Reddit Launches AI Moderation Against Hidden Ads Targeting ChatGPT and Gemini

Reddit Inc. has deployed its own artificial intelligence-based tool against a new type of spam: the platform is fighting hidden marketing content that brands publish to get their products mentioned by popular AI chatbots like ChatGPT from OpenAI and Gemini from Google, according to Bloomberg.

What is AI marketing spam

These are posts and comments disguised as organic user discussions, but actually written or paid for by brands. The goal is not to boost the post to the top of Reddit for human readers, but to influence what chatbots will cite or recommend when a user asks an AI for product advice. This is a new variety of astroturfing: previously, content was optimized for search engines, now it's being optimized for responses from generative AI models.

• Spam disguises itself as natural user discussions and reviews
• Brands' goal — to get into the responses of popular chatbots, including ChatGPT and Gemini
• Reddit fights such posts using its own AI moderation tools

Why Reddit became the target

Reddit is one of the most frequently cited sources for major AI chatbots: the platform is perceived by users and language models as a place of genuine, unedited human opinions rather than corporate marketing. It's precisely this reputation for "authentic voices" that makes the platform especially attractive to brands wanting to discreetly embed mentions of their products in content that AI systems rely on when formulating responses.

How the company fights spam

Instead of manual moderation, Reddit uses its own AI systems to distinguish organic discussions from coordinated promotion. This is part of a broader battle by platforms against so-called "AI slop" — low-quality content mass-generated or paid for specifically to trick algorithms rather than serve live readers.

What it means

As chatbots become a full-fledged search and purchase decision channel for users, platforms with user-generated content must open a new front in the fight against spam — this time not for a place in search results, but to determine what exactly the AI will cite in its response.