Right now, someone is asking ChatGPT about a business like yours.
They might be researching “best contractors in [your city]” or “which accounting firm should I use” or “is [your company name] reliable?” They’re getting instant, confident answers.
But here’s the question they are most likely not asking: where is that information actually coming from? Where is ChatGPT, or Gemini, or Perplexity, or whichever AI chatbot they’re using, get its information?
Is it from your website? Your carefully crafted About page? Your Google reviews?
Or is it from a three-year-old Reddit thread where anonymous users shared opinions based on experiences that may or may not have happened?
The answer matters more than you think.
ChatGPT usage jumped 70% in the first half of 2025. Shopping and business-related searches doubled during that same period.
Your customers and potential customers are using AI tools to research products, compare services, and locate local businesses. And they’re making decisions based on the answers they receive.
The problem? Most people trust AI responses without questioning them. They don’t verify sources. They don’t cross-reference. They simply accept the information as fact and proceed to the next decision: whether to contact you, visit your competitor, or skip your industry entirely.
You can’t control what AI tells people about your business. But you can understand how it works. In 2026, that understanding is quickly becoming a competitive necessity.
So where do these AI answers actually come from?
The Reddit-Google-AI Pipeline (And Why It’s Everywhere)
The journey from question to answer involves a pipeline most people never see. And at the center of it? Reddit.
If you’ve searched Google recently, you’ve probably noticed: Reddit threads appear everywhere. Product reviews, local recommendations, troubleshooting advice… Reddit has become one of the most visible sources in search results. That’s not an accident.
In February 2024, Google announced a $60 million annual deal with Reddit, the same day Reddit filed its IPO. The timing raised eyebrows across the tech industry, but the results are undeniable.
Reddit went from being the 85th most visible site on Google to the 3rd most visible in just 18 months. That’s a 1,342% increase. Reddit now appears in over 97% of Google product review searches.
SEO strategist Lily Ray called it “unprecedented in the history of Google Search,” noting that “never has a site seen this massive an increase in SEO rankings, traffic, and visibility in this short amount of time”.
But Reddit’s influence doesn’t stop at Google. AI tools rely heavily on Reddit content, too.
Analysis of 150,000 AI-generated responses found that Reddit appears in 40% of answers provided by tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, more than any other source except Wikipedia. When someone asks an AI tool for business recommendations, Reddit discussions are often the primary source shaping those answers.
Here’s why that matters: Reddit is a forum of anonymous users sharing opinions.
Upvotes don’t equal accuracy; they equal popularity. The most upvoted comment might be funny, relatable, or confidently wrong. Yet AI tools present this information as if it’s authoritative.
You can easily see how this gets out of hand. Someone asks ChatGPT, “What’s the best HVAC company in [your city]?” The answer might be based on a Reddit thread from 2023 where anonymous users recommended a company that’s since gone out of business, changed ownership, or was never particularly good to begin with.
Or, the user has since deleted their account because they were found to have worked at that company, or a competitor, and didn’t want to get found out.
But the AI doesn’t know that. It just knows Reddit users mentioned that company’s name multiple times in a thread with high engagement.
Your potential customer gets that recommendation. They never visit your website. They never see your Google reviews. They just call the company AI suggested, and you never know why your phone didn’t ring.
Why This Matters for Your Business
This shift creates three specific problems for small businesses.
First, there’s a visibility problem.
If AI tools are answering customer questions before people ever search Google, and those answers don’t mention your business, you’re invisible.
Traditional SEO focused on ranking on Google’s first page. Now the game is getting mentioned in AI summaries and responses. Your competitor might get recommended not because they’re better, but because they were mentioned more frequently on Reddit or in other sources AI considers authoritative.
Second, there’s a reputation problem.
AI might cite outdated information about your business, including old hours, discontinued services, and previous ownership.
Negative comments from Reddit threads years ago might shape AI recommendations today. And unlike Google reviews, where you can respond and provide context, you can’t correct or engage with AI-generated summaries. The information just circulates, beyond your reach.
Third, there’s a customer decision-making problem.
Research shows that only 8% of people actually verify AI-generated answers. The other 92% just trust them. Your customers are treating AI responses as if they’re fact-checked expert opinions, when they might be anonymous Reddit comments from years ago. They’re making decisions about whether to contact you based on information you didn’t provide and can’t verify.
Here’s the competitive reality: In 2026, two businesses offer the same service at the same price. One gets mentioned frequently in AI responses. One doesn’t. Which one gets more phone calls?
The Wikipedia Lesson: Why We Stopped Questioning
If this feels familiar, it should. We’ve been here before, and we’ve already forgotten the lessons we learned.
In 2007, colleges banned Wikipedia citations. Faculty warned students constantly: anyone can edit Wikipedia, verify everything, don’t trust crowd-sourced information.
The skepticism was healthy and warranted. Completely fabricated articles existed for years before anyone caught them.
Then something happened. Wikipedia became ubiquitous. It became convenient. And slowly, people forgot to verify. Today, most people treat Wikipedia as authoritative without questioning it. The verification habit we once had simply eroded.
The same thing happened with Google. In the early 2000s, people knew to check multiple sources and avoid sketchy websites. “Don’t trust everything you read online” was common wisdom. But as Google improved and became indispensable, that skepticism faded. Now, the first Google result equals truth for most users.
The AI arc is following the exact same pattern, just faster. In 2023, everyone knew AI could “hallucinate” false information. By 2025, only 8% of users bother to verify answers. What happens in 2026?
The pattern is clear: We start skeptical. We get comfortable. We stop questioning. And by the time we realize we should have kept questioning, the habit is gone.
Your customers aren’t asking “Is this AI answer accurate?” They’re asking, “Which business should I call?” And the answer they get, accurate or not, determines whether they call you.
What Smart Business Owners Should Know
Just like you eventually learned to check multiple sources before believing something online, look for credentials rather than just confident writing, and verify dates to ensure information is current, you now need to apply that same filter to AI-generated information.
The core principle is simple: confidence doesn’t equal accuracy.
AI always sounds certain, even when it’s completely wrong. The authoritative tone tells you nothing about reliability.
Want to test it yourself? Just respond to one of those confident answers saying you don’t believe it, that you believe something else, and watch how quickly the bot aligns with your new line of thinking.
Understanding how AI works helps you understand how customers are finding (or not finding) you. The businesses that adapt to this new search landscape will have a competitive advantage. But adaptation requires knowledge, and that’s where most business owners are still catching up.
Learn What’s Working in 2026
Just like Wikipedia and Google before it, AI search isn’t going away. Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, they’re only getting more integrated into how your customers research and make decisions.
The question isn’t whether this matters. It’s what you’re going to do about it.
On Wednesday, January 21st at 12pm ET, we’re hosting a free webinar to break down exactly what’s happening with AI search, and what it means for local businesses and organizations like yours.
We’ll cover how AI search actually works (in plain English, not tech jargon), why Google AI Overviews are the most urgent change for 2026, and what’s working for businesses that are staying visible despite these shifts.
You’ll learn specific strategies to make sure customers still find you when they search, with real examples from local businesses navigating these changes successfully.
AI is reshaping how customers find businesses. Reddit is more visible in search than ever before. Most people are accepting AI answers without question. You can’t change those trends, but you can understand them.
The businesses that thrive in 2026 won’t be the ones that ignore AI or panic about it. They’ll be the ones who understand how it works and adapt accordingly.
That understanding starts January 21st.
