Reddit's CEO, Steve Huffman, has acknowledged that AI chatbots do not substantially contribute to the platform's traffic, despite significant advancements in AI-driven search by tech giants like OpenAI and Google. Discussing Reddit's performance in the third quarter of 2025, Huffman emphasized that the primary sources of traffic continue to be Google search and direct user access.
"Chatbots aren't currently driving much traffic to us. Our partnerships with the companies we work directly with are strong, and both sides have learned a lot about the value of Reddit's data and the future of our mutual products. While I look forward to continuing these collaborations, they’re not significant traffic sources yet," Huffman stated during a call with analysts.
An inquiry during the call asked if half of Reddit's traffic stems from Google and half is direct. Huffman responded that these figures are "approximate, but quite close."
Reddit has experienced a challenging journey with companies developing large language models. In May 2024, they implemented a policy change to restrict access to its data, necessitating licenses for any commercial use. Simultaneously, Reddit entered a deal with OpenAI to allow its data for AI model training.
Moreover, Reddit has a content licensing agreement with Google, yet it is also engaged in legal disputes with AI firms such as Anthropic and Perplexity.
The past quarter has been positive for Reddit, with revenues reaching $585 million, marking a 68% growth compared to last year. The platform's user base includes 116 million daily active users and 444 million who are active weekly, showing a 20% growth year-on-year. International daily user growth also saw an increase of 31% over the previous year, and over 190 million Americans engage with Reddit weekly.
Huffman also pointed out that Reddit is continuing to focus efforts on enhancing its search functionality. He mentioned that 20% of search volumes are supported by AI-powered Answers and traditional search features, with 75 million people using Reddit’s search services weekly. The company has been aiming to merge AI with its core search tools, a development expected in the coming quarters.
Additionally, Reddit is trialing a new, more straightforward onboarding process to boost user engagement from the outset.
“We aim to ensure that new users discover Reddit’s amazing content in their first session. Our objective is to swiftly link them to relevant content,” Huffman explained.