Short answer: to run a Reddit AMA as a brand, pick one niche subreddit where your customers already talk. Get moderator approval 3 weeks out, and have a named expert spend 1–2 weeks contributing there. Schedule a native AMA post 5 days before go-live. Then answer live for 60–120 minutes and follow up for 24 hours. Key takeaways Use Reddit's native AMA post. It can be scheduled up to 21 days ahead, collects questions early, and sends "Remind me" alerts the day before and at go

Reddit is one of the most cited domains in AI answers, and the data says something surprising: 80% of cited posts have fewer than 20 upvotes, and the average one is around 900 days old. This covers citation share by platform, the three thread formats behind roughly 75% of citations, the August 2026 ChatGPT collapse that should stop anyone guaranteeing you a number, and the measurement stack to insist on before you spend.

Build or buy, with the numbers attached. A year one and year two cost model, a milestone by milestone ramp comparison, and the hybrid split most mature programmes end up running. Also the freelancer option almost nobody shortlists, and the four failure modes that kill in house programmes. The real constraint is not budget, it is account history: a new account posting product links is the fastest route to a shadowban.

A vetting guide you can run on a real shortlist. Fourteen questions grouped by what each one tests, nine red flags that should end the conversation, and a weighted scoring sheet so the charming agency with no substance loses on paper. Also what counts as proof of work, why claimed moderator relationships are usually fiction, and how to structure a 90 day pilot with a written kill criterion.

A prediction piece, not a how to. Trust in news just hit a record low of 37%, roughly three quarters of new web pages carry AI writing, and Reddit posts are the least synthetic content measured on any major platform. That combination makes an honesty premium, and it makes a brand Reddit presence inevitable rather than optional. Includes five dated calls, and the moderator problem that could break all of it.