This Little-Known Reddit Feature Is Actually Better Than Google Search

With AI-generated, SEO-optimized content flooding the internet , people are turning to Reddit for real, real-world perspectives. Reddit Answers — currently in beta — simplifies this search experience and, in many ways, outperforms Google Search.

 

Reddit Answers Redefines Community Search

Finding authentic, unfiltered experiences on the internet can be tricky. You need to add search operators, like 'reddit' or 'site:reddit.com,' to your queries to weed out low-quality, AI-generated, or SEO-optimized content and get real, accurate information.

Of course, you can search Reddit natively—with its built-in search feature—to find posts across various communities (aka subreddits). However, this is often quite cumbersome, requiring precise keyword usage and sifting through posts and comments to find relevant information. Reddit took note of this and launched Answers a while back.

 

Reddit Answers is an AI-powered conversational search engine that makes finding content on Reddit easy. All you have to do is type in a question in natural language, and the engine will return a comprehensive, easy-to-understand answer based on all the relevant posts and comments on the platform.

 

Reddit includes inline quotes and links to the original posts and comments in its answers, so you can dig deeper into the discussions if you need more context. Below the answer, you'll also see suggestions for related subreddits you can visit for more similar content. Next is a section that lists all the posts Reddit Answers used to create the answer, which you can use if you notice something unusual in the answer and want to review it.

 

Here are all the major advantages of Reddit Answers over Google Search that make it a better search engine, especially for opinion or experience-based queries.

Community approach outperforms algorithmic results

Google's algorithm favors sites with good SEO practices. Therefore, any site with good SEO practices has a good chance of getting its content to the top of search rankings, even if it doesn't provide the best and most authentic information. This is not an issue with Reddit Answers.

 

Instead of generating answers to display on the results page, the tool generates responses by summarizing user posts and comments, often based on first-hand experience or personal insights, and validated by other users through upvotes and comments. You can think of these responses as a summary of what the community thinks about the topic, with more accurate information and a human-centered perspective.

Multiple perspectives provide insight

Because they're driven by community posts and comments, Reddit Answers inherently take multiple perspectives into account when crafting responses to your search query. This diversity ensures a more nuanced, comprehensive understanding of the topic—one that's free from personal bias and illuminates all the complexities and subtleties that SEO content often can't match.

Niche communities provide deeper knowledge

Reddit is home to many communities, including niche ones with passionate and knowledgeable users who actively post content and interact with others' posts and comments to support them. As a result, Reddit Answers can answer your questions related to specialized interests or niche topics, such as mechanical keyboards, home labs, self-hosting, or home workouts, in more detail with more accurate information and multiple perspectives.

 

On the contrary, Google Search is not very effective in helping you find answers in such situations. This is because most websites on the Internet ignore these topics due to their niche audience and instead focus on broader or popular topics to attract a larger audience. The websites that do cover them do not go into great detail, nor do they update their content frequently.

Conversational format allows for direct interaction

All Reddit Answers summarize people's views on a topic and provide relevant links you can visit for more details. However, if you don't want to dig through those links yourself—and have follow-up questions about the answer—you can ask them directly in a simple, conversational tone.

This feature can be useful when you need to clarify a point in your answer, want to break down a concept into simpler words, or want your answer in a specific format, such as a list or a paragraph. For best results, try to be as clear and specific as possible with your follow-up questions.

 

Use Google to find information, Reddit Answers to dig deeper

Reddit Answers has its advantages over Google Search, but it is not a complete replacement. Both tools have their own strengths, and each tool is superior to the other in certain aspects. Therefore, you should use them in combination, choosing the right tool based on your search query, to find accurate information online.

For example, since Reddit Answers is the best choice for finding personal experiences or multiple perspectives on a topic, it can help you find local coffee shop recommendations in your town, choose the right badminton shoes, fix car problems, or learn about life in the city you plan to move to.

On the other hand, Google Search excels at providing instant access to factual information. This comes in handy when you want to define a word, check the latest stock market news, follow the live scores of your favorite sports teams, or look up movie release dates.