Reddit has joined the AI race officially by launching an AI-powered search tool called Reddit Answers. Millions of users append “Reddit” to their search queries on Google every month, but Reddit now suggests skipping Google entirely and using its search engine instead. Here’s everything you need to know about Reddit Answers.
What is Reddit Answers?
To keep it simple, this is Reddit’s Search engine or tool that uses AI to find and show answers to your questions directly instead of the traditional blue links. Think of it like Perplexity that gives AI-generated answers to your questions. However, instead of using the entire web as the source, it only uses information available on Reddit. For example user posts and comments.
Currently, Reddit Answers is in beta and rolling out to a limited number of users in the United States on reddit.com/answers and Reddit’s iOS app.
You can ask questions in everyday or natural language, such as “What are the best running shoes?” or “How do I clean rusted cast iron?” Reddit Answers will then generate a summary of relevant discussions, complete with inline links to the source threads. Each summary includes a list of subreddits related to the query, helping users discover new communities that share their interests and expertise. For example, asking about hiking trails might lead you to subreddits dedicated to outdoor adventures.
Limitations of Reddit Answers
Reddit Answers is still in its early stages. There are a few restrictions to keep in mind:
- Right now, only a small group of users in the U.S. can try Reddit Answers, and it’s available only in English.
- You can use it on the web or the iOS app, but Android support is still in the works.
- There’s a cap on how many questions you can ask, though Reddit hasn’t said exactly what the limit is.
- NSFW content and some other questions are filtered to keep it safe and friendly for all.
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What’s Next?
With Reddit Answers, the platform positions itself as an alternative to Google Search, Perplexity, and ChatGPT Search. It also plans to expand Reddit Answers to more languages and locations in the future.
Early users of the feature seem more intrigued by the opportunity to discover new subreddits and conversations than by the AI-generated answers themselves. However, as the feature evolves, it’ll be interesting to see how it shapes the way people interact with Reddit and whether it can become a go-to tool for finding information or will people still use Google Search trick.
