Why Reddit is rising in the age of AI shopping

For years, platforms like Instagram and TikTok have shaped what we discover, desire and click on.

They have been the engines of influence, powered by visuals, creators and algorithms designed to capture attention. But increasingly, the final decision is being made somewhere else.

Reddit enters the chat.

What was once seen as a niche corner of the internet is becoming something much more influential: a place where people go not just to browse, but to validate, compare, question and decide. And this matters to small businesses because it is not just about social media, but about trust.

From influence to investigation

Social media still plays a huge role in discovery. A customer might first hear about a skincare product, a software tool, a supplement or a service on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. But then comes the second step. They search for what real people think – not the brand copy, or the ad, or the influencer partnership, but the Reddit thread.

That shift says a lot about where trust is moving.

A recent Vogue piece by Amy O'Brien described Reddit as the “antidote to AI shopping”, and that phrase captures something much bigger than reviews alone. It points to a wider consumer behaviour shift: people are increasingly looking for places where opinions feel less filtered, less commercial and less engineered.

We have spent years optimising content, creators and media to remove friction from the buying journey. But the side effect of that is that much of the internet now feels over-produced. Even user-generated content, which once felt like a signal of authenticity, is increasingly shaped by brand briefs, affiliate incentives or platform expectations.

Consumers can feel that and are thus adjusting. They are looking for places where someone is just as likely to tell them not to buy something as they are to recommend it. That is where Reddit comes in. Not simply as a platform, but as a place people go to sense-check reality.

Why beauty is such a strong example

One of the clearest examples of this shift is beauty. For years, beauty marketing has been built on aspiration. Beautiful visuals, polished routines, carefully selected creators and products shown in their best possible light. But increasingly, consumers want more than inspiration. They want evidence.

They want to know whether:

• a product actually worked

• it caused irritation

• it is worth the money

• there is a better alternative

• the “holy grail” product everyone is posting about is actually any good

And often, they want that from someone anonymous on the internet with no commercial incentive to say it.

That is exactly what Glamour UK picked up on in its recent piece by Fleurine Tideman, The Girls are coming for Reddit, exploring how women are using Reddit. The article highlighted people turning to Reddit for everything from skincare and foundation colour matching to relationship advice and travel recommendations.

One quote in particular stood out:

“I trust a Reddit review more than any other source, especially for skincare and haircare.”

That is a huge statement. And for beauty brands especially, it should be a wake-up call. Consumers are not rejecting beauty content; they are just looking for a second layer of truth before they buy. Instagram might still create desire, but Reddit is increasingly where people go to decide whether that desire is justified.

In a low-trust internet, Reddit feels human

Part of what makes Reddit so powerful right now is the wider context.

We are operating in an internet shaped by:

• sponsored content

• affiliate-led recommendations

• AI-generated answers

• polished, highly optimised brand storytelling

And while those things are not inherently bad, they have changed how people assess credibility. In many categories, consumers are becoming more sceptical of anything that feels too clean, too positive or too perfect. That is why Reddit feels different.

Not because it is polished. It is messy, contradictory, opinionated and occasionally brutal. But that is also why it feels more human. And in a world where search itself is changing, that matters even more.

Reddit is no longer just influencing what people read on the platform; it is increasingly influencing what people see everywhere else, too. It is highly indexed by Google, increasingly appears in search results and many AI tools now surface or draw on Reddit conversations as part of how they generate answers.

So even if a business is not “doing Reddit” in an active way, Reddit may still be shaping how that business is being understood online.

What Enterprise Nation members are seeing

What has been especially interesting is hearing how members of the Enterprise Nation community are already thinking about this. While Reddit may still feel unfamiliar to some businesses, for others it is already becoming part of how they research, market and build trust.

A new strategic question for marketers

Alison Battisby, founder of Avocado Social, said:

“We’re getting so many enquiries about whether Reddit should be part of a 2026 social media strategy.”

That alone says a lot. Reddit is no longer being dismissed as irrelevant to brand strategy or parked in the “not for us” category. It is now being actively considered as part of the marketing mix.

Alison shared that her clients are using Reddit in two key ways:

“1. Social media listening: Research existing conversations, opinions, discussions on hot topics related to your brand. Even if you are not ready to have a brand presence or get involved, it’s very useful to listen in.

“2. Reddit advertising: I’ve been investigating Reddit ads as a brand awareness opportunity for some of my clients and so far the CPMs look very competitively priced.”

For many small businesses, the value of Reddit is not necessarily in jumping in and posting immediately; it is about first understanding what customers are already saying and using that insight to make better decisions elsewhere.

Alison also noted that Reddit told her they are seeing more female users in the UK, which aligns with the wider shift we are seeing in beauty, lifestyle and consumer categories. This is why it is no longer just a platform story but also a consumer behaviour story.

Reddit as a research tool for what people actually need

Bhavna Rishi, founder of Bhavna.com and DesignerFriday.com, shared that she uses Reddit as a research tool:

“How people are using AI, prompts and apps, as well as any problems they are facing with regard to product development and building their brands.”

Reddit is not just a place where people review products; it is also a place where they reveal:

• confusion

• unmet needs

• frustrations

• workarounds

• hopes

• buying blockers

This makes it incredibly useful for anyone working in product, content, positioning or customer experience.

If you know where to look, Reddit can show you:

• the exact language people use to describe a problem

• what they are comparing you against

• what they still cannot find in the market

• what they wish existed

• what makes them hesitate before buying

That is not just social media; it is live market intelligence.

A real opportunity, but only if you respect the culture

Enterprise Nation member, business mentor and tech consultant, Jon Davies, shared an important perspective. He said that he first started using Reddit around 13 years ago as a way to dive into niche hobbies and local communities like r/Manchester, and quickly became hooked on how useful it could be for “trivia, background info and problem solving".

But his views on the business side stood out:

“In my work as a business mentor and tech consultant, Reddit is a great unfiltered look at the legal, HR, and marketing challenges small business owners face. It’s ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’ insight that you just don’t tend to find elsewhere.”

That phrase, “straight from the horse’s mouth”, is exactly what makes Reddit so valuable. Not polished positioning, no assumptions, or what a customer says when asked nicely in a survey, just what they are actually thinking.

Jon also made an important point about discoverability and long-term authority:

“Because the platform is so well-indexed by Google and serves as a primary source for many of the AI Large Language Models (LLMs), contributing genuine value to discussions allows you to associate your profile and brand name with topics and keywords in a way that builds long-term authority and could help SEO too.”

The opportunity here is not only community visibility in the short term, but also search relevance and trust in the long term.

Jon also offered this important piece of advice:

"Reddit certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted. Redditors are finely attuned to being ‘marketed at’ and quick to call out anyone they perceive as insincere.”

And this is why so many brands get it wrong. “Lurk before you leap,” he advises. "Spend time in the relevant subreddits. Understand the tone. Learn the house rules. Observe what gets rewarded and what gets rejected.

"Because Reddit is not a place you can treat like another distribution channel and expect to win."

What this means for small businesses

For small businesses, there are a few very clear opportunities here.

1. Use Reddit as a listening tool

Before doing anything else, listen. Search for your category, your customer problem, your competitors and the kinds of questions people ask before they buy.

This can tell you:

• what language your customers actually use

• what objections they have

• what they trust

• what they are sceptical about

• what they wish brands would explain better

That kind of insight is incredibly useful for marketing, product and customer experience.

2. Use Reddit as a research engine

If you are building a product, refining a service or creating content, Reddit can be a brilliant source of ideas. Sometimes your next blog post, email campaign, landing page angle, product feature or FAQ section is already sitting inside a thread your audience started months ago.

3. Use it to understand trust, not just traffic

Too many businesses still think about platforms only in terms of reach, but Reddit’s value is not just in eyeballs; it is in credibility.

How does your brand hold up in a conversation where nobody is being paid to be positive? That is often much closer to the reality of how buying decisions are made.

4. Consider paid opportunities carefully

There may also be a growing opportunity in Reddit advertising, particularly as more mainstream and consumer-facing brands test the platform. But understanding the culture should come before spending money there. If your brand does not understand how the community behaves, no amount of media spend will fix that.

5. Show up helpfully, not performatively

If a business does choose to participate directly, the mindset has to be different. No broadcasting, no forcing brand tone into every thread, no trying to “hack” the platform, just being useful and answering questions, sharing expertise, solving problems and adding something genuinely helpful. That is where the real value is built.

Jon put it so well:

“If you focus on adding value, answering questions and solving problems; leading with expertise then the brand building and sales opportunities will follow naturally.”

Why this matters to Enterprise Nation

At Enterprise Nation, we spend a lot of time helping small business owners think about visibility, customer acquisition and growth. But one of the biggest shifts happening right now is that it is no longer enough to simply be visible. You also need to be credible in the places where customers are doing their homework.

That means understanding not just where your audience scrolls, but where they research, validate and sense-check reality, and increasingly, that includes Reddit.

For many small businesses, this is not about becoming “a Reddit brand”. It is about becoming more aware of the conversations shaping how people perceive your category, offer and credibility.

Instagram may still shape desire. TikTok may still accelerate discovery. But Reddit is shaping decisions. And for small businesses willing to listen closely, it offers something incredibly valuable: a clearer, more honest view of what customers are really thinking.

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