AI-driven search is rapidly changing consumer behavior. Users no longer use search engines like Google as a springboard but get answers to their questions without clicking links. The result: referral traffic for publishershas dropped by up to 60%. As traditional search relevance declines, marketers need to think about how to maintain brand visibility in AI Overviews.

User-generated content has proven to be a key source of information for AI models.Reddit and YouTubeare platforms favored by models like Gemini, mainly due to their crowdsourced and collaborative nature,which helps build trust. If brands want to increase their chances of appearing in AI search results, investing in high-quality, informative UGC is crucial.

However, platform choice remains a key issue. Marketers should invest resources in Reddit—whose audience is not yet fully tapped but has ongoingbrand safety concerns; or choose YouTube—one of the world'smost widely used social media platforms, but itsgrowth rate is slowingand it leans more toward subscription-based services? Or both?

Marketing Dive compiled relevant data from July for marketers to reference in the rapidly changing AI search landscape.

$762 million: Reddit's Q2 advertising revenue

In its earnings report released at the end of July, Reddit showed Q2 ad revenue up 64% year-over-year, 3 percentage points higher than total revenue growth. Double-digit growth indicates advertisers are discovering more value in the platform. Reddit now has 130.3 million global daily active users, up 18% year-over-year.

"In an increasingly automated web, the value of authentic human perspectives has never been higher. Reddit's commercial momentum reflects this," Reddit founder and CEO Steve Huffman said in theearnings release. "Revenue per person surpassing $1 million and maintaining over 60% revenue growth for eight consecutive quarters demonstrates the power of the community model and the value we provide to advertisers."

In 2024, Reddit partnered with Google, allowing the tech giant to use human-created posts on Reddit to train AI. However, this $60 million annual deal may face termination because Google's AI search has led toa significant decline in Reddit traffic. On theinvestor earnings call, Huffman did not rule out any possibilities, even hinting that other buyers might be interested in Reddit's data.

"Over the past year, we've seen growing interest in Reddit's data for different use cases or at different scales. So we really see it as an expanding market full of opportunities," Huffman said.

In recent years, Reddit has made significant progress in advertising infrastructure and has taken steps to commercialize popular content formats, such as"Ask Me Anything" (AMA). Kia recently made an innovative attempt during the WNBA All-Star weekend. During the livestream, WNBA player Chiney Ogwumike used a claw machine to answer preselected questions while tossing mini basketballs for charity. The livestream received61,000 views and 354 likes。

within 72 hours of going live. 4.3x: Likelihood of YouTube videos appearing in Google AI Overviews

According toLQ Digital data, YouTube videos are much more likely to appear in AI Overviews than in traditional search results. In comparison, Reddit is 3.9 times more likely to be cited in organic search. Gemini is trained onYouTube videos, and unlike Reddit, YouTube is an Alphabet company. YouTube's high citation rate in AI Overviews may help Alphabet keep users within its platform ecosystem.

LQ Digital's report recommends marketers invest in YouTube to maintain visibility in AI Overviews. However, Gemini is not the only AI tool on the market. According toProfound data, ChatGPT cites Reddit at a rate of 2.4%, more than double that of YouTube (0.99%).

Regardless of which platform marketers choose, UGC is key to appearing in AI results. The question brands need to consider is: what type of audience do they want to reach?

17%: Growth in Google Search and other revenues

Google's Search and other revenues reached$63.3 billionin Q2, driven primarily by AI technological advancements. Similar to Reddit, Google is also attracting advertisers through improved features. In April, the tech giant launched AI Max for Search out of beta and announced plans to convert traditional formats, including dynamic search ads, tonew models。

In terms of AI visibility, Alphabet holds enormous influence over what users see. Ultimately, if Google requires payment for visibility, marketers will need to choose: partner with the platform or leave entirely? Many publishers have already chosen thelatter。

AI search has already paid off for Google, and as things stand, YouTube is also benefiting. Marketers need to decide which channels are best for their brands, and for some, this may mean saying goodbye to search and Google.