Weekly index · week 12 edition
Reddit in AI search: week 12
How much each AI model cites Reddit in its answers, week by week, and where that presence is changing.
This is the week 12 edition, kept as published. See the current edition →
In short
In week 12, Grok was the model that cited Reddit most, in 54.3% of answers, followed by Perplexity (18.6%). Significant change from the previous week: Google AI Overviews (−6.4 pp), Google AI Mode (+1.6 pp). Since week 1, the largest drop is Perplexity's (−18.2 pp) and the largest rise is Grok's (+12.8 pp).
In week 12, by model
Share of answers citing Reddit and change from week 11.
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.
All weeks
Week 12 ranking
| Model | Presence | Week change | 4-week avg. | Since W1 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Grok | 54.3% | ↓ −0.5 pp | 55.7% | ↑ +12.8 pp | Within noise |
| 2. Perplexity | 18.6% | ↑ +0.4 pp | 21.6% | ↓ −18.2 pp | Within noise |
| 3. Google AI Mode | 13.2% | ↑ +1.6 pp | 13.1% | ↑ +3.8 pp | Significant |
| 4. Google AI Overviews | 8.9% | ↓ −6.4 pp | 14.8% | ↓ −3.4 pp | Significant |
| 5. ChatGPT | 4.0% | ↓ −0.6 pp | 8.3% | ↓ −17.1 pp | Within noise |
| 6. Gemini | 0.7% | ↓ −0.1 pp | 0.8% | ↑ +0.6 pp | Within noise |
| 7. Copilot | 0.2% | → 0.0 pp | 0.2% | ↑ +0.2 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.
- W10 · Mar 2–8 Possible ChatGPT: Reddit's presence falls from 16.5% (week 9) to 7.9% and to 4.6% the following week. The same week, on March 3, OpenAI made GPT-5.3 Instant the default model, described as less likely to lean on web results. No one has linked that change to Reddit. Source: The Decoder ↗ · Source: ALM Corp ↗
- W9 · Feb 23–Mar 1 Observed by third parties Perplexity starts to decline: from 39.5% (week 8) to 28.6% and 21.0% over the next two weeks, and to 8.2% in week 17; since June it has stayed between 1.4% and 5.3%. Tinuiti, using Profound data, recorded the same drop in Reddit's share of Perplexity citations between February and April, without identifying the reason. Source: MediaPost ↗ · Source: Shopifreaks ↗
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 12, Mar 16–22, 2026). First Answer. https://rodrigobeckmann.com/en/research/indices/reddit-in-ai-search/2026-w12