Google used to be the internet’s gateway drug. Now? It’s more like a cluttered billboard—plastered with ads, riddled with SEO-fluffed content, and increasingly unreliable AI answers.
It’s not that people stopped searching. They just stopped trusting.
In 2025, users are going somewhere else for real answers—fast. Platforms like Reddit, ChatGPT, YouTube, and even Bing are becoming the new search bar.
If your brand still relies on old-school SEO playbooks, you’re not just behind—you’re invisible. This post breaks down what’s changed in search behaviour, where people are really going for answers, and how your brand can stay findable in a post-Google-first world.
Why People Are Ditching Google (and What They’re Using Instead)
The trust breakdown is simple:
- Ad overload: The top 5 results? All paid.
- SEO spam: Flimsy “Best Tools of 2025” lists built to chase affiliate links.
- Unreliable AI summaries: Google’s new AI overviews are hit or miss—sometimes wildly wrong.
- Revenue over relevance: Users feel like the results are optimised for Google’s bottom line, not their needs.
So where are they going?
🥇 Reddit is Slowly Replacing The Front Page of Search
Reddit isn’t just for memes anymore. For 23 of the Redditors we analysed, it’s the place to find authentic, ad-free opinions from real people. In fact, most users still use Google—but only to find Reddit threads. The combo search “product + Reddit” now outperforms native Reddit search.
Brand move: Build “Reddit SEO” pages—landing pages designed to rank for “[your product] + Reddit” queries, curated with Reddit quotes, insights, and your expert POV.
🤖 AI-First is the New Default
17 people in the thread said they go straight to ChatGPT or Perplexity AI to get fast, contextual, no-fluff answers. These models skip the affiliate garbage and summarise information in seconds. But they’re not perfect—and that’s your in.
Brand move:
- Create content AI loves: Short paras, summary-first, Q&A format.
- Write what AI gets wrong: Find the gaps in ChatGPT’s answers and own the correction.
- Test prompt-engineered headlines: Write blog titles that sound like ChatGPT questions.
📹 YouTube Shorts Are the New How-To Blog
For anything visual, people default to YouTube. But not 15-minute rambles. They want 60-90 second answers to “how do I set up [X]?” or “best alternative to [Y]?”
Brand move:
- Turn Reddit questions into micro how-to videos.
- Title them like Reddit threads: “Why Reddit Loves This CRM Tool” or “Reddit’s Favourite Marketing Stack in 2025.”
- Embed them on blog posts for hybrid discoverability (AI + YouTube).
🌐 Smaller Search Engines, Bigger Trust
Platforms like Bing, DuckDuckGo, Kagi, and Perplexity may not have Google’s scale, but users appreciate their signal-over-noise approach.
Brand move:
- Clean up your metadata and page structure to improve indexing across these platforms.
- Submit to Wikipedia if you’re credible enough.
- Publish insights on Perplexity or Bing-specific snippets to show up where others aren’t.
Emerging Tactics That Win in a Decentralised Search World
- “Ask Reddit” Series: Answer high-volume Reddit questions on your blog with original research and product tie-ins.
- “ChatGPT Gets It Wrong” Campaign: Show your authority by fixing AI-generated mistakes.
- Google + Reddit Pages: Create content that’s designed to show up when users type “X + Reddit.”
- Weekly Reddit Roundups: Use real Reddit commentary to fuel newsletters, podcasts, or micro-content.
Search isn’t dying. It’s decentralising.
Users are still looking for answers—they’re just skipping the fluff and seeking truth on Reddit, YouTube, and in LLMs like ChatGPT. That means your brand must move with them.
If you want visibility in 2025, it’s no longer about ranking #1 on Google—it’s about showing up where trust lives.
Get in touch and we’ll help you build a bespoke plan to stay discoverable in a decentralised search world.
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