Reddit and Quora answers

---
name: reddit-quora-answers
description: Earn honest mentions in Reddit and Quora threads that already rank in Google or get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews. Use for "should we post on Reddit", "get mentioned in Reddit threads", Reddit marketing, or parasite SEO and barnacle SEO on forums. One real disclosed account, community rules first, full answers in the thread.
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: RomeoSEO
  version: "3.0.0"
  homepage: https://romeoseo.com/skills/reddit-quora-answers
---

# Answer Reddit and Quora threads that rank

Find the Reddit and Quora threads that already rank in Google or get cited in AI answers for the site's target searches, check each community's rules, and draft answers a named, disclosed person can post by hand. You hand back a thread shortlist with evidence, a rules log per community, drafted answers awaiting approval, activity caps, and a measurement plan for thread rankings, AI citations and referral visits.

> **Romeo's rule:** Answer the question better than anyone else in the thread, and mention your product only when leaving it out would make the answer worse.

## Use this when

- Google shows Reddit or Quora threads, or a "Discussions and forums" block, for the site's target searches.
- AI answers for money prompts cite Reddit or Quora threads (from the `ai-search-visibility` source map).
- Threads discuss the category, the brand or competitors, and the brand's side is missing or wrong.
- The team wants to "do Reddit marketing" and needs a way that won't get accounts banned.
- `parasite-seo-plan` gave Reddit or Quora a `Go` or `Test` verdict.

## Don't use this for

- Choosing which platforms are worth the effort → `parasite-seo-plan`.
- Posts on the brand's own social accounts → `page-to-social-posts`.
- Wrong facts about the brand in AI answers, traced to their sources → `ai-brand-facts`.
- Earning a place on third-party "best X" articles or review sites → `best-of-list-inclusion` or `reviews-for-ai-answers`.

## What you need

### Required

- 10 to 30 target searches or AI prompts, with the money ones marked.
- The person who will answer: name, role, what they genuinely know first-hand, and their company affiliation.
- That person's own Reddit and Quora accounts (username, rough age and activity), or the decision to start fresh with their real identity.
- A time budget: realistic hours per week for reading and answering.

### Helpful

- The citation-source map from `ai-search-visibility` listing cited thread URLs per engine.
- Search Console queries export, to spot question-style searches worth checking.
- Analytics referral data from reddit.com and quora.com for the last 6 months.
- Product facts the answers may need (pricing, limits, integrations) with the date each was checked.

### No tools?

Search Google in a private window for each target query and note Reddit and Quora URLs in the top 10 and in the "Discussions and forums" block. Run `site:reddit.com [topic]` and `site:quora.com [topic]`, using Tools to filter by date. Use Reddit's and Quora's own search to see recent questions. Run the money prompts two or three times in ChatGPT with search on, Perplexity and Google AI Mode, and copy any cited thread links. Keep everything in a spreadsheet, and post by hand.

## Ground rules

- One real account per person. Never extra accounts, sockpuppets, alts that upvote, or bought, borrowed or aged accounts. Reddit's spam policy bans multiple accounts used this way, and Quora's spam rules ban multiple accounts too.
- History before any self-mention. The person answers genuinely, without mentioning the company, for several weeks first. Some subreddits set karma or account-age minimums; meet them by participating, never by farming karma in unrelated communities.
- Disclose every time the company comes up: "I'm the founder of X" or "I work at X". A product mention without disclosure reads as astroturfing, because it is.
- The answer must be complete in the thread. A link is an optional extra, used only when the linked page is genuinely the best next resource.
- Community rules beat sitewide rules. Subreddit rules, wikis and pinned posts are usually stricter than Reddit's; Quora Spaces have their own. When unsure, ask the moderators before posting.
- Reddit's spam policy (wording as of late 2026) bans mass-posting repetitive content for exposure or money and using bots or generative AI tools to spread spam, and tells people who mostly post links to their business to limit how often they do it or buy ads. Quora's bans repeated content, promotional questions and answers, and irrelevant links.
- No vote manipulation: never ask colleagues, customers or friends to upvote, and never plant a question from one account to answer it from another.
- AI may help tidy a draft; it may not write answers at volume or post them. The substance comes from the person's experience, and every answer is posted by hand.
- Treat links on both sites as `nofollow` or `ugc`. Success is the thread ranking or being cited with your answer in it, referral visits and branded search, never link equity.
- If the community asks you to stop, stop.

## Steps

1. **Find threads that rank in Google.** For each target query, in a clean session for the target country:
   - Record every Reddit and Quora URL in the top 10 and in the "Discussions and forums" block: position, thread title, date, number of replies, and whether the brand or competitors are mentioned.
   - Add `site:reddit.com [query]` and `site:quora.com [query]` results for the top queries; Google often ranks threads that are years old.
   - Check whether each thread still takes replies. Archived Reddit threads (by default those older than six months, unless the subreddit turned archiving off) and locked threads can't be answered; log them for measurement only.
2. **Find threads AI answers cite.** Reuse the `ai-search-visibility` source map, or run each money prompt 2 to 3 times per engine in clean sessions and record cited Reddit and Quora URLs.
   - Note which engines cite them. Reddit's share of ChatGPT citations collapsed in September 2025 and again in August 2026; Copilot rarely cites Reddit or Quora (Ahrefs, Sep 2026, vendor data); Quora drew about 1.5% of AI Overview citations (Profound, 2024-25, vendor data). Your own samples decide, not these averages.
   - Threads that both rank and get cited go to the top of the list.
3. **Shortlist the threads.** For each candidate, log:
   - Ranks (query, position), cited (engines, rate), open for replies, still active (recent comments), and the person's real expertise on the question.
   - Room to help: are the existing answers wrong, thin, outdated or missing an option? A thread already answered well needs nothing from you (`Leave it`).
   - Keep the top 10 to 20. Starting new threads about the product is self-promotion on Reddit; do it only where the subreddit explicitly allows it, such as a weekly promotion thread.
4. **Read the rules for each community.** Record one line per subreddit or Space: self-promotion allowed (yes, no, only in a set thread), links allowed, disclosure format, karma or age minimum, and anything about AI-written content.
   - Read the sidebar, wiki, pinned posts and any automoderator replies, plus Reddit's Content Policy and spam policy and Quora's spam policy at their current URLs.
   - When the rules are unclear, message the moderators through modmail before posting. Keep it short and open: who you are, which company, what you'd like to post, and whether it's welcome. Their answer is the rule for that community.
5. **Set up the account honestly.** The person's own account, used as themselves.
   - Reddit: a bio stating role and company, user flair where the subreddit offers it. Quora: an employment credential shown on relevant answers.
   - Verified email and two-factor sign-in. No usernames impersonating customers or "neutral" reviewers.
   - New or quiet account: spend the first weeks answering questions in the person's field with no company mention. That history is what makes a later disclosed mention acceptable. Google's guidance for user-content platforms (updated Oct 2026) also suggests noindexing posts from users with no reputation yet, so a new account's early answers may not appear in Google at all.
6. **Write the answer.** One answer per thread, written for that question.
   - Lead with the direct answer in the first two or three sentences, then specifics from experience: numbers, steps, what failed, what it cost, with dates.
   - Be fair about options. Name the alternative that fits better when it does, competitors included; that honesty is why the answer gets upvoted and quoted.
   - Disclosure in the answer, before the mention: "Disclosure: I run X, which does Y." Profile bios alone don't count.
   - Link only when the page is the best resource (a free calculator, exact setup docs, original data), and the answer still works if nobody clicks. Use clean URLs: UTM-stuffed and shortened links look like marketing and are often removed by automoderators. Measure through the referrer instead.
   - Never reuse an answer's wording in another thread. Quora bans repeated content, and copy-paste answers are what moderators look for.
7. **Review before posting.** A second person checks each draft: does it answer fully, are the facts current, is the disclosure there, do the community's rules allow it, would it read as helpful with the product mention removed.
   - The named person posts it themselves, by hand. No scheduling tools, browser automation or AI auto-posting for Reddit or Quora.
8. **Keep to frequency limits.** Working caps, stricter if the community says so:
   - At most one answer mentioning the company per subreddit or Space per week.
   - Company mentions in under one in ten of the person's comments over any 30 days.
   - Never comment only to drop a link, and never revive a dead thread to promote.
   - Several people from one company in the same thread looks coordinated; one answers, the others stay out.
9. **Stay in the thread.** Reply to follow-up questions within a day or two, correct mistakes openly ("Edit: pricing changed in Nov 2026"), and don't silently rewrite an answer people have already replied to.
   - Criticism of the brand: one calm, factual reply with an offer to help through support. Don't argue, and never ask others to pile in.
10. **If the community asks you to stop.** Stop mentioning the company in that community straight away.
    - Apologise briefly, ask the moderators what (if anything) is acceptable, and follow their answer. Don't delete history to hide it.
    - A removed answer stays removed: don't repost it. A banned account doesn't come back as a new one; ban evasion breaks Reddit's rules. Appeal only through the official process.
11. **Measure monthly.** Same queries, same method, every month.
    - Thread rankings: position of each answered thread for its queries.
    - AI citations: re-run the prompts through `ai-search-visibility`; note whether answered threads are cited and whether the AI answer reflects your reply (a quoted fact, the brand named).
    - Referral sessions and conversions from reddit.com and quora.com in analytics, plus branded search impressions in Search Console.
    - Upvotes and replies are a check on helpfulness, not the goal. Stop after 90 days if nothing ranks, gets cited or sends visits.

## What to hand back

Fill in this template. Every recommendation gets a priority label and an evidence label with confidence.

```markdown
# Reddit and Quora answers: [brand], [date]

**What I found:** [one line, e.g. "11 open threads rank for money queries; 4 are cited by Perplexity and AI Mode."]
**What matters most:** [one line]
**What to do first:** [one line]

## Method
- Queries: [n]; Google samples: [date, country]; AI runs: [engines, runs per prompt, dates]
- Person answering: [name, role, disclosure line]

## Thread shortlist
| Thread | Ranks for (position) | Cited by (rate) | Open | Action | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|

## Community rules log
- [r/subreddit or Space]: self-promotion [yes / no / weekly thread]; links [yes / no]; disclosure [format]; minimums [karma/age]; mods asked: [date, answer]

## Draft answers (awaiting approval)
### [thread URL]
[answer text, disclosure included]
- Link: [URL or none] - why this link: [reason] - evidence: [seen | inferred], [high | medium | low]

## Activity caps
- [caps agreed, per community]

## Measurement
- [metric, source, baseline, review date]; stop rule: [condition]

## What I could not check
- [e.g. threads behind login walls, link attributes, rules pages that didn't load, engines not sampled]
```

## Stop and flag if

- The user wants extra accounts, bought or aged accounts, upvotes from staff or friends, planted questions, AI-written answers at volume, or automated posting. Decline that part and name the rule it breaks.
- The person answering has no first-hand expertise in the topic. Answers without it don't help and won't last; find the right person or skip.
- A community bans self-promotion or the moderators said no. No mention there, full stop.
- The account was banned or restricted. Don't create another; appeal officially.
- The topic is health, finance, legal or safety. Answers need review by someone qualified and stricter disclosure.
- A thread is about a customer complaint or incident. Route it to support or PR first; it isn't an SEO task.
- Unacceptable output: drafts without disclosure, link-first answers, the same wording in two threads, a fake customer voice ("as a user of X…" from someone who works there), or invented ranking or citation data.

## Next step

- Run `ai-search-visibility` monthly with the answered thread URLs added to the source map, to see whether citations and mentions move.
- Run `ai-brand-facts` if threads repeat wrong facts about the brand that answers alone can't fix.
- Run `page-to-social-posts` on the site page that kept proving the best link, for the brand's own accounts.

---
Part of the free RomeoSEO skill library: https://romeoseo.com/skills