How AI made dialog king

A 12 months and a half in the past, I wrote “The rise of boards: Why Google prefers them and the way to adapt,” arguing that manufacturers ought to construct their very own on-line boards and communities.

Let’s have a look at what’s occurred since.

• As of this writing, Reddit’s inventory worth has risen 177.6%. In the event you’d purchased 100 shares of RDDT then, you’d be $13,113 richer at this time.

• In a June 2025 evaluation of 150,000 AI citations, Semrush discovered that Reddit was the highest supply, showing in additional than 40% of LLM responses.

So what occurred? It comes all the way down to the regulation of provide and demand. 

The availability-and-demand disaster of on-line solutions

The demand for solutions has skyrocketed as individuals more and more flip to LLMs.

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok will attempt to provide you with the solutions from their coaching information, and failing that, they’ll search the net.

ChatGPT makes use of Bing, Gemini makes use of Google, and Claude, Grok, and Perplexity use their very own inside search engine.

The net search engine will rapidly discover that the availability of long-tail solutions is nonexistent. 

And so it’ll floor the closest factor it might probably discover: a Reddit thread that matches the key phrases, however might very nicely have been written by a novice, an armchair skilled, or a troll.

Whose fault is it that the net is devoid of significant long-tail content material?

In the end, it was Google’s. 

Even the most effective search engine marketing professionals amongst us had been advised by our purchasers and executives that nothing mattered apart from the One Ring – getting ranked on the highest for a aggressive head time period. 

All of us began to jot down the identical weblog posts to attempt to seize that high spot, whereas the huge lengthy tail went ignored.

The irony is that in case your model has any sort of experience or authority in your house, you at all times might – and nonetheless can – fully personal the undiscovered nation of the long-tail of seek for your business, a frontier of questions no model has but answered.

Some great benefits of user-generated content material

One of the best ways to do that – by far – is thru user-generated content material (UGC), which has a number of key traits:

• It matches search intent: Customers publish the identical means they search, utilizing the identical phrases.
• It’s at all times up-to-date: New posts hold subjects present with out fixed editorial work.
• It’s correct: Assuming your model can appeal to skilled consultants who contribute, every new reply will add worth or correction. 
• It builds semantic depth: Conversations naturally floor associated phrases, subtopics, and entities that increase search engine marketing and LLM discovery.
• It’s reliable and AI-proof: Genuine human dialogue is the one factor that LLMs can’t replicate.

If this all sounds acquainted to you, it’s the identical outdated E-E-A-T that Google has been attempting to get us to do for years.

Solely now, it actually counts. 

Why manufacturers hesitate

Most corporations instinctively resist the concept of launching a discussion board. 

Listed below are the objections I hear most frequently – and the way I reply.

• It’s too costly: Sarcastically, discussion board and Q&A software program is among the many most mature software program within the open-source world. You possibly can actually have a production-ready system up and operating in every week at a value lower than a number of cups of espresso. I’ll share some examples beneath. 
• We don’t have the growth assets: In the event you’re not aware of the idea of open-source, you don’t want growth assets apart from for duties like skinning and constructing single sign-on, which your builders can do of their sleep. 
• We tried it earlier than, and it didn’t work: Generally, it’s because boards had been handled as facet initiatives, and never owned media.
• There’s no clear ROI: Boards have at all times lowered help tickets, however as a result of it’s exhausting to show a destructive, most corporations handled each on-line and offline customer support as price facilities – and the primary issues to chop. Immediately, boards nonetheless decrease service prices and add helpful, search-friendly content material. It’s time to redo the maths.
• Moderation is an excessive amount of of a trouble: Immediately’s spam filters, coupled with sensible heuristics, enforced insurance policies, and AI-supported moderation, can deal with 90% of unhealthy actors. A robust group of customers and in-house moderators can simply deal with the remaining. 
• Everybody’s already on Reddit or Discord: Precisely. And people platforms personal your viewers, your model, and your information. It’s time to take it again.
• Boards are outdated: Reddit is a discussion board. It has a market cap of $38 billion. Time to re-do the maths on that one, too. 

Dialogue boards vs. Q&A websites

I have a tendency to make use of the phrase “boards” interchangeably to refer to 2 varieties of web sites: dialogue boards and Q&A websites.

There are key variations, relying in your firm’s objectives.

A dialogue board is constructed for ongoing dialog. 

It’s a social house the place prospects can join, share experiences, swap concepts, and have interaction within the occasional pleasant debate, like an always-on firm occasion or convention.

A Q&A web site, in contrast, is constructed for decision. Every publish facilities on a single query from a group member. 

Some manufacturers restrict responses to verified consultants, whereas others invite the entire group to contribute and vote on the most effective reply. 

The purpose is readability: one query, one accepted answer.

Each codecs create a treasure trove of owned, uniquely human content material. 

Whereas different corporations depend on generative AI to churn out soulless copy, with the assistance of your group, you’ll be constructing recent content material that feeds AI and, extra importantly, reaches actual prospects. 

As by-product AI-generated content material floods the net, that genuine human sign will turn out to be an enormous aggressive edge.

The open-source path to possession

Whereas many enterprise and SaaS choices exist, most companies can begin with open-source software program – superb for small, mid-sized, or cost-conscious enterprises.

Right here’s why open supply is smart.

Open supply software program is free

Each software program bundle I like to recommend beneath can be free. 

All you want is an online server or internet hosting plan (your personal infrastructure, a cloud supplier, or perhaps a managed host), and you may run it your self.

Open supply software program is customizable 

Most mature open-source platforms allow manufacturers to simply customise and lengthen performance by plug-ins and extensions – all with a fraction of the event effort required to construct a system from scratch.

As an alternative of constructing an enormous system from scratch, your group can concentrate on customization, reminiscent of: 

• Customizing the front-end design to match your model web site.
• Utilizing single sign-on together with your current buyer database to make entry seamless to your prospects. 
• Including status and gamification programs, reminiscent of upvotes, leaderboards, and badges, to advertise probably the most credible voices.

You personal your personal information

Once you self-host your discussion board, you personal the info and might export it at any time, with no dependencies on third-party platforms or APIs. 

That is more and more vital as we enter an period the place distinctive content material is actually an asset. 

search engine marketing and LLM visibility

Most mature discussion board and Q&A software program have search engine marketing greatest practices in-built, from automated title tags to greatest inside linking practices that make it simple for serps and AI bots to find content material. 

Moderation instruments

Lively moderation is essential to the success of on-line communities. 

Choosing the proper dialogue board software program

After intensive analysis, my go-to suggestions for dialogue boards are Flarum and Discourse.

I like Flarum for its smooth, minimalist interface and Reddit-like familiarity. 

Constructed on PHP with Laravel elements, it’s quick, light-weight, and extremely extensible, supported by an lively developer group. 

It’s superb for small to mid-sized companies, startups, and area of interest communities.

Discourse is the gold customary for contemporary boards, constructed on Ruby on Rails and Ember.js. 

It affords sturdy options out of the field, together with SSO, analytics, belief ranges, and a strong API, plus a paid possibility for absolutely managed deployments. 

Utilized by main manufacturers like OpenAI, Samsung, and Shopify, it’s superb for bigger organizations, SaaS corporations, {and professional} communities.

Honorable point out goes to NodeBB and phpBB, older platforms that require a bit extra care and feeding, but additionally have their benefits. 

Platforms constructed for Q&A

My go-tos right here embrace Apache Reply and Question2Answer. 

Apache Reply is a contemporary, actively supported platform from the Apache Software program Basis, with a stable pedigree. 

Constructed on Go and Vue.js, it affords a full characteristic set – voting, accepted solutions, classes, and a Reddit-style status system.

Question2Answer, first launched in 2010 and nonetheless actively maintained, is impressed by Stack Overflow, providing options reminiscent of voting and tagging. 

Its out-of-the-box interface appears to be like dated, however designer can simply modernize it. It’s in-built PHP.

AskBot and Scoold are additionally value exploring.

Take a look at them out. All of them have hyperlinks to a demo and real-world consumer implementations on their websites. 

Discover one you want. Pay $50 for a shared webhosting service, and one other $50 for pizza for engineers and builders. 

You’ll have a totally practical discussion board inside every week. 

The place most boards succeed – or fail

Not like most software program initiatives, constructing a dialogue board or Q&A web site is comparatively simple. 

Nevertheless it’s sustaining and operating it that can decide whether or not it’ll achieve success.

I’ve been lucky sufficient to have launched, managed, and moderated a number of profitable dialogue boards and Q&A websites through the years. 

Right here’s some sensible recommendation.

Have a zero tolerance for spam

I discussed this in my earlier article; it’s the primary purpose boards fail. 

The second you launch a dialogue board, will probably be attacked. 

Fortuitously, instruments like Akismet, StopForumSpam, CleanTalk, and reCAPTCHA can block most spam earlier than it reaches your web site. 

You possibly can even run your server logs by an LLM to generate sensible filtering guidelines to your CDN. 

And if something slips by, take away it quick – spam spreads apathy quicker than any troll.

With Q&A websites, you’ll have a bit extra management, relying on how lots of the questions and solutions you’d prefer to speak in confidence to the general public. 

Require detailed and genuine titles 

That is one other Achilles’ Heel of many boards. 

Dialogue boards usually have non-descript titles, reminiscent of “Assist!” or “Want Recommendation!” You’ll additionally wish to have a zero-tolerance coverage towards these. 

Have tutorial copy that reminds them to go away detailed titles, and if any slip by the cracks, both generate a title for them or reject the publish.

Equally, for Q&A websites, your titles should replicate precise questions that customers ask in their very own language, not the phrases of a marketer or different inside voice. 

Seed standard subjects

To know the questions persons are asking, evaluation:

• Your on-site search information.
• Google Search Console information.
• Customer support inquiries.
• Exterior websites like Reddit. 

Put up them to the dialogue board from a moderator account, present high-quality solutions, and invite feedback. 

So long as you’re genuine and clear, customers will reply.

Set guidelines and bounds clearly up-front and show them prominently. 

Maintain them brief sufficient that actual customers will learn them, ideally 5-7 bullet factors. 

Some thought starters:

• Linking coverage: Typically, you’ll wish to permit solely accounts which were vetted or handed sure standards to have the ability to publish hyperlinks.
• Reinforce tone: “Disagree with out being unpleasant”
• Guidelines towards harassment and unhealthy language.
• Guidelines towards off-topic posts.

Set up clear classes

Outline classes and tags clearly. 

Take a big pool of typical questions or dialogue subjects and categorize them. (Trace: Use your favourite LLM to assist.)

Be certain that class names are instantly intuitive to customers. Transfer or delete off-topic content material rapidly. 

Empower trusted regulars

Over time, many boards begin to appeal to common guests. 

If this occurs to your model, faucet into their ardour by inviting them to tackle small moderation privileges (e.g., modifying titles, retagging, or flagging spam). 

Relying in your relationship with these followers, you’ll be able to incentivize them with recognition, branded merchandise, free product, or financial compensation. 

Neighborhood self-correction scales much better than centralized policing.

Gamify contributions for everybody with leaderboards, badges, upvote milestones, and so forth. 

Archive or merge duplicates

Particularly in Q&A boards, you’ll wish to be certain to keep away from repeating questions. 

That causes duplicate content material points for search engine marketing, however worse, it might probably frustrate guests. 

Personal the dialog earlier than your opponents do

There are loads extra methods to run a profitable dialogue board or Q&A web site. 

However crucial rule is that this: don’t deal with it as an search engine marketing tactic, an LLM feeder, or a obligatory evil. 

Construct a vacation spot you and your group would really wish to go to – a spot for vigorous dialog, helpful data, and real connection together with your prospects and followers. 

That’s the actual method for achievement.

A 12 months in the past, I steered that you simply begin a discussion board. This 12 months, it’s not optionally available. 

Reddit has confirmed that dialog has actual worth, and your opponents will quickly catch on. 

Declare the conversations that belong to your model, and also you’ll:

• Delight prospects.
• Strengthen your status.
• Drive conversions.
• Change into the authority AI learns from – and trusts.