Case Study

Engagement, Citations, Rankings: What Six Months of Reddit Did for a Mortgage Lender

Six months of Reddit reputation and AI-visibility work outperformed the client’s own website as a source in AI answers.

Industry:
Financial Services
Duration:
6 months
Channels:
Reddit, AI answers, Google

  • 2.13M

    Reddit impressions

  • 1,586

    AI citations from Reddit

  • 1.7×

    Reddit vs. client’s own site

    As a source in AI answers

  • 433

    Google keywords ranked

The Results

What Changed

In six months, RedPulse built the client a Reddit content library that shapes what AI and Search engines say about the brand. Every one of the 48 posts went live on schedule, and the program is already delivering across three channels at once.

  • Reddit outranks the client’s own website in AI answers. Reddit.com is the second-largest source in AI answers that mention the lender, with 1,586 citations against 942 for the lender’s own website.

  • Our content drives 43% of that. 688 of those Reddit citations come from campaign-owned posts and seeded comment threads.

  • Massive reach. About 2.13 million impressions, 1,724 upvotes, 2,131 comments and 1,465 shares.

  • A new organic search channel. 433 ranking keywords, 20 top-3 positions and roughly 1,004 estimated organic visits a month, with newer posts still ramping.

The Approach

How We Ran It

The client operates where buyers ask Reddit and AI engines which lender to trust. We built a Reddit-first program to earn a place in those conversations through genuine community content rather than brand messaging.

  1. 1

    Consistent publishing

    Eight posts a month in r/Mortgages, r/VeteransBenefits, r/MilitaryFinance, r/HomeLoans and other communities.

  2. 2

    Seeded comments

    151 comments placed in high-intent lender-selection threads.

  3. 3

    Question-led topics

    Posts framed around the exact questions buyers type into AI engines, or around a concrete rate or fee concern.

Results were tracked across Reddit engagement, AI citations (Peec AI) and organic search (Ahrefs).

The Outcomes

The Numbers, Channel by Channel

Outcome 1

Reddit Reach at Scale

Delivery was steady at eight posts a month, and two breakout threads in r/Mortgages generated nearly one million impressions between them. The top eight posts account for about 74% of total impressions.

PostSubredditImpressionsUpvotesComments
The “zero point” lie: Rocket tried to sneak 2.5 pointsr/Mortgages590.0k408162
Is a 6.79% rate normal right now?r/Mortgages398.0k104352
Rates finally sub-6%?? Is the wait over?r/FirstTimeHomeBuyer163.0k7194
Which VA benefit genuinely changed your life?r/VeteransBenefits146.0k329342
Top four live posts by impressions, campaign to date.

Posts built around a concrete rate or fee grievance delivered the largest reach. Emotionally framed veteran-community posts drew the highest engagement per impression, which built standing in r/VeteransBenefits for the lender-recommendation threads that followed.

Outcome 2

Reddit Now Beats the Brand’s Own Site in AI Answers

Among all domains cited in AI answers that mention the lender, reddit.com ranks second, about 1.7 times as many citations as its own website. Earned community content is now a larger input into what AI engines say about the lender than the brand’s own website.

Source domainAI citations
  • reddit.com1,586
  • The lender’s own website942
Citations in AI answers that mention the lender. Peec AI, campaign to date.

Campaign assets are doing the heavy lifting: 13 posts and 18 seeded comment threads are actively cited, together accounting for 688 citations.

Campaign assetSubredditAI citations
What is the best mortgage lender for veterans?r/VeteransBenefits286
Has anyone refinanced through [Lender]?r/HomeLoans80
Best VA lender for Veterans? (active duty)r/MilitaryFinance71
Veterans United alternatives for a loan?r/MilitaryFinance27
Can veterans buy a house with no money down?r/MilitaryFinance24
Top campaign posts by AI citation count. Peec AI, campaign to date.

Reddit has been a dependable presence throughout: its share of lender-mentioning AI chats has stayed between roughly 25% and 36% over the last 11 weeks, and monthly citations peaked at 1,012 in July.

Outcome 3

Strong Visibility on Every Major AI Engine

The lender appears in about a third of tracked AI answers on each engine, and when it appears it is named first or near first. Gemini is especially responsive, giving the brand a 44.0% share of voice.

EngineVisibilityShare of voiceAvg. position
Gemini33.2%44.0%1.1
ChatGPT33.0%35.1%1.0
Google AI Overview32.8%32.5%1.2
Lender AI visibility by engine, campaign to date.

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Spotlight

One Thread, Three Wins

  • 286

    AI citations

  • #1

    For “veteran mortgage lenders”

  • 372

    Est. monthly organic visits

The r/VeteransBenefits post “What is the best mortgage lender for veterans?” is the single most valuable asset in the program, across every channel we measure.

It is the most-cited campaign asset in AI answers, carrying more citations than the next four campaign posts combined. It ranks for 71 keywords, 20 in the top 3, including #1 for “veteran mortgage lenders” (600 monthly searches) and #2 for “best lender for va loan.” It alone drives about 37% of the campaign’s entire organic footprint. It works because it names the exact question a buyer types into an AI engine, in the subreddit those engines trust most for veteran lending.

Takeaways

Why It Worked

  • Earned beats owned.

    Community content now out-cites the brand’s own website in AI answers.

  • Write the question buyers ask.

    Top assets name a specific lender-selection or rate-and-fee question.

  • Trust compounds.

    Engagement-rich posts earned standing that powers the threads driving citations and rankings.

  • Consistency builds a library.

    Eight posts a month, six months running, now supports AI citations and Google rankings together.

Sources: Client campaign tracker; Peec AI; Ahrefs Site Explorer (September 2026, US).

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