Eli Schwartz recently shared something that caught my attention: "Many companies are about to ruin Reddit for themselves." He followed it with a blunt diagnosis of what is going wrong: brands are "paying $500-1000/month for link spam, treating Reddit like a dumping ground," all in the hope of boosting "LLM visibility" in AI-influenced search.

That combination of incentives and tactics is exactly why Reddit is such a dangerous place to run lazy marketing. Unlike many social platforms where mediocre content can float by unnoticed, Reddit communities are built to detect and punish self-serving behavior. And when Eli warns your reputation can be "destroy[ed] ... faster than you can say "shadowban,"" he is not being dramatic.

In this post, I want to expand on what Eli is really pointing to: Reddit is not an SEO channel you can rent. It is a social system you have to earn your way into. If you try to buy your way in with spam, you will often lose twice: wasted budget now and long-term brand damage later.

"Real engagement beats empty links every time." - Eli Schwartz

Why Reddit punishes spam harder than other platforms

Reddit is organized around subreddits, and subreddits behave less like audiences and more like neighborhoods. Each one has:

Explicit rules (often enforced by moderators)
Implicit norms (enforced by regulars)
Shared history (which shapes what is considered acceptable)
Strong pattern recognition for promos, link drops, and astroturfing

When a brand drops a link with a thin comment, users interpret it as a violation of the social contract. Even if the content is technically relevant, intent matters. Redditors ask: Are you here to participate, or to extract value?

Spam also spreads fast because Reddit threads rank in Google and get reshared across communities. A single poorly received post can become a screenshot, a warning, or a reference point for months. That is why Eli is right that the damage can be permanent.

The specific failure mode: paying for "LLM visibility" the wrong way

Eli calls out a pattern I am seeing too: marketers hear that AI systems surface Reddit results, then conclude "We need Reddit links." So they outsource it to agencies or freelancers who promise placement.

The problem is that most of these services optimize for deliverables, not outcomes:

X posts per month
Y comments per week
Z links placed

This is the Reddit equivalent of old-school forum spam. It might produce a report that looks like progress, but it rarely produces trust, demand, or durable visibility.

And even if the links get indexed somewhere, you are taking on risks that do not show up in a spreadsheet:

Downvotes bury your content, killing reach
Mods remove the post and ban the account
Users call out your brand publicly
Your domain becomes associated with manipulation

If your goal is to influence how AI systems interpret your brand, do you really want the training data to include comments accusing you of spamming?

What "doing Reddit right" actually looks like

Eli suggests the alternative clearly: "Treat Reddit like the social network it actually is with genuine community engagement. Add value before asking for attention and play the long game with authentic participation." That is the core playbook.

Here is what I would add to make it operational.

1) Start with listening, not posting

Before you post anything, spend time learning:

What questions come up weekly?
Which posts get upvoted and why?
What types of links are tolerated (if any)?
Which flairs and formats work?

Build a simple doc per subreddit: rules, top posts, common frustrations, and the vocabulary people use. Redditors can tell when you do not speak the language.

2) Earn trust with comments that stand on their own

The fastest way to signal good faith is to help without linking.

A strong Reddit comment:

Answers the question directly
Shares specific experience and tradeoffs
Mentions limitations
Avoids marketing language
Does not force a CTA

If you want to reference your product or a resource, do it sparingly and only when it is clearly the best answer. Even then, disclose your affiliation.

3) Post content that fits the subreddit, not your funnel

Brands often import blog content into Reddit and expect it to work. But Reddit rewards native usefulness:

A checklist, template, or step-by-step process
A case study with numbers and mistakes included
A teardown of a real example
A comparison of options with pros and cons

If your post reads like it was written by a brand team, it will underperform. Write like a practitioner.

4) Use the "value-first" ratio

A practical rule: for every 1 promotional action, do 10 non-promotional actions. That can be comments, answering follow-ups, clarifying details, or contributing to unrelated threads where your expertise is relevant.

This ratio is not about gaming karma. It is about building a visible history that proves you are not a drive-by marketer.

5) Think in months, not weeks

Reddit trust compounds. The accounts that succeed usually have:

Consistent participation
A stable identity (not burner accounts)
Familiarity to regulars
A record of helpful posts people remember

That timeline conflicts with the typical agency promise of quick wins. Which leads to the next point.

If you hire help, hire for community fluency, not volume

Eli mentions that out of many offerings, he has seen only "maybe 3-4 agencies doing this correctly" because they understand "community dynamics, subreddit cultures, and how to add value first." That is the hiring filter.

If you are evaluating an agency or consultant for Reddit, ask:

Which subreddits have you participated in personally, and for how long?
Show me examples of threads where you contributed without linking.
How do you handle disclosure and brand affiliation?
What is your plan if a moderator asks you to stop?
What metrics do you track beyond links and impressions?

Red flags include guaranteed placements, pre-written comment banks, or any strategy that relies on disposable accounts.

What to measure instead of "links placed"

If you treat Reddit as a long game channel, measurement should reflect relationship and learning:

Comment replies and follow-up questions (signal of trust)
Mentions of your brand by non-employees (earned awareness)
Referral traffic quality (time on site, signups, demo intent)
Lift in branded search and product comparisons
Qualitative insights: objections, wording, and competitor narratives

Also track risk indicators:

Removed posts
Moderator warnings
Sudden downvote patterns
Threads where your brand is discussed negatively

The goal is not to "win Reddit". The goal is to participate in a way that makes your brand more credible everywhere else too.

The deeper point: Reddit is a reputation engine, not a distribution hack

What I like about Eli Schwartz's warning is that it reframes Reddit from a traffic source to a reputation surface. Reddit threads are highly visible, highly indexed, and often treated as more trustworthy than brand websites.

So when a company uses Reddit as a dumping ground, the community reaction becomes part of the public record. That record can shape:

Customer perception during evaluation
Journalists and researchers looking for sentiment
AI systems summarizing brand narratives

That is why Eli calls it "more dangerous for your brand than almost every other platform" if you get it wrong.

A simple way to start this week

If you want an immediate, low-risk starting point:

Pick one subreddit where your customers actually ask questions.
Read the top 50 posts from the last month.
Write 5 helpful comments with zero links.
Save recurring questions into a doc for future content.
Only after that, consider a post that teaches something substantial.

That approach will not feel as "scalable" as buying placements. But it is the difference between building trust and buying backlash.

This blog post expands on a viral LinkedIn post by Eli Schwartz, Author of Product-Led SEO | Strategic SEO/AEO & Growth Advisor/Consultant | Angel Investor| Newsletter Productledseo.com| Please add a note to connection requests.. View the original LinkedIn post →