Reddit Integrates AI-Powered 'Reddit Answers' into Main Search Bar

AI comes to Reddit's main search bar - who needs Google now?

It's getting a little easier to use Reddit as a search engine. Last year, Reddit rolled out a new feature called Reddit Answers. Since so many people use Reddit as a Google replacement to tap into the community's immense knowledge, the site introduced AI-curated answers related to the topic you were looking for. Also: Meta's new AI app delivers a chatbot with a social media twist At the time, you had to specifically head to a Reddit Answers tab to use the feature, but now it's coming to the main search bar. In the company's first-quarter earnings call yesterday, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said that the site was "working to integrate it [Reddit Answers] into Reddit's core search experience to further streamline the path from question to answer on Reddit." Instead of adding "reddit" to a Google search -- say, "chicken pasta recipes reddit" -- you can head straight to Reddit and search. Instead of the usual results you'll have to wade through, you'll now get a curated response with a list of different answers. Each answer has a link to the source and an additional tip or two that other users have added. Also: The most popular AI tools of 2025 (and what that even means) Huffman said the feature should help new users opening the app for the first time find their way around and help visitors coming to Reddit through an external search. The goal, he said, is to upgrade Reddit search and integrate it throughout the site. People come to Reddit, he added, with intent. They're not just scrolling; they come looking for real opinions from real people. This feature makes finding those opinions easier. When you search for something online, it's hard to make sure the answer you find isn't just a generic one. With Reddit Answers, he explained, you're getting lived experience and personal recommendations. Huffman said he wanted Reddit's content to be easily found, noting that it's one of the last major online platforms that doesn't require an account login. Get the morning's top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter.

Reddit will integrate AI Answers into its main search bar

The feature has already reached 1 million weekly users, according to CEO Steve Huffman. Late last year, Reddit introduced its AI-powered search tool, . Now, the company plans to make the feature even more prominent by adding it into Reddit's main sitewide search, CEO Steve Huffman said during the company's first-quarter earnings call. "We are now working to integrate it into Reddit core search experience to further streamline the path from question to answer on Reddit," Huffman said. "Integrating into Reddit search means we want one search box. That'll be the primary search box, and you'll type your query in there, you'll get, potentially, your [Reddit] Answers, answer, or, you know, more of a traditional Reddit response, depending on what you're searching for." Up to now, Reddit Answers, which is still labeled as being in "beta," has lived in its own section of the service. The feature summarizes conversations from across Reddit in response to queries that users may otherwise seek out by adding "Reddit" to their searches on Google. Huffman said that Reddit Answers, which recently became available to all US Redditors, as well as a handful of international markets, already has 1 million weekly users. That's only a small fraction of Reddit's 401 million weekly users, but adding it into Reddit's primary search box should give it a boost. Huffman said the change is part of a broader strategy to improve search across Reddit. Reddit Answers, he said, could help make the service more accessible to new users and guide people who come to the site via search engines. The change could also be somewhat controversial -- Reddit users aren't exactly known for loving big changes to the service -- though Huffman acknowledged users may not always want an AI-generated summary in response to every search. "Sometimes people will want the summarized, annotated, sterile answers from AI, and we're even building this ourselves in Reddit Answers," Huffman said. "But other times they want the subjective, authentic, messy, multiple viewpoints that Reddit provides."