines the same bakery question 500 times. Rise Books went from 7% to 21% in one week after publishing a pricing page with actual prices on it. Revolutionary, we know.
Perplexity. Now shows prices inline for software questions. If your pricing page says “contact us”, it shows someone else’s.
Gemini. Started citing YouTube descriptions more often. Yes, the description. Nobody reads those, except the robot.
AI Overviews. Local answers now pull from city subreddits. Search “[your city] [service] reddit” and see who is there.
Find the five Reddit threads Google cites for your category. Reply to the two most recent. About 60 minutes.
That’s it. Hit reply and tell me what you sell. I read all of them and the good ones become teardowns.
Simon
P.S. If a consultant offers you a “Reddit GEO audit” this week, forward them this email. It’s free.
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Written by the team behind RankSpot.