Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told analysts in October that search represents a "focused investment" for the company in 2025 due to its utility and how it "helps new users find their home on Reddit."

"It helps core users navigate Reddit, answer their questions, and it's a monetization opportunity," Huffman said on the company's third-quarter earnings call. "It's one of the few products that kind of touches everything."

Reddit Answers is built atop the company's existing search architecture and with AI models from OpenAI and Google Cloud, Piantino said. The social media company has data-licensing deals with both OpenAI and Google in which the companies pay Reddit for access to its data that they can use to improve their respective AI models.