# Reddit says AI Overviews and AI Mode are cutting its Google search traffic

Published: 2026-10-30T20:01:34.146Z · Source: Search Engine Journal (https://www.searchenginejournal.com/reddit-to-test-login-only-mode-as-google-search-traffic-drops/595270/)
Source date: 2026-10-30
Flags: single-source — confirmation pending
Entities: reddit, ai-overviews, ai-mode

Reddit told shareholders on its third-quarter call that search referral traffic fell by more than 1 million referrals per week on average in October, after a third quarter in which it was "down meaningfully," per Search Engine Journal. CEO Steve Huffman named Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode as the largest part of Reddit's hypothesis, with lower-ranked machine-translated content a second factor outside the U.S., and said AI Mode "does not drive traffic." Reddit's letter does not give the weekly baseline, break the decline out by search engine, or say how much each factor explains.

Reddit also said it will begin testing a logged-in-only version of the site in select markets outside the U.S. in the fourth quarter, without naming the markets. Huffman said the test will settle how much of a thread a visitor, including one arriving from search, can read before a login prompt, and that Reddit wants shared links to keep working. Per the report, U.S. logged-out daily uniques fell from 30.1 million to 27.3 million between the second and third quarters, while logged-in U.S. users rose slightly, from 23.1 million to 23.4 million.

Why it matters: Reddit is one of the most-cited sources in Google's AI answers, and its first-party numbers say that visibility is not returning clicks, while a login wall could change what a searcher landing on a Reddit thread can read.

## What this answers

**Is Google AI Mode reducing traffic to Reddit?**

Reddit told shareholders its search referrals fell by more than 1 million per week on average in October, and CEO Steve Huffman named Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode as the biggest part of Reddit's working hypothesis. The company's letter does not say how much of the decline each factor explains, per Search Engine Journal.

**Is Reddit going to require a login to read threads?**

Reddit plans to begin testing a logged-in-only version of the site in select markets outside the U.S. in the fourth quarter. Huffman said some version of Reddit will be viewable before a hard login prompt and that shared links should keep working; the test markets have not been named.


Canonical: https://anythingengineoptimization.com/item/2026-10-30-reddit-says-ai-overviews-and-ai-mode-are-cutting-its-google-search/
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