Reddit Fights AI Marketing Spam with Its Own AI
Reddit fights AI marketing ‘slop’ with its own AI, as GEO becomes the new SEO
Brands are seeding Reddit with fake, chatbot-friendly posts so that ChatGPT and Gemini repeat their marketing as genuine advice. Reddit says its own AI now catches 25,000 spammy posts a day, marking the newest front in the fast-growing world of generative engine optimisation (GEO).
July 6, 2026 – 3:24 pm
People increasingly rely on ChatGPT instead of Google. As a result, marketers are planting fake opinions on Reddit with the hope that chatbots will repeat them as genuine recommendations. Reddit is responding with its own AI solution.
A Strange New Spam Problem
Bloomberg reports that brands are stealthily posting and commenting on Reddit to game the system. The goal? To get AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini to cite their products as real advice.
Why Reddit Is a Target
OpenAI and Google both pay Reddit for its content. Chatbots frequently rely on the site because people trust its unfiltered, human conversations. This trust makes Reddit a popular source for AI answers, making it a prime location for gaming the system.
Fighting Fire with Fire
Reddit is using its own AI technology to combat these spammers. Its improved systems caught 25,000 "spammy posts and comments" daily in the first quarter, according to the company. This reduced user exposure by 20% year-over-year.
Large language models now identify “the subtle, coordinated patterns of fake behavior and artificial hype” that older tools missed. Reddit also scrutinizes new accounts for warning signs before they can post.
A Cat-and-Mouse Game Continues
Despite Reddit’s efforts, marketers persist. Shanzila Ahmed, who runs the agency ReachLLM, has successfully landed client posts in ChatGPT within a day, though Reddit later removed some of them. Her solution: “We just need to keep pushing out good new content at regular intervals.”
Investors are taking notice. The GEO startup Profound topped a $1 billion valuation this year, joining a new breed of firms designed to make brands visible to AI.