Reddit is testing a new AI-powered search feature for shopping

Reddit announced Thursday that it is testing a new AI-powered search tool that takes community recommendations and matches them with products from some of the company’s shopping and advertising partners.

A small group of users in the US will start seeing search results that include interactive carousels for products with prices, images and direct links to where to buy.

The announcement reflects Reddit’s broader push to combine its community-driven platform with e-commerce capabilities. The move comes as Reddit launched its first shoppable advertising product last year, called Dynamic Product Ads (DPA), which displays personalized product recommendations to users based on their interests.

Now, when users who are part of the test search for something like “best noise canceling headphones” or “electronic gift ideas for college student,” they will see a carousel of related products at the bottom of the results.

This carousel will contain products that users have mentioned directly from conversations on related posts and comments. If users click on the product, they can view more details and are then directed to the retailer to purchase the item.

“This feature displays the top recommended products directly from discussions, giving Redditors instant information about any product,” the company wrote in a blog post. “This test is designed to make Reddit easier to navigate while keeping community views at the center of the experience. We will continue to learn from how people use this new feature and improve the experience over time.”

While platforms like TikTok and Instagram have long had integrated shopping features, Reddit is now looking to follow suit. Of course, Reddit isn’t the only tech platform that has recently begun exploring AI-powered shopping, as OpenAI’s ChatGPT rolled out an “instant checkout” feature last September that allows users to make purchases on Etsy and Shopify within conversations.

Thursday’s announcement comes after Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said during the company’s earnings call last week that the platform’s AI search engine could be the next big opportunity for its business, not just in terms of product, but also as a revenue driver.

Huffman also noted that weekly active users for search increased 30% over the past year, increasing from 60 million to 80 million, while weekly active users for Reddit Answers’ AI-powered feature rose from 1 million in Q1 2025 to 15 million by Q4.