Hey,

Ken from LaunchClub this side 👋

Here’s what caught my eye in the world of AEO this week – including a cautionary tale from a SERP I stumbled on in the wild.

But first…

HubSpot’s State of Marketing 2026 report dropped last week.

And it looks like marketers are finally waking up to the fact the AI Search game is won with off-site content.

(And they’re right, btw. 85% of the sources AI engines cite aren't company websites)

According to this HubSpot survey:

45% of teams are allocating between 10–20% of their budget to testing new channels.

And 94% of teams diversified channels last year, with 4 in 10 saying the most effective change was moving from broad platforms to niche communities.

But here’s what they’re missing…

Marketers are still sleeping on Reddit.

The top five social platforms the 1,500 marketers HubSpot surveyed plan to invest in most this year are: 

But the site driving the most AI citations? It sure ain’t TikTok 🤷

And even if you take AEO out of the picture…

Reddit sits at the top of the SERP for some of the most value keywords out there.

AND dominates the ‘Discussion and forums’ results.

Look, don’t get me wrong. TikTok is a goldmine if you’re selling an impulse buy.

But Reddit is where people go to research any serious purchase. And it’s where LLMs are pulling their answers from, too.

So my advice? Get on Reddit before your competitors catch up.

Does Mike Rowe's endorsement make PureTalk more money…

Than this Reddit thread costs them?

All I know is only one of them shows up when you Google PureTalk. And it’s not the ad 🤷

Find where Reddit is talking to your prospects without you.

→ Understand which search terms Reddit users are actively discussing (and how much monthly traffic each one gets)

→ See which Reddit threads are already ranking for your top keywords

→ Get context-aware, human-sounding comments written to naturally mention your brand or link.

Each report includes a ready-to-follow plan: where to comment, what to say, and how to track results. Just copy, paste, and post.