Earlier this year, a user on a skincare-focused subreddit asked whether anyone had tried a specific hypochlorous acid spray, a popular product for treating acne. Dozens of responses followed, including one from an account named Primary-Taro4254, which seemed helpful and genuine. The user said they had not tried the brand in question but had been using a similar spray from Honeydew Labs and liked it. They described how it calmed their skin and even noted that Honeydew Labs uses a 0.02% concentration and has the National Eczema Association’s seal of approval.
The comment looked like a typical product recommendation, but a closer look at the account’s profile told a different story. Primary-Taro4254 had posted similarly glowing reviews of the same product all over Reddit, often in threads completely unrelated to the product or even the category. The account had also commented in multiple skincare subreddits about Honeydew Labs in a way that felt repetitive and promotional. Members of r/SkincareAddiction, a community with over a million weekly visitors, soon flagged the account, with one user warning others to be aware of Honeydew Labs marketing bots. A moderator stepped in, announced that action had been taken, and put all future Honeydew Labs posts into a queue for manual review.
Honeydew Labs did not respond to a request for comment, and the user account did not reply to a direct message. This incident is just one small example of a much larger problem sweeping across Reddit. Over the past several years, Reddit has become one of the most important websites on the internet. Millions of people now add the word “reddit” to their search queries to avoid the low-quality, SEO-driven content that clogs traditional search results. Google and other search engines have taken notice and now surface Reddit discussions prominently. More recently, Reddit has become even more valuable because AI chatbots often cite it in their responses.
Reddit is now a top source for AI chatbots
According to data compiled by Semrush, an SEO company, Reddit was the most-cited domain in May by AI tools including ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Mode. Reddit ranked higher than any news publisher, academic repository, or even Wikipedia. AI systems frequently pull quotes and recommendations from Reddit threads when answering user questions. At the same time, Google has been embedding AI Overviews more often into search queries with commercial intent, such as product research and brand comparisons. This means that being mentioned on Reddit can directly influence what AI assistants tell people to buy.
Marketers and brands have taken notice. A growing number of startups, agencies, and established companies are now trying to plant promotional content on Reddit with one goal: getting their products cited by AI search tools. The strategy is sometimes called answer engine optimization (AEO) or generative engine optimization (GEO). The aim is to shape the responses of AI chatbots by placing brand-friendly comments and posts in Reddit communities. Since Reddit is seen as authentic and unfiltered, a positive mention on a subreddit can carry disproportionate weight in AI answers.
This new wave of manipulation is forcing Reddit’s volunteer moderators to become more sophisticated. Reddit has always had spam and self-promotion, but the scale and subtlety of AI-driven campaigns are different. Moderators are now on the lookout for accounts that appear to be ordinary users but are actually controlled by marketing firms or brand employees. The tactics have evolved from obvious shilling to carefully crafted, open-ended questions and natural-sounding replies.
How moderators are adapting
Maya Adivi, a moderator of r/SkincareAddiction, says she was drawn to the community because of its focus on the science behind beauty products. Users discuss studies and ingredients with a level of detail not often found elsewhere. Moderating spam has always been part of the job, but now even a thorough breakdown of a research paper can be viewed with suspicion. The signs of spam have changed. In the past, moderators could look for overly enthusiastic reviews, tracking links, or repeated before-and-after photos. Today, a suspicious account might pose a general question like “How does everyone keep track of their skincare routine?” followed by a wave of comments mentioning the same AI skincare app. Or a user might ask, “I keep seeing ads for this brand. What’s your experience?” and then receive improbable praise from several newly created accounts.
Adivi explains that covert marketing accounts often follow a pattern of simulated humility: “I thought this product would be too aggressive, but it was actually very gentle.” The posts are designed to look like genuine conversations, but they are structured in a way that mirrors how people query AI chatbots. Adivi says moderators have become more skilled at identifying these patterns. Accounts affiliated with brands are banned from the subreddit, and any mention of a blacklisted brand is automatically filtered. When a marketing agency bragged about having hijacked the subreddit to promote a Korean beauty brand, Adivi removed the thread and added the brand to the keyword filter.
The stakes are high. Reddit users trust the platform because they believe they are hearing from real people, not advertisers. That trust is exactly what makes Reddit valuable to AI systems. If AI chatbots rely on Reddit comments distributed by brands, the entire ecosystem could lose credibility. As Adivi notes, “With AEO right now, no one knows exactly how to do it, and everyone tells you how important Reddit is.”
Google and Reddit respond
Google says it has systems in place to detect low-quality content on forums like Reddit. In a statement, Google spokesperson Jennifer Kutz said the company’s AI search features do not favor any specific platform and that Reddit “gets no special preference” in ranking. She also noted that Google has kept its search results 99 percent spam-free for years and will continue to fight manipulation.
Reddit itself has acknowledged the challenge. In early July, the company announced that it is using AI and large language models to detect “highly subtle, coordinated patterns of fake behavior and artificial hype.” Reddit claims it catches about 25,000 spammy posts and comments per day and blocks 23 million spam views. Jared Nelson, a senior director at Reddit, told press that the company constantly updates its countermeasures as spam tactics evolve. However, he declined to list specific signals to avoid giving bad actors a playbook.
Other communities under attack
Complaints about AI-related spam are cropping up across a wide range of subreddits. On r/CleaningTips, a user asked whether the subreddit should ban the mention of specific product names. In r/BuyItForLife, a popular community for durable goods, members warned that the group was being “brigaded by ad bots to skew Google and AI search results.” The food community r/FoodNYC now has a rule against self-promotion that specifically mentions brands targeting old posts. A moderator of r/salestechniques created a “name and shame” thread listing brands they believed were astroturfing the subreddit.
The pressure is especially heavy on communities where product recommendations are central. On r/loseit, a moderator named Dan has seen an increase in covert ads for food tracking apps, body scanning scales, and even GLP-1 providers. Dan and other moderators have compiled what they call a “shit list of brands” believed to be secretly advertising. These brands are automatically filtered from the subreddit. Dan says normal users do not speak like marketers. “They’ve got an agenda that a normal poster doesn’t have,” he explains, “and that is usually fundamentally what shines through.” Dan has also noticed telltale signs of AI-generated posts, such as final paragraphs beginning with “I’m curious to know.” Moderators rely on both automated tools and community reports to keep the subreddit clean.
The indie music scene fights back
The problem extends beyond products and into entertainment. This spring, reports emerged that a marketing agency had helped create buzz around the indie rock band Geese. Fans felt betrayed when they learned that some of the excitement might have been manufactured. The drama became its own news cycle, with people asking whether the band was a “psyop” and whether the fandom was fake. In the wake of the Geese controversy, moderators of r/indieheads took a closer look at their own community. Matty Monroe, one of the moderators, said they uncovered four accounts that appeared to belong to indie record labels. The accounts had random usernames and posted only about artists on their own labels. One comment, “I can’t wait to preorder this record on Coral Green vinyl,” sounded exactly like a social media manager speaking on behalf of a brand.
Monroe, who also works in marketing for a music distribution company, reached out to the labels and asked them to stop. As a compromise, r/indieheads launched a verification process for record labels. Labels that sign up are clearly identified to the public and can participate without hiding their affiliation. Dozens of labels have joined so far. Monroe says it is unclear whether the labels were trying to influence AI search results or just doing general marketing, but the need for transparency became clear. Traditional music publications have shuttered or reduced coverage, making subreddits like r/indieheads one of the “last games in town” for independent music.
The threat to Reddit’s authenticity
Part of what makes Reddit useful is the feeling that people are speaking honestly without a hidden agenda. The prevalence of stealth marketing could change that. If users begin to suspect that product recommendations are paid promotions, the site could lose the trust that makes it valuable to both readers and AI systems. Adivi, the skincare moderator, worries that the crackdown is making her more suspicious of smaller brands. “The unfortunate thing is it does mean I end up being more suspicious of smaller brands, even though I would love to see more small brands out in the world,” she says.
The broader cultural moment is marked by a growing awareness of fake engagement. Paid clipping campaigns, bot farms, and disguised ads are common on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Reddit has long been seen as an antidote to that, a place where real conversations happen away from the noise. The influx of AI-driven spam threatens that reputation. A single fake review can be cited by an AI assistant and repeated to millions of people, making the incentive to game Reddit stronger than ever.
Monroe remains cautiously optimistic. He points out that bots and sponsored posts cannot fill a stadium or make listeners genuinely connect with a song. “What I do hope comes out of this all is just people realizing there’s certain things you can’t fake in the industry,” he says. The fight against AI SEO spam is not just about keeping Reddit clean; it is about preserving the authenticity that makes online communities worth participating in. Moderators are the first line of defense, and they are adapting as fast as the marketers who keep pushing their way in.
Source: The Verge News