Weekly index · week 8 edition

Reddit in AI search: week 8

How much each AI model cites Reddit in its answers, week by week, and where that presence is changing.

This is the week 8 edition, kept as published. See the current edition →

Week 8 · Feb 16–22, 2026 Published Oct 19, 2026 ← Week 7 Week 9 →

In short

In week 8, Grok was the model that cited Reddit most, in 63.5% of answers, followed by Perplexity (39.5%). Significant change from the previous week: Perplexity (−2.3 pp). Since week 1, the largest drop is ChatGPT's (−8.4 pp) and the largest rise is Grok's (+22.0 pp).

In week 8, by model

Share of answers citing Reddit and change from week 7.

Grok 63.5% ↓ −0.1 pp vs. W7 Within noise

Perplexity 39.5% ↓ −2.3 pp vs. W7 Significant

Google AI Overviews 17.3% ↓ −0.4 pp vs. W7 Within noise

Google AI Mode 13.7% ↑ +0.3 pp vs. W7 Within noise

ChatGPT 12.7% ↓ −0.9 pp vs. W7 Within noise

Gemini 0.9% ↓ −0.2 pp vs. W7 Within noise

Copilot 0.3% → 0.0 pp vs. W7 Within noise

Timeline

Weekly presence since week 1. Each panel has its own scale; compare the shape of the curves, not heights across panels. Hollow circles mark weeks with a reduced base; blue markers are events, click to see them.

Google AI Overviews17.3%

scale 0–20%

W1W4W8 Google AI Overviews presence: from 12.3% in W1 to 17.3% in W8.

Google AI Mode13.7%

scale 0–15%

W1W4W8 Google AI Mode presence: from 9.4% in W1 to 13.7% in W8.

Grok63.5%

scale 0–70%

W1W4W8 Grok presence: from 41.6% in W1 to 63.5% in W8.

Gemini0.9%

scale 0–5%

W1W4W8 Gemini presence: from 0.1% in W1 to 0.9% in W8.

Perplexity39.5%

scale 0–50%

W1W4W8 Perplexity presence: from 36.8% in W1 to 39.5% in W8.

ChatGPT12.7%

scale 0–25%

W1W4W8 ChatGPT presence: from 21.1% in W1 to 12.7% in W8.

Copilot0.3%

scale 0–5%

W1W4W8 Copilot presence: from 0.0% in W1 to 0.3% in W8.

Reddit presence by model, weeks 1 to 8 of 2026. Source: data observed and catalogued by First Answer.

All weeks

Week 8 ranking

Model	Presence	Week change	4-week avg.	Since W1	Change
1. Grok	63.5%	↓ −0.1 pp	60.5%	↑ +22.0 pp	Within noise
2. Perplexity	39.5%	↓ −2.3 pp	41.8%	↑ +2.7 pp	Significant
3. Google AI Overviews	17.3%	↓ −0.4 pp	12.7%	↑ +5.0 pp	Within noise
4. Google AI Mode	13.7%	↑ +0.3 pp	13.3%	↑ +4.3 pp	Within noise
5. ChatGPT	12.7%	↓ −0.9 pp	13.8%	↓ −8.4 pp	Within noise
6. Gemini	0.9%	↓ −0.2 pp	0.7%	↑ +0.8 pp	Within noise
7. Copilot	0.3%	→ 0.0 pp	0.3%	↑ +0.3 pp	Within noise

Presence: share of the model's answers that cite reddit.com among their sources. Changes in percentage points (pp).

Events

Large changes in the series and what is known about them. We only log explanations with a source; when there is none, we say so.

No events logged up to this week.

Method, in short

Source: data observed and catalogued by First Answer. Each week, we measure by model the share of answers that cite reddit.com among their sources and compare it with the previous week. A change is flagged as significant only when it exceeds the 95% margin and is at least 1 pp. Weeks with a smaller-than-usual base are flagged and left out of the comparison.

Limitations

The index measures what First Answer's base observes, not every search made on the models. We do not disclose volumes, questions, topics, categories, brands or clients; only aggregate measures by model. Claude is not included in this series. Explanations under Events come from external sources and state how confirmed they are.

How to cite

Beckmann, R. (2026). Reddit in AI search: weekly index (week 8, Feb 16–22, 2026). First Answer. https://rodrigobeckmann.com/en/research/indices/reddit-in-ai-search/2026-w08