Maya Robertson
As generative AI takes a larger role in product discovery, shoppers are still turning to human conversations before making purchase decisions. New research from Reddit finds that 50% of US shoppers use Reddit to verify recommendations they receive from AI, while more than one-third of shoppers in the UK report doing the same.
The findings come from Reddit’s 2026 Path to Purchase study, conducted in May among 13,956 US consumers and 6,485 UK consumers aged 18 to 65 who use social media, large language models and ecommerce platforms monthly. The research examined how consumers move between AI tools, social platforms and other digital channels during discovery, consideration and purchase.
AI appears to be changing where shopping journeys begin without eliminating the demand for human validation. Half of Reddit users surveyed said the platform helps them discover something new, while Reddit ranked first among social platforms for helping consumers make faster purchase decisions in both the US and UK.
The study also points to a trust gap between AI-generated recommendations and the information consumers seek before acting on them. Among Reddit users in the US, 60% said they trust Reddit to verify AI recommendations, compared with 53% who said the same about friends or family. In the UK, the figures were 49% and 44%, respectively.
Consumers are also deliberately incorporating the platform into their searches. More than one in five shoppers now include the word “Reddit” directly in search queries when looking for human perspectives. Meanwhile, half of Reddit users said they visit the platform looking for what they consider the honest truth about a product, brand or service that AI cannot provide, and 41% said they seek human consensus.
Real-world experiences are also playing a larger role in purchasing decisions. According to Reddit’s research, consumers in the US were twice as likely to identify honest, real-world experiences as the most important purchase factor compared with reviews from professional critics or influencers. In the UK, they were nearly 2.5 times as likely to do so.
That validation can translate directly into purchases. Globally, more than half of respondents said they conduct a final check on Reddit before buying, while one in four said they purchase immediately after seeing their decision validated on the platform. Reddit users also continue consulting the platform after buying: 43% said they look for information about long-term product quality, rising to 45% in the UK.
The growing role of AI in discovery, however, presents a more complicated picture for Reddit itself. EMARKETER notes that Reddit content is highly visible within AI-powered search results, meaning consumers can encounter information originating from Reddit without necessarily visiting the platform. Semrush data cited by EMARKETER ranks Reddit as the most-cited domain across ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode and Perplexity, although other measurements have placed YouTube first.
This creates a potential tension between Reddit’s influence over purchasing decisions and the traffic it receives. AI systems can surface information derived from Reddit discussions while answering users’ questions directly, potentially reducing the need to click through to the original conversations. EMARKETER points to this dynamic in the context of Reddit’s data licensing relationship with Google and concerns that AI-generated search answers could affect one of the platform’s user acquisition channels.
For advertisers, the findings suggest that product discovery and validation are increasingly taking place across different platforms. AI tools may provide the initial recommendation or shortlist, while community discussions can become a secondary layer where consumers compare experiences, question recommendations and decide whether to proceed with a purchase. As AI reshapes search traffic, Reddit’s commercial challenge will be converting that influence over consumer decisions into measurable activity on its own platform.
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