Reddit's traffic is down 13%, thanks to Google's AI Overviews

Senior Correspondent covering technology and culture Reddit's traffic is down, thanks to AI Overviews. Reddit; BI New data sheds further light on Reddit's search traffic woes.Reddit's traffic dipped 13% in global visits from October 2025 to October 2026, according to analytics firm Similarweb. The decline traffic sent to Reddit from Google search has driven Reddit to go (mostly) logged-in-only.However, Reddit reported in a recent letter to shareholders that the number of weekly active uniques were up 16% year over year in October. That's a slightly different measurement than Similarweb's estimate. A spokesperson for Reddit told Business Insider that Reddit's reporting is based on daily and weekly active uniques rather than total visits. Reddit's traffic is down 13%, according to Similarweb. Similarweb Reddit's traffic has been hurt by the way people are increasingly going to chatbots for answers, and especially the way that Google increasingly shows people AI Overviews instead of a list of links.In Reddit's recent Q3 earnings, CEO Steve Huffman said that Google AI Overviews "are not traffic drivers" and have led to a drop in search traffic to the site. In a letter to investors, he said that Google search traffic was "down meaningfully" and that if the trend continued it could lead to a low double-digit drop in unique visits.Reddit's shift to a logged-in experience is because that's where its most lucrative, non-logged-in web traffic (the kind that took a dip). Huffman said: "Search referral trends do not determine our relevancy, and they do not define our future. Logged-in and app DAUq are our most valuable users, and they are our primary focus."It wasn't always this way — in 2024, Reddit made a deal with Google to license itself for AI training at a time when Reddit's search traffic was surging thanks to Google.Reddit's traffic shot up 39% from May 2023 to May 2024, according to Similarweb. But as AI Overviews have become more and more frequent and useful, Reddit's traffic has dipped.Once the logged-in-only experience starts, web traffic will likely dip even more, since some people will get shut out from the site. But Reddit seems to be leaning into where it has the most value for people. Just this week, the company announced it would be launching Reddit Reviews, which will organize user recommendations for products. Read next Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know Katie Notopoulos is a senior correspondent at Business Insider who writes about technology, business, and culture.Previously, Katie was a tech reporter at BuzzFeed News and has written for The Atlantic, The New York Times, Fast Company, and MIT Technology Review. Reddit Google