Reactor Brand Score: 70/100 - Developing tier

Science Fiction and Fantasy, Explored

Reactor (reactormag.com) earns a Brand Analyzer score of 70 out of 100, placing it in the Developing tier among Media & Entertainment brands. Among 5499 Media & Entertainment brands analyzed, Reactor ranks in the 29th percentile (category average 76, leader 97). The score combines seven dimensions - name quality, digital presence, visual identity, messaging clarity, trust foundation, AI discoverability, and brand authority - into a single objective benchmark. Dimension scores: Name Quality 100/100, Digital Presence 93/100, Visual Identity 45/100, Messaging Clarity 95/100, Trust Foundation 60/100, AI Discoverability 44/100, Brand Authority 49/100.

AI Snapshot

Reactor (reactormag.com) is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine founded in 2008. It publishes in-depth commentary, reviews, rewatches, and original short fiction covering books, film, and television within the genre. The site positions itself as a hub for thoughtful, community-driven discussion and criticism aimed at science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts seeking deeper analysis of the media they enjoy.

Key facts about Reactor
Brand NameReactor
Domainreactormag.com
IndustryMedia & Entertainment
Founded2008
Main Competitorsio9 (88/100), SYFY Wire, Den of Geek, Polygon (94/100), Locus, Strange Horizons (77/100), Clarkesworld Magazine (73/100)

Evidence

Moz Domain Authority 79/100 vs category average 53 / leader 100 - a strong backlink profile, so AI systems frequently encounter mentions of the brand.

Ranked #52,085 on the Tranco list of most-visited sites - strong traffic reinforces the brand's prominence to AI models.

Reactor appears on Wikipedia but without a dedicated company entity, so AI models can confuse it with similarly named subjects.

The homepage meta description reads "For compliance with applicable privacy laws:" (Meta description: 6 words. OG description present but brief) - this is the summary AI engines are most likely to quote.

Structured data on the homepage: og:title, og:description. Adding Organization and FAQ schema would further help AI crawlers parse the brand's identity.

AI-crawler access: robots.txt mentions GPTBot, Google-Extended - all allowed - robots.txt controls whether engines like GPTBot and ClaudeBot can read the site at all.

Detected tech stack: Cloudflare.

Social footprint: verified profiles on X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, YouTube; no detected presence on LinkedIn, GitHub - consistent profiles reinforce the brand's identity across the web.

0 Reddit mentions - community discussion signals real-world reputation to AI models.

Score breakdown - 7 dimensions

AI visibility

Reactor scores 40/100 for AI visibility - how well ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews can discover, identify and cite the brand.

Reactor has a limited AI-visibility profile at 40/100 - a proxy for how readily ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews can recognise and cite it. Its strongest area is recommendation likelihood (48/100) and its weakest is trust (27/100). It benefits from a Wikidata knowledge-graph entry, a global traffic rank of #52,085 (Tranco) and a Moz Domain Authority of 79/100. The main gaps holding it back: no clear Wikipedia entity to anchor it in LLM training data, thin schema.org structured data and no llms.txt to steer AI to its best pages. In a live check, Claude could already identify Reactor from memory (August 2026) - a sign these signals are paying off.

Visibility - 45/100

Trust - 27/100

Recommendation likelihood - 48/100

Does AI know Reactor?

Live results from asking a general-purpose AI assistant about the brand, checked August 2026.

When asked "What is Reactor?", Claude could identify the brand as of August 2026. Reactor is a science fiction and fantasy focused website that was formerly known as Tor.com, publishing genre news, book reviews, original short fiction, and cultural commentary; it's owned by Tor Books/Macmillan. Best known for Being the rebranded successor to Tor.com, a leading online publication for science fiction and fantasy content.

When asked "Best brands similar to Reactor?", Claude would recommend Reactor as of August 2026. It's a well known and respected outlet in the sci-fi/fantasy media space, so it would come up naturally alongside sites like io9 or Locus.

People Also Ask About Reactor

Common questions people ask in Google, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI search engines.

Who are Reactor's main competitors?

Reactor's main competitors include io9 (88/100), SYFY Wire, Den of Geek, Polygon (94/100), Locus. These companies compete in the Media & Entertainment space for similar customers, offering comparable products or services.

Sources: Brand Analyzer scan

Reactor vs Polygon: how do they compare?

Reactor and Polygon are competitors in Media & Entertainment. Brand Analyzer scores Reactor at 70/100 and Polygon at 94/100. They target overlapping audiences; the right choice depends on your specific needs and priorities.

Sources: Brand Analyzer scan

What are the best alternatives to Reactor?

Popular alternatives to Reactor include io9 (88/100), SYFY Wire, Den of Geek, Polygon (94/100), Locus. Each is an established option in the Media & Entertainment space; the best fit depends on your specific needs, budget, and required features.

Sources: Brand Analyzer scan

What products or services does Reactor offer?

Reactor offers articles, reviews, rewatches, and original short fiction covering science fiction and fantasy books, film, and television.

Sources: Reactor official site

What is Reactor?

Reactor is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine that publishes commentary, reviews, and original content about genre books, film, and television.

Sources: Reactor official site

When was Reactor founded?

Reactor was founded in 2008. Reactor operates in the Media & Entertainment category. It is analyzed by Brand Analyzer across seven brand dimensions and AI-search visibility.

Sources: Wikidata

What does Reactor do?

Reactor produces in-depth articles, reviews, rewatches, and original short fiction focused on science fiction and fantasy media, aiming to deepen readers' understanding and appreciation of the genre.

Sources: Reactor official site

Does ChatGPT recommend Reactor?

Reactor scores 48/100 on Brand Analyzer's AI recommendation signal, indicating it is less likely to be surfaced when AI assistants like ChatGPT suggest Media & Entertainment options. Recommendation depends on crawlability, structured data, and category authority; a Wikipedia presence helps.

Sources: Reactor official site

What is Reactor known for?

Reactor is known for its detailed cultural analysis, episode-by-episode rewatches, and original short fiction covering science fiction and fantasy books, film, and television.

Sources: Reactor official site

How can Reactor improve its AI discoverability?

Reactor can improve AI discoverability by strengthening structured data (Organization and FAQ schema), maintaining an accurate Wikipedia/Wikidata entity, earning authoritative citations, and keeping content crawlable for AI bots. Brand Analyzer measures these as visibility, trust, and recommendation signals.

Sources: Reactor official site

Who uses Reactor?

Reactor is used by science fiction and fantasy enthusiasts who want in-depth articles, reviews, and discussions about genre books, film, and television.

Sources: Reactor official site

Recommendations

Peer brands

Ranked closest to Reactor: Raven Anticheat (70/100), Radio Sarajevo (70/100), Red Games Co. (70/100), Revolver (70/100).

A step up - brands to learn from: Zhangyue (71/100), Women Entrepreneurs Review (71/100).

Category leader: Complex (97/100).