Should Reddit be your next B2B platform?

Reddit isn’t new. It was founded in 2005 and is now the UK’s fourth most visited social media platform. What’s changed over the past two years is how much B2B marketers are talking about it, largely because of how visible it has become in AI answers and search results.

It’s made up of thousands of communities, called subreddits, each focused on a topic and run by volunteer moderators under its own rules. Users vote posts and comments up or down, most post under a username rather than their real name; the culture rewards genuine contribution over self-promotion.

If Reddit isn’t part of your marketing plan yet, 2027 is a good year to change that. Here’s why, and where to start.

Where the attention came from

In March 2026, Semrush analysed AI responses across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode and found Reddit was the most-cited domain. When a buyer asks AI to recommend a supplier or compare options in your category, Reddit conversations are likely to shape the answer, so it pays to know what is being said there.

LinkedIn came second, which means the two most-cited sources in AI search are a community platform and a professional network. On Reddit, individuals lead the conversation. On LinkedIn, AI tools cite both individual profiles and company pages, and on ChatGPT and Google’s AI Mode, individuals come out ahead.

Your people’s expertise matters as much as your brand’s. Visibility in AI search depends on what your subject experts share, not just what goes out from company channels. On Reddit especially, that means being part of the conversation.

Let's look at the data

Two sets of research show why Reddit matters for B2B marketers:

Who you can reach
GWI data on UK Reddit users shows:

• Business decision-makers spend 4.5 times as much time on Reddit as they do on LinkedIn

• 36% of B2B tech decision-makers on Reddit aren’t on LinkedIn

• 32% of B2B tech decision-makers on Reddit are in executive or senior management roles, from directors to the C-suite

• 40% of professionals on Reddit are responsible for identifying business needs when their workplace buys new products or services

• 37% of B2B decision-makers on Reddit bring in new tools or services to improve efficiency

How B2B buyers research
Reddit and SurveyMonkey surveyed 1,202 US business decision-makers between December 2025 and January 2026:

• 83% research on their own before contacting sales

• 55% struggle to know which sources to trust

• 73% said peer recommendations are the source they trust most

• 81% said Reddit helps them find products they hadn't considered

• 76% said they're more likely to buy a product recommended on Reddit

What Reddit shared at the 2026 SocialDay B2B Forum

Rhys Thomas, Head of Industry - Services at Reddit, presented at the SocialDay B2B Forum on 11 November, talking about how conversations shape B2B decisions.

Here’s what I took away from Rhys’s session:

1)     Reddit covers the whole buying journey. 22% of UK decision-makers discover new software or services on Reddit, and 78% rely on it to weigh up the pros and cons. After purchase, communities become the place to ask how to get the most from a product, which is where your existing customers may already be talking about you. That makes Reddit one of the best places to hear what buyers really think, because there’s no vendor in the room.

2)     AI suggests, people validate. Rhys called this the validation gap. Buyers use AI to build a shortlist, then go to Reddit to hear from people who have already made the decision; 73% of UK decision-makers on Reddit say it helps them make faster purchase decisions.

3)     Ad formats are built for conversation. Rhys highlighted the ad formats that suit Reddit best: conversation placements, free-form ads and promoted AMAs. Conversation placements put ads inside relevant threads. Free-form ads allow up to 40,000 characters, with images, video and GIFs, for brands that have something to explain. Promoted AMAs (Ask Me Anything) let a subject expert answer questions directly.

Rhys's ask to the room was practical: choose one buyer question and one existing piece of content, run a focused test before the end of the year, and use what you learn to shape your 2027 plan. His advice for doing it well came down to three things: show up in the communities and conversations that shape decisions, bring proof through real sentiment and native creative, and stay present after discovery rather than leaving once a campaign ends.

What's changed on Reddit in 2026

If you join me for The Social Briefing each month, you’ll know platform updates come thick and fast. Here are the changes on Reddit that matter most for B2B marketers, and what each one means for you.

A For You feed. Reddit has started rolling out an algorithmic For You feed alongside the existing Following feed.

What this means: useful posts can now find a wider audience. The feed recommends conversations from communities people haven’t joined, so your best answers can reach new readers interested in your topic.

A move to logged-in browsing. On 29 October, Reddit announced it will move to a primarily logged-in experience, starting with tests in selected markets outside the US. Reddit says logging in helps people find content and communities relevant to them, and it gives the platform more signals to match ads to the right people. The front page, and links people share or find through search, will stay open to everyone.

What this means: more and more of Reddit’s audience will be signed-in members of communities, and that’s the audience B2B brands want to reach. Better signals should also mean better ad targeting over time. Treat Reddit as a destination in its own right, not just a source of search traffic.

Reddit content stays on Reddit. Reddit switched off RSS feeds on 13 November and is ending public API access, saying these routes had become a common way to scrape its content at scale.

What this means: rather than relying on third-party tools, the best view of Reddit conversations is on Reddit itself. Set up a free business profile and use Reddit Pro to track your brand, competitors and category keywords directly.

Updated lead gen ads. In October, Reddit extended its AI-powered Max campaigns to lead generation. It's testing in-market audiences, which reach people actively researching a category, starting with enterprise, business AI and cybersecurity. It also added a HubSpot integration and data partners including Bombora, Demandbase, Clay and G2.

What this means: Reddit is now a realistic test for B2B lead generation. If you sell into enterprise, business AI or cybersecurity, ask about in-market audiences first. Use an offer that answers a question buyers are already asking in the communities you’re targeting.

Ads in search results. Reddit has started testing ads in its own search results with a select group of eligible advertisers. It says these results pages show high purchase and search intent, and ads are matched partly by how relevant they are to what someone searched for. Its examples so far are consumer products, such as espresso machines and office chairs.

What this means: this isn’t yet open to all advertisers, but it shows Reddit treating its own search as a place where buying decisions happen. Search Reddit for your category terms now and note which threads come up.

So, should Reddit be your next B2B platform?

Yes.

The data makes the case. UK business decision-makers are on Reddit, a third of B2B tech decision-makers there are in senior roles, and buyers trust peer recommendations more than any other source. Reddit is also one of the most-cited sources in AI search, so what people say about your category there shapes what buyers are told everywhere else. Your subject experts are how your brand becomes part of that conversation.

The conversation is where the lasting value lies. Reddit is where you hear what buyers say when no vendor is in the room: the questions they ask, the suppliers they compare and what they think once they’ve bought. Three in four UK Reddit users say it gives them insight they can’t get anywhere else.

Your buyers are already talking on Reddit. 2027 is the year to start listening.

If you're not yet on Reddit: Search for your brand, your competitors and your category. Note which subreddits come up, read their rules and spend time reading before you post anything. Reddit Answers (reddit.com/answers) is a quick way to see what Redditors say on a topic, and if you set up a business profile, Reddit Pro lets you track keywords, trends and what competitors are doing.