Reddit citations in ChatGPT Search drop by over 86%

Reddit experienced a significant decline in its citation share from ChatGPT Search in August. Data from Promptwatch shows Reddit’s average citation rate fell from 3.83% between July 18 and August 7 to just 0.52% between August 14 and August 17, representing an 86.4% relative drop.

The shift appears to be driven by changes in how ChatGPT Search retrieves information. On August 8, the use of the “site:” operator in ChatGPT’s background searches rose from approximately 0.4% to nearly 17%, suggesting the AI began targeting specific domains directly rather than relying on broad web retrieval. This change favors official company sites, documentation, and government portals over social platforms like Reddit.

Unlike Google’s AI products, which saw a gradual decline in Reddit citations, the drop in ChatGPT was sudden. This volatility highlights the unpredictable nature of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Following the circulation of these citation charts, Reddit’s stock (RDDT) reportedly dropped approximately 10% in a single afternoon session.