Snippet Digital on Why 'Be on Every Platform' Is the Wrong SEO Advice
The default prescription for brand visibility has become a familiar one: be everywhere. TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, Google, the AI answers that increasingly sit above them all. But according to Andy Chadwick, co-founder and SEO strategy lead at Snippet Digital, that blanket advice often misses the more important question of where a specific buyer actually looks.
In an interview with Peekwire, Chadwick walked through the cases where standard multi-platform guidance breaks down, what existing guides tend to omit, and the decisions brands rush into when they want to be found beyond Google.
Start With the Product, Not the Platform
Chadwick's first point was that channel fit depends heavily on what a company sells. He contrasted two very different clients. A consumer product people don't yet know exists, such as a kitchen gadget or a makeup tool, suits TikTok, because discovery happens visually. As he put it, "Nobody searches Google for something they've never heard of, but they'll buy it when they see it save someone ten minutes."
A complex B2B software client is a different story. Chadwick said telling that kind of company to "go viral on TikTok" would have been a waste, because "their buyers don't discover software in a feed. They research it, and much of that research happens on Reddit and in the AI answers that quote Reddit."
For that client, Reddit was not treated as a publishing channel at all. It was research: "finding the exact problems people describe in their own words, then answering those on the site and in the threads where it's genuinely useful."
What the Top-Ranking Guides Leave Out
Asked what the pages already ranking for queries about TikTok and Reddit visibility tend to miss, Chadwick said the core problem is framing. Those articles, in his view, "treat both platforms as places to publish, when really they're search engines and research tools."
He highlighted three gaps. First, "most of the value of Reddit is reading, not posting," since threads reveal the real questions, objections and language buyers use, which in turn shapes on-site pages for Google. Second, Reddit threads are now pulled into Google results and AI answers, so "one good, honest reply in the right thread can be seen for years." Third, the guides rarely address when to skip a channel entirely, even though "not every product suits every channel."
That last point connects to a broader shift in how people search. As AI-generated answers and community threads play a larger role in discovery, the mechanics of search visibility are changing, and so is the value of being present in the conversations those systems draw from.
The Assumptions Brands Make Too Quickly
Chadwick listed several decisions brands tend to make before doing the diagnostic work.
The first is "that they need to be on every channel," when they should instead "start from where their buyer actually looks for that problem." He was careful to add a caveat, though: "for some brands being on every platform is a must, but not for all brands." And where budget is tight, he said, "just choose the right platforms or the right channels." The second is treating Reddit as a promotional outlet. "Reddit users spot a brand account pushing itself straight away, and it backfires," he said. "Treat it as listening first and helping second."
The third is equating TikTok with paid ads or dance trends. In Chadwick's experience it works best "when it shows the product solving a real problem, and that's often content from customers or creators, not the brand." The fourth is measurement. "You won't get neat keyword rankings," he said. Instead, brands should "look at branded search growth, mentions and whether AI answers start citing you."
Practical Takeaways
For teams weighing a multi-platform push, Chadwick's answers suggest a sequence: identify the problem the buyer is trying to solve, find where they research it, and only then decide which channels deserve effort. Reddit rewards listening and genuine contribution over promotion. TikTok rewards demonstration over brand-led advertising. And success on either is better tracked through branded search, mentions and AI citations than through traditional ranking reports.
The full list of agencies referenced in Peekwire's roundup, including Snippet Digital, is available in the original article.