Information Density: Foundation Marketing – Signal Evidence & AI Readability

[H3]
Visibility in LLMs. Pipeline in your CRM.

Foundation is an AI visibility & GEO marketing agency that helps ambitious brands and enterprise companies drive pipeline through visibility in LLMs.

TALK TO A STRATEGIST

[IMG: LinkedIn Fundamentals Certified Badge]

[IMG: Moz Recommended Company Badge]

[IMG: SEM Rush Badge]

[IMG: LinkedIn Marketing Strategy Badge]

We’ve helped some of the most ambitious companies drive real ROI from marketing engines.

[H3]
We’re Engineering Visibility for the AI Era

[H4] Research

Query Fan Out Research
LLM Visibility Research
LLM Citation Research
YouTube Research
Social Research
Reddit Research
SERP Research
LLM Research

[H4] Create

Non-Commodity Content
Long Form Blog Posts
Social Media Content
Off-Site Content
YouTube Content
Reddit Content
LLM Content
Webinars
Graphics
Podcasts

[H4] Distribute

Brand Mention Acquisition
Subreddit Management
Citation Acquisition
Niche Publications
Influencer Content
Reels & Shorts
Newsletters
LLM Ads
YouTube
Reddit

[H4] Optimize

Video LLM Optimization
Generative Engine
Answer Engine
Search Oriented
Data Updates
Link Updates
On-site SEO
Off-site SEO
Social Discovery

We're the AI visibility agency that makes sure your brand is cited, recommended, and trusted by the models shaping buying decisions.

[H2] Research

[H3] Understand which channels LLMs draw from in your category and where your brand is missing from the answers.

01

[H3] We study your customers

Our Strategy team will study the keywords your audience uses and the newsletters they subscribe to. We’ll study reviews online and listen to sales calls. We need to learn about your customers and product.

02

[H3] Find Content-Market Fit

Our strategy process helps us validate the types of content that are going to convert your audience. We conduct keyword research & more to help ensure that the content & SERP opportunity is clear.

03

[H3] Deliver A Content Engine

[IMG: Presentation]
Our production team and strategy team work together to develop a content engine that outlines all the activities needed for you to reach your goals in the next 12 months.

Book an intro call

[H2] Create

[H3] Build the content and authority signals that make your brand the one AI cites and the one buyers choose.

01

[H3] We Build Data-Driven Briefs

We combine creativity and technology to develop briefs that are intended to achieve goals. Everything is created with intent top of mind and your content priorities.

02

[H3] We Create Content That Works

Our writing team develops content that aligns with audience's search intent & more. From long form blog posts to a series of comparison pages - we create content that drives ROI.

03

[H3] We Move The Needle

Our team watches the needle move across key metrics. Pipelines get influenced. SERPs/LLMs get dominated. Traffic is acquired. Leads are captured.

TALK TO A STRATEGIST

[H2] Distribute

[H3] Distribute your brand's narrative across the sources LLMs actually draw from — search, Reddit, YouTube, earned media.

01

[H3] We Identify Good Content

Our team identifies existing content worth distributing or plans new content that is worth distributing.

02

[H3] We Run Distribution Playbooks

These pieces go through a distribution engine that drives an increase in LLM visibility across the various models.

03

[H3] From Repurposing To Citations

Our team will manage the holistic distribution engine surrounding your content. We drive citations. We drive shares. We drive links. We drive pipeline.

[H3] Your distribution engine can include:

[H4] Reddit Threads

[H4] LinkedIn Carousels

[H4] LinkedIn Images

[H4] X Threads

[H4] X One-Off Posts

[H4] YouTube Videos

[H4] Short Social Clips

[H4] Citation Oriented Content

[H4] Email Marketing

[H4] User Generated Content

[H4] Repurposed Assets

[H4] And more...

TALK TO A STRATEGIST

[H2] Optimize

[H3] Track and improve the metrics that matter: citation rate, share of model, and AI-driven pipeline.

01

[H3] We Audit Old Content

Our GEO and AI visibility team will identify the best pieces of content on your site showing content-market fit signals for optimization.

02

[H3] Optimize For Search & Conversion

Our optimization efforts improve your content so it's more likely to influence LLMs and show up in Google.

03

[H3] Maintain Brand Excellence

[IMG: Group Meeting]
Our editorial, design and copywriting team will optimize your content with brand excellence top of mind.

TALK TO A STRATEGIST

[H2]
OVER 220M ORGANIC VISITS AND AI CITATIONS GENERATED FOR B2B BRANDS
We’ve helped some of the top brands and companies in the world drive real results from distribution & creation.

[H2]
MOST AGENCIES IGNORE REDDIT. WE WROTE THE PLAYBOOK.
Our clients turn Reddit threads into pipeline. Their competitors don’t even know those threads exist.

[H3] OUR LATEST CONTENT FROM THE LAB:

[H4]
Generative Engine Optimization
| GEO and AI Visibility
[H2]
What’s Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) & How To Do It?
For twenty years, SEO meant one thing: rank higher on Google. Build backlinks, optimize headers, speed up your server, and watch the traffic roll in. The playbook was clear, the metrics were familiar, and everyone knew the rules. GEO changes the rules: Your brand’s visibility in… Read More

Read more

[H4]
B2B Marketing
| B2B SaaS
| Reddit Marketing
[H2]
We Analyzed 8,566 Keywords Across 14 SaaS Domains to Measure Reddit’s Impact on B2B Search… Here’s What We Found
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” — Mike Tyson SaaS marketers had a plan. Build the blog. Target the keywords. Get the links. Dominate the SERP. Then Reddit punched them in the mouth. Over the… Read More

Read more

[H4]
GEO and AI Visibility
[H2]
AI Memory Is the Next Battleground in Marketing: Here’s Your Inception Strategy
“I think memory and the idea of personalization is going to be one of the most important concepts in our industry for the next forty eight months.”  — Ross Simmonds, SEO Week 2026 LLMs are learning from every user interaction. That memory increasingly shapes… Read More

Read more

[H3] Want to work together?
Let us know what you’re looking for by filling out this form. We’ll email you to schedule a call to discuss how we can help you achieve your content goals.

[H1] Turn AI Visibility Into Pipeline
We help companies like yours get found, cited, and chosen by the AI systems their buyers use to make decisions, and we turn that visibility into qualified pipeline.
[H5] Here’s what you get:
A snapshot of your citation share, share of voice, and sentiment across every relevant LLM
Insights into how you’re showing up vs competitors against priority keywords
Monthly re-measurement against the baseline

[IMG: play video]

2:49

[H3] 200+ leading tech companies trust us to drive AI citations, organic visits, and LLM visibility

[IMG: Meg Sakakibara]

"Foundation’s crew proved to be strategic problem-solvers that brought comprehensive SEO content planning, execution, distribution and optimization to our organization."
Meg Sakakibara
VP of Marketing (Unbounce)

[IMG: Laura Binder]

“Your approach to content creation was truly a treat, and I learned a lot and was so inspired by your approach of rolling up your sleeves and diving into a very challenging subject matter."
Laura Binder
Sr. Content Strategist, (Ledge + Formerly GetFabric)

[IMG: Nikki Shum Harden]

“When you work with Foundation it's like creating an extension of your team. These folks take care of you. I trust Foundation and love working with them."
Nikki Shum-Harden
Head Of Marketing, Subspace (Now at Apple)

[IMG: Andile Masuku]

"Thank you to the entire Foundation Team for their unwavering support throughout our collaboration thus far. This has easily been the most rewarding agency partnership I've had the privilege to lead to date."
Andile Masuku
Head of Community, Founders Factory Africa

You've likely seen or heard of us from:

[H2] Get in Touch with Us

We value your questions and feedback. Feel free to reach out to us through any of the following methods:
Phone: +1-902-510-2575
Email: team@foundationinc.co
US Address: 1650 Market Street, 36th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Canada Address: 3-644 Portland St, Dartmouth, NS B2W 6C4

[H3]

[H3]

‹ Go Back

[H2]
Subscribe For Exclusive Trends, Research & Data
Gain access to exclusive research, training, trends and support from the best marketers in the world.
Foundation Labs provides you with timely, meaningful, and relevant data that enables you to grow your company in a meaningful way. The world’s top SaaS companies subscribe to Foundation Labs to receive industry news and data driven insights to create a marketing culture that drives results.
We have two different plans:

Foundation Labs: Insider Subscription

→ Exclusive B2B SaaS growth, SEO & content case studies​
→ Quarterly reports on data-backed B2B SaaS trends, correlations & more​
→ Weekly Insiders-only email on trends, data & research​
→ Insiders-only webinars on B2B SaaS content marketing​
→ Two weekly newsletters with case studies & SaaS stories​

SUBSCRIBE
$79/mo

SUBSCRIBE
$828 annually

Foundation Labs: Inner Circle Subscription

→ Exclusive B2B SaaS growth, SEO & content case studies​
→ Quarterly reports on data-backed B2B SaaS trends, correlations & more​
→ Weekly Insiders-only email on trends, data & research​
→ Insiders-only webinars on B2B SaaS content marketing​
→ Two weekly newsletters with case studies & SaaS stories​
→ Invite-only fireside chats with marketing leaders at B2B SaaS giants
→ SaaS reports breaking down what’s working across industries today

SUBSCRIBE
$329/mo

SUBSCRIBE
$3348 annually

[H3] Stop Guessing What Matters in B2B Marketing
Every Thursday we break down the biggest headline in B2B. You’ll learn why it matters and what moves to make before everyone else.

Generative Engine Optimization
GEO and AI Visibility

Ross Simmonds

24
Min Read

Last updated on May 8th, 2026

[H1]
What’s Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) & How To Do It?

Free Content

Article's Content

Add Foundation
as a preferred
source on Google

Article's Content
For twenty years, SEO meant one thing: rank higher on Google. Build backlinks, optimize headers, speed up your server, and watch the traffic roll in. The playbook was clear, the metrics were familiar, and everyone knew the rules.
GEO changes the rules:
Your brand’s visibility in AI search will define your market position for the next decade.
Your buyers aren’t starting with a list of blue links anymore. They’re starting it in a conversation. A recommendation. A summary generated by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, or Google’s AI Overviews.
And in that conversation, your brand either shows up in the results, or it’s not part of the buying decision.
Generative Engine optimization (GEO) is how you respond to that shift and make sure your brand is in the answers.
We’ve been studying that shift at Foundation, tracking how and why certain brands get cited while others disappear, and applying our learnings from day one.
This guide breaks down everything we know about GEO, from the research that defines it, to the mechanics that power it, to the strategy that makes it work. Whether you’re just hearing about GEO for the first time or you’re already tracking Share of Model across platforms, this is the resource we wish existed when we started this work.
[H2] What Is Generative Engine Optimization?
Generative Engine Optimization is how you optimize your brand’s visibility within AI-generated answers across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, and Claude.
When a VP of Marketing asks ChatGPT, “What are the best account-based marketing platforms for mid-market SaaS?”, the AI synthesizes information from dozens of sources and delivers a direct, cited response. GEO is how your brand ends up in the AI’s preferred sources, and what those sources say about you.
[H3] What the Academic Research Says
A seminal research paper from Princeton and IIT Dehli, published in 2024, introduced Generative Engine Optimization as a formal concept for the first time. The researchers defined GEO as a framework for helping content creators improve their visibility within generative engine responses, a fundamentally different challenge from traditional search engine optimization.
The core insight is that generative engines don’t simply rank websites in a list. They synthesize information from multiple sources into a single, structured response, embedding citations at varying positions and with varying levels of influence. That makes visibility far harder to define and measure than it was in the era of blue links.
The paper also proposed new metrics to capture this complexity, including position-adjusted word count and a subjective impression score that accounts for factors like a citation’s relevance, influence, and uniqueness within the generated response.
Fast forward nearly two years, a lot has changed about our understanding of GEO. But the playbook is getting clearer.
[H3] Understanding the SEO vs. GEO debate
The emergence of AI search and the never-ending quest to optimize for new channels have sparked a fierce SEO vs. GEO debate over whether the latter is actually distinct from the former in any meaningful way.
To be clear: search engine optimization is still critical to modern marketing efforts. Search engines have shaped how people find and retrieve information online for over 3 decades, and now the leading search engine company, Google, has entered the AI search space. But, while SEO is fundamental to good GEO, it’s only part of the story.
Not only do LLMs cite content based on their own training data, but they also pull from a variety of platforms and popular websites, including: Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, G2, and LinkedIn. All this means more factors influence what a generative engine includes in its output, you can’t just rely on your web domain.
Here’s the simplest way to think about the relationship between SEO and GEO:
Search Engine Optimization
Generative Engine Optimization
Optimize for rankings
Optimize for mentions and citations
Click volume
Influence on answers
Keyword positions
Brand mentions
Your domain only
Multi-platform presence
[H3] How much do AI results and search results actually overlap?
High-ranking content on Google is frequently used by LLMs, but not consistently and not always in the ways you’d expect. Research over the last year shows constant change in the overlap between the top 10 SERP results and AI responses when focusing on the same keyword:
Only about 10% of AI Mode citations match Google’s organic results (Moz).
ChatGPT’s chosen sources overlap with Google 39% of the time (Profound).
Just 12% of URLs cited by LLMs rank in Google’s top 10 for the original prompt (ahrefs).
So SEO performance alone doesn’t determine whether you show up in AI-generated answers.
GEO adds a new layer of visibility, one that depends on citation share, mention rate, sentiment, and your presence across the broader information ecosystem.
As our VP of Strategy, James Scherer, put it in his musings on GEO: “SEO is your space — your website, blog, technical optimization. GEO is all that stuff plus external influences. We don’t really optimize for generative engines; we influence them.”
SEO gives you a foundation. GEO pushes you beyond the confines of your website, into every source AI uses to learn about your category.
To execute on that, you need to understand why this shift is happening now.
[H2] Why GEO Matters Now
55% of enterprise buyers use AI to begin their search. Nearly half use it for market research. This shift isn’t emerging. It’s already shaping how decisions get made.
Here’s what makes this moment different from the early days of SEO or social media marketing: the window for first-mover advantage is narrower, the cost of inaction is higher, and the signals that matter are almost entirely invisible to traditional analytics.
[H3] Buyers Don’t Search the Same Way Anymore (Especially in B2B)
A Head of Revenue Operations opens Perplexity, not Google, and types: “Our sales team is spending too much time on manual forecasting. What tools can automate pipeline forecasting for mid-size SaaS companies?”
At this point, she’s not sure whether this is a CRM feature, a standalone tool, or a broader RevOps platform play. She’s trying to understand the landscape. The AI’s response will shape which categories she explores, which vendors she evaluates, and which competitors she never even considers.
This is happening at scale. According to G2, 30% of all buyers now start with AI before Google. Nearly half (47%) use AI for market research. And the bigger the company, the more likely it is: 55–57% of enterprises with 1,000+ employees use AI tools for product research.
[IMG: Line chart showing that reliance on AI search for product research increases with company size, with enterprise companies (55–57%) outpacing mid-market (44%) and startups (35%)]
In traditional search, a buyer moves through the funnel incrementally — a top-of-funnel search, then a middle-of-funnel comparison, then a bottom-of-funnel evaluation. Each step takes days or weeks. AI compresses the buyer’s journey from weeks to minutes.
With an LLM, that journey happens in one interaction. The buyer asks a question, refines it, compares options, and reaches a decision without leaving the conversation.
When someone finally clicks through to your site, they’re past browsing. They’re evaluating.
AI traffic conversion data from Ahrefs supports this.
ChatGPT drives only 0.5% of the visits, a rounding error, you might say. But that tiny sliver accounts for 12.1% of all new signups. That’s a conversion rate roughly 24 times higher than the average traffic source. It changes the economics of visibility.
[H3] Organic Search Drives Volume, But AI Search Decides Who Gets Considered
Before you redirect your entire budget, Google still accounts for 73.7% of all desktop searches, while ChatGPT sits at just 3.2%. But AI is reshaping Google itself, roughly 16% of search results now show AI Overviews, making Google by far the largest AI search tool.
That matters for one specific reason: when a buyer clicks through to a source that’s been cited in an AI Overview, they arrive with far more context and intent than a typical organic visitor. The AI has already framed the category, defined the criteria, and surfaced your brand as relevant. That pre-qualification is why AI-cited traffic converts at dramatically higher rates. The goal, then, is to be the brand AI cites in the first place.
Which brings us to where the real competitive stakes lie. 6sense data finds that 95% of buyers purchase from their Day One shortlist — the set of vendors they’re already considering before they fill out a form or talk to a sales rep. The first vendor to make contact wins the deal 80% of the time.
AI sits upstream of that shortlist. It shapes how buyers understand a category before any trackable signal exists, and it frames which vendors belong in the conversation before a single website visit. If you’re not part of how AI explains your category, you may never make the Day One shortlist. No amount of retargeting will fix that.
[H3] AI Search Is Creating Winners. The Window to Become One Is Now.
Analysis from Athena across 8 million AI responses reveals that the average brand appears in just 17.2% of relevant AI responses. The top brand in a given category? 56.7%. That’s more than three times the average.
Share of voice follows the same pattern: the leading brand captures 32.3% while the average competitor sits around 10–12%.
This creates a compounding effect. Citations build authority, and authority drives further visibility. Early movers who establish an AI presence are hard to displace.
[IMG: Three-panel chart showing the AI visibility gap between category leaders and average brands across Share of Model, Share of Voice, and visibility volatility, with a compounding cycle diagram below]
But here’s the nuance that makes this even more interesting. Visibility in AI search is inherently volatile. AirOps research found that only 30% of brands stay visible between consecutive answers. Just 20% remain present across five consecutive runs. The models rebalance for diversity, freshness, and coverage, and build answers from scratch each time.
What we’re seeing is that the brands with the most consistent visibility are the ones earning both mentions and citations (a pattern we’ll break down in the Measuring GEO Performance section).
The data makes one thing clear: AI visibility isn’t distributed fairly, and it isn’t stable. But it is earnable. If you understand how generative engines actually build their answers. That’s where strategy begins.
[H2] How Generative Engine Optimization Works
LLMs don’t process information the way Google’s crawler does. Instead of matching keywords to pages, they synthesize information from dozens of sources. They evaluate authority and recency, and construct responses from scratch every time someone asks a question.
[H3] The Query Fanout Process
When someone types a question into ChatGPT or another LLM, the model doesn’t just process that single query. It runs a multi-step process:
First, it analyzes intent: Is this informational, comparative, or transactional?
Then it expands the query into roughly 20 variations.
A prompt like “best CRM” might fan out into “affordable CRM for SMBs,” “CRM comparison for startups,” “small business CRM with automation,” and dozens more.
[IMG: Diagram showing how an AI model expands a single query like]
For each variation, the model searches for and retrieves relevant sources. It then aggregates content from multiple sources, evaluates each for relevance, authority, and recency, and finally synthesizes a response with citations.
This fanout process is why you can’t just optimize for one keyword and hope to show up. The AI is evaluating your brand against a much wider set of queries than any single user would type.
[H3] Multi-Source Aggregation
The Athena analysis of 8 million AI responses shows just how many sources each model pulls from when building an answer:
Grok draws from roughly 16 sources per response
ChatGPT uses about 15
Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews each pull from around 11
Gemini uses approximately 10
Where those sources come from tells you everything about where your GEO strategy needs to focus.
Reddit accounts for 22.9% of the top-cited domains across AI models
YouTube follows at 13.4%
Wikipedia sits at 6.4%
Forbes at 4.7%
LinkedIn at 4.0%
These are the primary surfaces where AI learns about categories, and they’re not your website.
The implications are straightforward: You can’t predict every query variation an AI will generate, so you need comprehensive content that covers the full breadth of your category.
Typically, LLMs pull from 5 to 16 sources per answer, so your presence should be multi-platform. And different models favor different ecosystems. Perplexity leans heavily on community platforms (over 90%), whi

‹ Go Back

[H2]
Subscribe For Exclusive Trends, Research & Data
Gain access to exclusive research, training, trends and support from the best marketers in the world.
Foundation Labs provides you with timely, meaningful, and relevant data that enables you to grow your company in a meaningful way. The world’s top SaaS companies subscribe to Foundation Labs to receive industry news and data driven insights to create a marketing culture that drives results.
We have two different plans:

Foundation Labs: Insider Subscription

→ Exclusive B2B SaaS growth, SEO & content case studies​
→ Quarterly reports on data-backed B2B SaaS trends, correlations & more​
→ Weekly Insiders-only email on trends, data & research​
→ Insiders-only webinars on B2B SaaS content marketing​
→ Two weekly newsletters with case studies & SaaS stories​

SUBSCRIBE
$79/mo

SUBSCRIBE
$828 annually

Foundation Labs: Inner Circle Subscription

→ Exclusive B2B SaaS growth, SEO & content case studies​
→ Quarterly reports on data-backed B2B SaaS trends, correlations & more​
→ Weekly Insiders-only email on trends, data & research​
→ Insiders-only webinars on B2B SaaS content marketing​
→ Two weekly newsletters with case studies & SaaS stories​
→ Invite-only fireside chats with marketing leaders at B2B SaaS giants
→ SaaS reports breaking down what’s working across industries today

SUBSCRIBE
$329/mo

SUBSCRIBE
$3348 annually

[H3] Stop Guessing What Matters in B2B Marketing
Every Thursday we break down the biggest headline in B2B. You’ll learn why it matters and what moves to make before everyone else.

B2B Marketing
B2B SaaS
Reddit Marketing

Ross Simmonds

19
Min Read

Last updated on July 30th, 2026

[H1]
We Analyzed 8,566 Keywords Across 14 SaaS Domains to Measure Reddit’s Impact on B2B Search… Here’s What We Found

Free Content

Article's Content

Add Foundation
as a preferred
source on Google

Article's Content
“Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” — Mike Tyson
SaaS marketers had a plan.
Build the blog. Target the keywords. Get the links. Dominate the SERP.
Then Reddit punched them in the mouth.
Over the last 18 months, Google’s algorithm updates have pushed user-generated content so far up the SERPs that anonymous forum threads now outrank million-dollar content operations.
And now every B2B marketing Slack channel sounds like this:
“Reddit threads are outranking our product pages.”
“We just lost position one to a two-year-old post on r/smallbusiness.”
“Our competitor’s branded keyword… first result is Reddit.”
The conventional wisdom in SaaS marketing circles is clear: Reddit is taking over B2B search.
Or at least that’s what everyone thinks.
But is it actually true? And if so, how bad is it… really?
We decided to find out.
[H3] Key Takeaways
Reddit outranks every vendor simultaneously on 50–66% of shared keywords in 3 of 4 verticals, covering 957,540 monthly searches where buyers hit Reddit before any vendor.
It’s not a reviews story. 77% of Reddit’s winning search volume comes from generic category keywords, not “best,” “review,” or “alternative” queries.
The longer the query, the more Reddit wins. At 6+ words, Reddit’s win rate hits 73–100% across verticals. As AI pushes searches longer and more conversational, this advantage grows.
Reddit dominates most where the money is. Keywords with $50+ CPCs see a 67.3% Reddit win rate. The keywords you’re spending the most on in paid are the ones Reddit owns organically.
Five subreddits power most of the damage. Just 5 communities drive 3,709 keyword appearances and over 1.1M in combined monthly search volume.
But one vertical fights back and wins. UCaaS vendors score a Reddit Threat Index of 22/100 vs. 93/100 for Sales Tech. Same algorithm. Same Reddit communities. The difference is content strategy.
[H2] What a 8,566 Keyword Gap Analysis Tells Us About Reddit’s SaaS Dominance
We pulled keyword gap reports from some of the top keyword and SERP analytics tools to study 8,566 keywords where Reddit directly competes with 13 major B2B SaaS domains across four distinct verticals. (For a full look at our process, jump to the Methods and Results section at the end of this piece.)
We analyzed position distributions, search intent, keyword value, difficulty tiers, competitive vulnerability, and more for every single keyword.
What we found is more nuanced and more actionable than anything the doomsayers are telling you.
Reddit is absolutely dominant in some verticals. In others, vendors are fighting back and winning. The difference between a company that can’t compete with Reddit vs one that can? Well, It comes down to one thing:
Content strategy.
Before we get further into the specifics…
I’ve put together a guide that breaks down exactly how brands like yours can use Reddit to drive impact: Download the Reddit Marketing Blueprint.
Alright. Let’s break down what’s happening in the SERP for B2B brands in SaaS.
[H2] The SERP Dominance Scorecard for SaaS vs Reddit
The first question we wanted to answer was simple:
How often does Reddit rank in the top three positions for keywords where it competes directly with B2B SaaS brands?
The answer depends entirely on who Reddit is competing against.
Reddit’s Top-3 Keyword Share by Vertical
Vertical
Reddit Top-3
Best Competitor Top-3
Worst Competitor Top-3
Review Sites
45.4%
Trustpilot: 29.7%
Capterra: 10.1%
Sales Tech
41.1%
ZoomInfo: 10.2%
Apollo.io: 2.5%
SaaS Platforms
39.8%
Salesforce: 25.3%
Zoho: 3.3%
UCaaS / CCaaS
10.5%
RingCentral: 23.2%
Five9: 5.9%
In three of four verticals, Reddit commands 40–45% of the top three positions.
It leads every vertical except one.
That one exception is UCaaS/CCaaS (Unified Communication and Contact Center as a Service), where Reddit finishes dead last among all five domains, with just 10.5% of keywords in the top three. RingCentral leads at 23.2%, followed by Nextiva at 18.4% and Dialpad at 15.2%. It’s one of the most important findings in the entire study. We’ll come back to why this matters.
First, look at the gap between the winners and losers on the vendor side.
Salesloft has 74.6% of its shared keywords sitting in position 20 or worse. Functionally invisible. Meanwhile, RingCentral has 50.2% of its keywords in the top 10. Same era of SaaS company. Same general category. Wildly different outcomes against Reddit.
[H2] The “Beats All” Index
Ranking in the top three is one thing.
But the question everyone in B2B marketing is really asking is more blunt: How often does Reddit outrank EVERY competitor at the same time?
[IMG: Reddit sits in a Top 3 SERP spot for around 45% of Review Site queries and around 40% of Sales Tech and SaaS Platform queries.]
In three out of four verticals, Reddit outranks every single vendor simultaneously on more than half of the shared keywords.
In sales engagement and intelligence, it’s two-thirds.
Let that sit for a second.
For the keyword “sales engagement platform” (1,300 monthly searches), Reddit ranks #1. Salesloft, the company whose entire product category is literally described by that keyword… ranks #6. Apollo.io sits at #15. ZoomInfo at #77.
For “best crm for small business” (5,400 monthly searches), Reddit ranks #1. Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho all sit behind it.
For “call center software” (5,400 monthly searches), Reddit ranks #4 while four UCaaS vendors with dedicated product pages rank lower.
Across the entire study, 4,225 keywords see Reddit beating all other domains.
[IMG: Horizontal bar chart showing how often Reddit outranks every competitor simultaneously across four B2B verticals: Sales Tech at 66.5%, SaaS Platforms at 53.3%, Review Sites at 50.3%, and UCaaS/CCaaS at 17.3%.]
Combined monthly volume across those keywords: 957,540 searches.
Nearly a million searches per month where buyers encounter Reddit before they encounter any vendor.
What this means: Reddit is a force in B2B SaaS, outranking every vendor at the same time on more than half of the industry keywords we measured. That translates to roughly 957K monthly searches where buyers encounter Reddit before they encounter you.
[H2] It’s Not Just Reviews. Reddit Owns Commercial Intent.
This is where the data starts challenging the narratives.
The most common explanation for Reddit’s organic dominance goes something like this: “People search for reviews and alternatives on Reddit, and Google surfaces those threads.”
If that were the whole story, Reddit’s advantage would be concentrated in keywords containing “review,” “alternative,” “best,” “vs,” “top,” and “compare.”
We tagged every keyword in the dataset that contained one of those evaluation-intent modifiers and measured Reddit’s win rate separately.
Evaluation-intent keywords (containing review, alternative, vs, best, top, compare):
2,172 keywords (25.4% of the full dataset)
Reddit win rate: 63.4%
Share of all Reddit wins: 32.6%
When you look at per-pattern win rates, the evaluation keywords are certainly strong for Reddit.
If someone types “best” anything into Google, Reddit wins 94.5% of the time and averages position two. That is essentially a guaranteed Reddit result.
But here’s the thing…
Those keywords only account for about a third of Reddit’s total wins.
The other two-thirds come from generic terms. “Email marketing software.” “CRM for small business.” “Sales automation tools.” “Cloud phone systems.” No evaluation modifier. No “best” or “vs” or “review.” Just someone searching for a product category, and Google deciding that a Reddit thread is more relevant than the vendor’s own website.
Non-evaluation keywords (generic commercial and informational terms):
6,394 keywords (74.6% of the dataset)
Reddit win rate: 44.5%
Share of all Reddit wins: 67.4%
Share of Reddit-won search volume: 77.0%
Read that last number again.
77% of the search volume that Reddit wins comes from keywords that have nothing to do with reviews, alternatives, or comparisons.
[IMG: Donut chart showing 67.4% of Reddit]
The conventional explanation that people just search for reviews on Reddit does not hold up against 8,566 keywords of data. Reddit is winning the category keywords AND the evaluation keywords. But the volume is overwhelmingly in the category terms.
What this means: The “people just search for reviews on Reddit” narrative doesn’t hold up. Two-thirds of Reddit’s wins come from generic category terms — the keywords that drive your pipeline, not just your comparison pages.
[H2] Reddit Is on the Long-Tail Escalator
We sliced the keywords by word count to test a hypothesis:
Does query specificity affect Reddit’s win rate?
It does. Dramatically.
[IMG: Grouped horizontal bar chart showing Reddit]
Every additional word in a search query increases Reddit’s probability of winning.
The pattern holds across all four verticals without exception.
At six or more words, Reddit wins 73-87% of the time in three verticals.
In sales tech, it wins 100% of long-tail queries in our dataset.
Even in UCaaS… the vertical where Reddit gets outranked overall… its win rate jumps from 12.8% on short queries to 43.5% on long-tail ones.
This makes intuitive sense when you think about how people use Reddit versus how vendors build content. A search for “CRM” is broad enough that a vendor’s homepage or product page can satisfy it. But a search for “best CRM for small business with invoicing and project management” is so specific that only a real user’s experience thread is likely to match.
Vendors don’t build landing pages for every six-word variation of their product category.
Good Reddit threads, by nature, contain exactly the kind of specific, opinionated content that matches these queries. The implication for SEO strategy is significant…
What this means: Every additional word in a query tips the odds further toward Reddit. As AI-assisted search pushes queries longer and more conversational, this structural advantage will only grow. Vendors that don’t build for specificity will lose ground.
[H2] The Competition Density Paradox
This is the finding that surprised us most.
We expected Reddit’s dominance to be concentrated in low-competition keywords where vendors are not trying to rank. The opposite is true.
Competition Density (PPC)
Reddit Win Rate
Very Low (0–0.1)
39.5%
Low (0.1–0.3)
40.6%
Medium (0.3–0.6)
48.0%
High (0.6–1.0)
63.8%
The higher the advertising competition for a keyword, the more likely Reddit is to dominate the organic results.
At the highest competition density tier (0.6–1.0, meaning most advertisers are actively bidding), Reddit beats all competitors 63.8% of the time. That is a 24.3 percentage-point jump over the lowest tier.
The correlation holds when you slice by CPC as well.
CPC Range
(SaaS Platforms)
Reddit Win Rate
$15–$20
45.9%
$20–$30
54.8%
$30–$50
63.7%
$50+
67.3%
The more a keyword costs per click, the more likely Reddit is to outrank every vendor organically.
This creates a brutal dynamic for B2B marketers.
The keywords where you’re spending the most on paid search are the exact keywords where Reddit is most likely to sit above you in organic results.
You’re paying a premium to appear in ads while a free Reddit thread captures the organic click. The more commercially valuable the keyword, the worse this problem gets.
PS: This is why I always tell marketers they need to invest in Reddit ads. If you run Reddit ads, you can meet the thousands of people landing on these Reddit threads through Google search at the most pivotal time in their buying journey. Set up your account at Reddit for Business and get instant visibility.
One possible explanation:
Google may be deliberately counterbalancing paid ad saturation by elevating authentic user perspectives in organic results. When a SERP is heavy with ads (high competition density), Google may prioritize showing “real” user opinions to balance the commercial intent. Reddit threads, with their raw, unsponsored discussions, are the perfect signal for that.
Whatever the mechanism, the data is clear. Reddit’s organic advantage is not hiding in the low-value corners of B2B search. It’s concentrated precisely where the money is.
[H2]
Want to get recommended when buyers ask AI?
Book a call with our team today.
BOOK A CALL
[H2] The Difficulty Paradox
Keyword difficulty measures how hard it is to rank for a given term based on the backlink profiles of current top-ranking pages. Conventional SEO wisdom says that higher-authority domains should dominate high-difficulty keywords.
Reddit breaks this assumption in three of four verticals.
[H4] Reddit’s Position Advantage vs Competitor Average by Difficulty Tier
KD Tier
Review Sites
SaaS Platforms
Sales Tech
UCaaS
Easy (0–20)
+14.6
+20.9
+27.6
+3.1
Medium (21–40)
+12.1
+15.4
+28.1
-2.6
Hard (41–60)
+16.5
+14.3
+37.4
-0.8
Very Hard (61–80)
+16.0
+8.4
+24.9
+9.2
Ultra Hard (81+)
-0.3
+0.0
+29.0
+2.2
In review sites, SaaS platforms, and

[H1]

Foundation Helps B2B Brands Advertise Inside AI Search
A new ad channel just opened. ChatGPT began running ads in early 2026. Google now serves ads inside a growing share of its AI Overviews and AI Mode answers. The brands that test it now get the same advantage early movers got in the first years of search and social. We run AI ads alongside your organic AI visibility work, so paid accelerates the citations you’re already earning.

Book Intro Call

[IMG: Moz Recommended Company Badge]

[IMG: SEM Rush Badge]

[IMG: LinkedIn Marketing Strategy Badge]

Leading B2B brands trust Foundation to ensure they show up when buyers ask AI for answers.

[H2]
LLM Advertising For Ambitious B2B Brands

[H2]
Paid and organic as one strategy
The brands that win in AI search are the ones with organic citation authority reinforced by paid visibility. Both matter. We build AI advertising programs on top of existing AI visibility work, so the paid placements amplify citations that are already being earned. The organic makes the paid more credible. The paid accelerates the organic reach.
Your buyers are asking AI instead of Googling, and the platforms are starting to sell ads inside those answers. Early movers get lower costs and less competition. The same dynamic that made early search and early social so valuable. The window is open right now. It closes as more brands figure out it exists.
Foundation runs both sides of the equation. We’ve generated 165,000+ AI citations on the organic side and manage paid media across Google, LinkedIn, Meta, Reddit, and now emerging AI platforms. We made the Clutch 100, hold a 5.0 on Clutch, and have been tracking AI visibility since before most agencies knew it was a category.

[H2]
What's the Value of Advertising Inside AI Search?
Adobe Analytics found that traffic from AI sources converted 42% better than non-AI traffic in March 2026, the highest AI conversion rate ever recorded. Paid placements inside AI answers reach buyers at the moment of highest purchase intent: they’ve already asked a question and are reading the answer.
Forrester found that 94% of B2B buyers use AI in their purchase process in 2026, with generative AI now named as a more meaningful source of buying information than vendor websites, product experts, or sales reps. Paid visibility inside those AI answers reaches buyers at a touchpoint that now outranks most traditional marketing channels in buyer trust.
Semrush expects AI search engagement to surpass traditional search visitors by 2028. The brands buying early AI ad inventory are establishing pricing advantages, audience learnings, and optimization data that will compound as the channel matures, the same way search advertising advantages built in 2005 compounded through 2015. (Semrush AI Visibility Report)

[H2]
What Are Our LLM Advertising Services?

[H4]
AI AD READINESS ASSESSMENT
We evaluate whether AI advertising inventory is worth testing for your category today, which platforms and formats are most relevant for your buyers, and what budget and targeting make sense for an initial test. The output is a clear yes/no and a starting plan.

[H4]
AI SEARCH AD MANAGEMENT
End-to-end management of paid placements inside AI search platforms: creative, targeting, bidding, and optimization, run alongside your organic AI visibility program for maximum efficiency and reach.

[H4]
PAID AND ORGANIC AI VISIBILITY PROGRAMS
The integrated program that runs both sides simultaneously: organic citation building and paid AI search amplification, reported together, optimized together, and built to make each half more effective than it would be alone.

[H2] Our Paid Advertising Campaigns Inside Of LLMs Drive Results
Buyers are increasingly turning to AI instead of traditional search, and the platforms are already beginning to monetize those conversations with ads. Right now, costs are lower, competition is lighter, and the opportunity looks remarkably similar to the early days of search and social advertising. Those advantages won’t last. As more brands recognize the shift, the window narrows.
Foundation helps companies win on both fronts. Organically, we’ve generated more than 165,000 AI citations for clients and built strategies designed to increase visibility across AI-powered discovery. On the paid side, we manage campaigns across Google, LinkedIn, Meta, Reddit, and emerging AI advertising platforms. We’ve earned a place on the Clutch 100, maintain a perfect 5.0 Clutch rating, and have been helping brands navigate AI visibility since long before it became a category everyone was talking about.

[H3] Ready to work with us?
Let us know what you're looking for by filling out this form. We'll email you to schedule a call to discuss whether AI advertising makes sense for your category right now.

[H2] Our AI Visibility Services

[H3]
Artificial Intelligence Agency
Learn More

[H3]
B2B Paid Search Agency
Learn More

[H3]
AI Marketing Agency for Brands
Learn More

[H3]
Reddit Marketing Agency for Brands
Learn More

BOOK A MEETING

You have seen us speak and collaborate with:

[H1]

B2B Paid Search Agency for SaaS Companies That Want Pipeline, Not Just Clicks
As a B2B Paid Search Agency built for SaaS, Foundation manages PPC campaigns that focus on bottom-of-funnel buyers, not vanity clicks. We help you cut wasted spend on Google and LinkedIn Ads and turn every dollar into qualified pipeline.

Book Intro Call

[IMG: LinkedIn Fundamentals Certified Badge]

[IMG: Moz Recommended Company Badge]

[IMG: SEM Rush Badge]

[IMG: LinkedIn Marketing Strategy Badge]

Leading B2B brands trust Foundation to ensure they show up when buyers ask AI for answers.

[H2]
Paid Search For B2B SaaS
Our approach to PPC is about efficiency, not just spending. We help B2B SaaS companies maximize their ROI by targeting the right keywords and optimizing their ad spend to drive high-quality traffic and conversions.

[H2]

[H4]
Strategic Keyword Selection
We target high-intent keywords, focusing on bottom-of-the-funnel users who are more likely to convert.

[H4]
Narrowed Campaign Focus
We help you focus on the most valuable keywords, reducing waste and improving cost-per-click (CPC).

[H4]
Competitor Differentiation
We help you stand out in a competitive market by honing in on areas that your competitors might be overlooking.

[H2]
Why Work With a B2B Paid Search Agency Like Foundation
Most agencies chase clicks. As a B2B Paid Search Agency built specifically for SaaS companies, Foundation builds every campaign around pipeline: the right keywords, the right buyers, and the right message at each stage of the funnel.

We pair strategic keyword selection with conversion-focused landing pages and continuous A/B testing, so every dollar you spend on Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads works toward qualified leads, not just traffic. You get real-time performance data, so you always know what’s working and why.

Some of the most successful B2B SaaS companies trust Foundation to run their paid search strategy, because we manage their ad spend like it’s our own.

[H2]
What Are Our Paid Search Services?

[H4]
PAID SEARCH SERVICES
We help B2B SaaS brands maximize the impact of their paid search campaigns by targeting the most effective keywords, optimizing their ad spend, and focusing on bottom-of-the-funnel users. From initial keyword research to ongoing optimization, we provide end-to-end PPC management across Google Ads, LinkedIn, and other platforms. Let us help you make every dollar count.

[H4]
STRATEGIC PPC CAMPAIGN MANAGEMENT
Our approach goes beyond broad targeting. We help you focus on the keywords that matter most to your business. Through strategic targeting, ongoing optimization, and competitor differentiation, we drive results that matter, all while keeping a close eye on your budget and goals.

[H4]
ADVANCED CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION
Paid search isn’t just about clicks, it’s about converting those clicks into real business outcomes.
We optimize your landing pages, ad copy, and user journey to maximize conversions. With continuous A/B testing, strategic remarketing, and data-driven insights, we ensure your campaigns deliver the highest ROI.

[H2] Our PPC Strategies Drive Results.
We’ve helped B2B SaaS companies turn paid search into a predictable pipeline engine, not just a traffic source. From emerging startups to established players, our campaigns span Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and other channels, always focused on the buyers most likely to convert.
Every campaign is built to maximize ROI: sharper targeting, stronger ad copy, and continuous testing, so your budget goes toward outcomes, not impressions.

[H3] Ready to work with us?
Let us know what you’re looking for by filling out this form. We’ll email you to schedule a call to discuss how we can increase your brand's AI visibility and drive pipeline through generative engines.

[H2] Our Marketing Services

[H3]
Marketing Attribution and Analytics for B2B | Foundation
Getting results from your content shouldn’t feel like reading a mystery novel. You can be certain that we will give you the intelligence you need to make smart decisions.

Learn More

[H3]
Content Marketing & SEO Audit
An audit is a gut-check for teams that want to improve their efforts and are hungry to make content marketing one of their brand’s key differentiators. We leave no stone unturned.

Learn More

BOOK A MEETING

You have seen us speak and collaborate with: