Marketers and brands are shifting their focus toward platforms and techniques that go beyond traditional paid media and broad social feeds. Two recognitions this month — one for a Reddit-focused campaign specialist and another for an AI-SEO strategy provider — show how niche platforms and search behaviour shaped by artificial intelligence are becoming central to some brand strategies.
On February 5, Nicely Network was named the Best AI-SEO Marketing Agency for 2026 by Better Business Advice, a business review platform. That award highlights the company’s focus on organic search and AI discovery, particularly in how brands show up inside modern search tools and language models.
A day earlier, Everso Media was named the Best Reddit Marketing Agency for February 2026 by SoftwareExperts.org, a recognition focused on the agency’s work helping brands participate in Reddit conversations in ways that feel natural to the platform’s communities.
Taken together, these acknowledgements point to a broader idea: platform-specific expertise matters. Brands that understand how niche environments like Reddit operate, and how AI engines interpret content, can build visibility that lasts longer and feels more credible to audiences.
Why Reddit now matters to marketers
Reddit used to be seen as a fringe social network, a place for hobbyists or niche forums. That’s changing. Reddit discussions now regularly show up in Google search results and are increasingly cited by AI systems when they generate answers.
Traditional ads and overt marketing posts are often unwelcome on Reddit. The platform’s users tend to reject anything that feels like marketing plastered over a conversation. In that environment, authenticity becomes a currency.
That’s why SoftwareExperts.org highlighted native Reddit execution — campaigns that follow subreddit norms, respect community rules, and participate organically — as a key factor in naming the Best Reddit Marketing Agency.
Drew Thomas, founder of the agency recognised this month, said it plainly: “Reddit rewards honesty and insight.” That sentiment captures why many brands struggle on Reddit — and why those that embrace authenticity can gain trust from a community that rarely hands it out freely.
The practical effect isn’t just goodwill. Threads that are built with genuine discussion in mind can also perform well in broader search results. Google indexes many Reddit threads on page one for relevant keywords, helping extend visibility long after the original post.
AI search and SEO: a new discovery frontier
Nicely Network’s award centres on what’s sometimes called AI-SEO — a shift in how search works when results are increasingly delivered not just as ranked links but as answers from large language models and AI-powered engines.
According to Better Business Advice, Nicely Network’s approach aims to ensure brands are cited or recommended* inside AI search outputs, such as responses from tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, and Gemini. That contrasts with conventional paid visibility or surface-level SEO techniques.
Rather than just optimising for clicks, the strategy is about shaping how an artificial intelligence interprets and presents information about a brand. Nicely Network says that its integrations of Reddit campaigns with authoritative content placements have generated more than 10,000 AI citations and over US$100 million in tracked sales revenue across client campaigns.
For brands, that means visibility isn’t limited to a search engine results page. It’s also about appearing as a recommendation when someone asks an AI assistant a question like “What choose for X?” — a behaviour pattern that’s emerging as consumers adopt AI as a default discovery route.
Longer-term value over short bursts
Both recognitions this month emphasise longer-term visibility and trust rather than short spikes in clicks or advertising impressions.
SoftwareExperts.org highlighted that Everso Media focuses on strategies that extend a Reddit thread’s reach on search engines and into AI discovery tools. That amplifies the lifespan of content well beyond the lifespan of a paid ad or short-lived campaign.
Nicely Network’s work similarly blends Reddit campaigns with high-authority content placements so that both human search behaviour and algorithmic responses keep a brand visible over months or even years.
This emphasis on enduring visibility reflects how marketing is adapting to a world where people seek information and recommendations across diverse channels: community platforms, search engines, and artificial intelligence tools.
What this means for marketing leaders
For marketing teams, these trends nudges a simple idea: visibility now comes from more than ads and broad channel buys. Platforms like Reddit — often overlooked or misunderstood — can impact a brand’s reputation, discovery, and long-term SEO value when approached with respect for community norms.
At the same time, the rise of AI-SEO suggests that traditional ranking tactics are only part of the story. Brands must also think about how they appear in the answers that tools like ChatGPT or AI overviews deliver, not just in clickable blue links. The recognitions this month suggest that those who do both — niche platform strategy and AI-centric visibility — are defining a new model for search and discovery.
(Photo by Brett Jordan)
See also: Why traffic numbers look different in the age of AI search
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