By Sophie Lindqvist

Reddit's global visits fell 13% from October 2025 to October 2026, according to Similarweb, as Google increasingly showed AI Overviews (AI-generated summaries above search links) instead of a conventional list.

Reddit's own measure moved the other way. The company told shareholders that weekly active uniques, meaning people active during the week, rose 16% year over year in October 2026.

The contrast needs care. Similarweb estimates total visits, while Reddit counts daily and weekly active uniques, a spokesperson said. Treating the 13% decline and 16% increase as contradictory would obscure the strategic issue: fewer visits can coexist with more active users.

What does the 13% decline actually measure?

It measures global visit volume over a 12-month comparison, according to Similarweb. It does not isolate Google referrals (visits sent from search-result pages), quantify chatbot substitution, or show how many anonymous users Reddit will lose.

During Reddit's third-quarter earnings, CEO Steve Huffman said Google AI Overviews "are not traffic drivers" and have reduced search traffic to Reddit. In the shareholder letter, he described Google search traffic as "down meaningfully."

Huffman warned that, if the trend continued, unique visits could fall by a low double-digit percentage. That is a conditional warning, not a reported result, and the cited figures do not establish AI Overviews as the sole cause of the decline.

Reddit has also cited the migration of questions toward chatbots. Such services can answer without sending users to discussion forums. AI Overviews apply similar pressure within Google by presenting increasingly frequent and useful summaries before a user clicks a source link.

Why does Google still matter to Reddit?

Referral growth once supplied a substantial distribution channel. Similarweb data show Reddit visits rose 39% from May 2023 to May 2024, and Reddit licensed its content to Google for AI training in 2024.

That history explains the tension. Reddit benefits when Google sends curious users to its pages, but it loses referral opportunities when Google answers those users directly. The licensing deal's terms and any revenue split were not specified, leaving the conflict unresolved.

Reddit's response is a mostly logged-in-only experience, which concentrates access on the users it considers most valuable and lucrative. Huffman wrote: "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."

DAUq means daily active unique users. The measure supports Huffman's focus on people who return directly or use the app, but it does not reveal how many logged-out visitors will be excluded after restrictions begin.

What is the cost of tightening access?

Reddit's web traffic will probably decline further once the logged-in experience starts because some visitors will be shut out. The company is prioritizing repeat use over maximum reach, accepting a smaller measurable audience to protect its core users.

The business case still requires proof that more valuable logged-in users compensate for lost referrals. No cited data quantify that compensation, and the 16% rise in active uniques does not establish a direct relationship to Reddit's commercial performance.

Reddit announced this week that it will launch Reddit Reviews, which will organize user recommendations for products. The feature offers another route into product discovery, but the announcement provides no user target, commercial forecast or performance metric against which to test the claim.

What does this change for Reddit's business?

For readers tracking the platform, the practical change is a shift from maximizing anonymous referral traffic to retaining logged-in and app users that Reddit says matter most. That may reduce dependence on Google's presentation decisions, but it may also deepen the traffic contraction.

Investors should separate three signals: fewer global visits, more active users and an unproven commercial benefit from tighter access. The strategic logic is clear, but the cited data do not yet show whether the new model offsets the referrals Google is withholding.