ChatGPT citations of Reddit fell 86% after OpenAI changed its search method
rohanpaul_ai · x · 2026-08-21
Per PromptWatch, Reddit appeared in up to 4.5% of ChatGPT answers before August 8, making it one of the most-cited sources in AI responses. But OpenAI changed how it pulls in information this month, using a site: operator to go to specific sites rather than searching the open web. Reddit's citation share dropped to roughly 0.5% — an 86% fall — while Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode showed far slower Reddit declines.
Reddit said it remains among the most-cited domains in other reports. The lesson for publishers: visibility from AI citations can evaporate overnight when ChatGPT's web-search behavior changes. Gizmodo reached out to OpenAI without a response.
Related event: Reddit's ChatGPT citation share collapses after OpenAI search changes(9 posts)→
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