Reddit shares are plummeting in New York premarket trading, and if this trend continues, we’re looking at the most staggering decline in six months. This downturn is no coincidence; new data reveals that ChatGPT has drastically reduced, or entirely eliminated, its reliance on Reddit for generating responses. Who could have thought that sourcing information from a platform filled with random opinions would be the best strategy for an AI?
As multiple users on X point to Similarweb’s findings, the evidence is clear: Reddit’s web traffic is in freefall. One user, Bert Tian, aptly highlights the severity of the decline:
The drop in Reddit’s daily active users correlates sharply with ChatGPT’s significant cutback on Reddit citations, bringing traffic levels close to those seen at the start of the year.
Data from several analysts confirms that ChatGPT’s citation patterns have shifted dramatically. While the reasons remain unclear, speculation points to a cost-cutting initiative aimed at transitioning toward monetization.
Tian’s data shows that around September 11 marked a pivotal decline in ChatGPT’s use of Reddit as a source. An image depicting Reddit’s U.S. daily active users reinforces this alarming trend.
Another X user, Andrea Bosoni, pointedly noted that ChatGPT’s move away from Reddit indicates a growing recognition that not all online opinions can be trusted sources of information:
Apparently ChatGPT is not using Reddit much anymore for their answers. I guess they realized that what random people say can’t be considered a trusted source after all.
Adding to the analysis, a dataset from TryProfound indicates that Reddit accounted for a significant 11.3% of ChatGPT’s citations among its top ten sources as of mid-2025.
In premarket trading, Reddit shares have dropped as much as 13%. If these losses persist into the cash session, it spells the largest decline since early March.
So let’s be clear: ChatGPT leans heavily on Wikipedia and Reddit for information. It’s no surprise that Elon Musk has unveiled plans for “Grokpedia,” a platform aimed at countering Wikipedia’s perceived manipulation and asserting a more truthful alternative.
