For more than a decade, “HARO link building” meant one thing: subscribe to three daily emails from Help a Reporter Out, answer journalist queries in your area of expertise, and earn editorial links and quotes in return. Then the platform was rebranded, shut down and, more recently, revived under new ownership. A lot of advice online still describes a workflow that no longer exists.
This guide explains what actually happened to HARO, which platforms now serve the same purpose, how to pitch so that you are quoted rather than ignored, and where this tactic fits in a modern link building and digital PR programme.
What Happened to HARO
The short version, as described by the current owner and widely reported at the time:
- HARO was founded by Peter Shankman in 2008, acquired by Vocus in 2010 and became part of Cision after 2014.
- In 2024 Cision rebranded HARO as Connectively, a web platform with paid tiers, and then shut the service down in December 2024.
- In April 2025, Featured.com acquired the HARO brand from Cision and relaunched it as a free, email-based journalist request service at helpareporter.com, with new anti-spam measures.
- In the gap, Shankman launched Source of Sources, a free email service modelled on the original HARO.
So HARO exists again, but the landscape around it has changed. Journalist requests are now spread across several platforms, and most of them have tightened their rules in response to the flood of low-effort, AI-generated pitches that damaged the old platform’s reputation.
Where Journalist Requests Live Now
These are the main places to find source requests in 2026. Availability and features change, so check each platform’s current terms before relying on it.
| Platform | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| HARO (helpareporter.com) | Free daily emails | Relaunched by Featured in 2025; closest to the original model |
| Featured.com | Web platform with free and paid tiers | Question-and-answer format; publishes on its own network and partner sites |
| Source of Sources | Free daily emails | Founded by HARO’s original creator; strict spam policy |
| Qwoted | Web platform, free and paid tiers | Strong for business and finance media; profile-based matching |
| Help a B2B Writer | Free emails | Focused on B2B content writers rather than news journalists |
| Journalists’ own channels | Social media, newsletters | Many reporters now post requests directly using hashtags such as #journorequest |
For most B2B and SaaS companies, a combination of HARO, Source of Sources and one platform aimed at B2B writers covers the useful requests without drowning you in irrelevant ones.
Is HARO Link Building Still Worth It?
Yes, with realistic expectations. The links you earn are editorial: a writer chose to quote you and link to you because your answer was useful. Those are exactly the kind of links Google’s spam policies describe as legitimate, and they often sit on publications you could not pay your way into.
The trade-offs:
- Hit rates are low. Even good pitches are ignored most of the time. This is a volume game played with quality answers, which is a difficult combination.
- You do not control the link. Some publications link to your homepage, some to your profile, some do not link at all. Nofollow links are common.
- It does not target specific pages. It builds domain-level authority and brand visibility, not links to your category page. For that you still need direct outreach.
- It takes a real expert’s time. Generic answers written by a junior marketer or an AI tool are now filtered out by platforms and ignored by writers.
Treat it as one component of digital PR, valuable for credibility and authority, rather than as a replacement for page-level link building.
How to Pitch Journalist Requests
Most pitches fail for the same handful of reasons: they are late, generic, too long, or not actually from the person they claim to be from. Here is what works.
Respond quickly, but only to the right requests
Writers often take the first few usable answers. Set up filters so the requests in your field reach you quickly, and ignore everything outside your genuine expertise. One strong answer a day beats ten weak ones.
Answer the question in the first two sentences
Writers are assembling an article, not reading an essay. Lead with the direct answer, then give one specific example or detail that makes the quote worth using.
Be specific and quotable
“Companies should focus on quality content” will never be quoted. “We cut our onboarding emails from nine to four and completion rose because people stopped ignoring them” will. Specific numbers from your own experience, concrete examples and a clear opinion are what get selected. Do not invent figures to sound specific; writers check, and fabricated claims under your name are a liability.
Keep it short
Three to five sentences of answer, then a one-line credential: name, role, company, and a link to the page you would like them to use. Attach nothing.
Write as the named expert
The quote will carry a real person’s name and title. It should sound like them, and they should be comfortable defending it. Ghost-written answers from the founder’s account are fine if the founder has approved them; mass-produced answers from a fictional “head of marketing” are not.
Follow the request’s rules
If the writer asks for a headshot, a word count, or a particular format, provide exactly that. Most platforms now remove users who ignore instructions or pitch off-topic.
An Example Pitch, Annotated
Here is the shape of a response that tends to get used, for a hypothetical request asking small-business owners how they decide when to raise prices.
Subject: Re: How small businesses decide when to raise prices – agency owner, 12 staff
Hi [first name], I run a 12-person SEO agency and have raised prices three times in six years. The trigger each time was the same: when more than about three quarters of new enquiries accepted the quote without negotiation, we were underpriced. We give existing clients ninety days’ notice and grandfather anyone mid-contract. The biggest mistake I made the first time was announcing the increase by email with no explanation; the second time we explained what had changed in the service and lost nobody.
Happy to expand on any of this. Bilal Haider, Founder, Ranking Frontier, [URL], [headshot link].
What makes it work: the subject line restates the query and the credential; the first sentence establishes relevance; the answer is a concrete rule the journalist can quote; there is a specific mistake and a specific fix, which is what makes commentary interesting; and the attribution details are complete so the writer does not have to ask. There is no request for a link, because the link follows from being used.
A Simple Weekly Routine
- Monday: review the subscribed feeds and tag the requests that genuinely match your expertise.
- Daily, 20 minutes: answer the one or two best requests properly rather than skimming all of them.
- Friday: search for your name and company to find published pieces, and record any links or unlinked mentions.
- Monthly: request links for unlinked mentions, and note which types of request produced placements so you can focus the following month.
Over a quarter this routine typically produces a modest number of editorial placements with very little cost beyond the expert’s time.
Mistakes That Get You Ignored or Banned
- Pasting the same answer into every vaguely related request.
- Using AI-generated responses without adding real experience. Several platforms now explicitly filter for this.
- Pitching products instead of answering questions.
- Responding to requests outside your expertise because the publication is attractive.
- Demanding a link or a dofollow attribute. The writer decides; you can politely include a preferred URL.
- Sending long, unformatted walls of text.
Measuring the Results
Because you do not control which page gets linked, measure this tactic at the domain and brand level:
- Number of published mentions and the share that include a link.
- New referring domains attributable to journalist requests.
- Branded search impressions and clicks in Search Console over time.
- Referral traffic from the publications, which also tells you which outlets have real readers.
If you want this tactic to support specific pages, pair it with internal links from your homepage and author profile to the pages that matter.
FAQs
Is HARO free in 2026?
The relaunched HARO at helpareporter.com is described by its owner, Featured, as a free email-based service. Featured’s own platform and several alternatives offer both free and paid tiers. Check each platform’s current pricing, as these change.
Do nofollow links from journalist requests have any value?
They still bring brand visibility, referral traffic and a published quote you can reference elsewhere. Google treats nofollow as a hint rather than a directive, but you should not count on ranking value from them. Pursue these placements for credibility first and links second.
How many pitches should I expect to send per placement?
It varies with your niche, the quality of your answers and the platform. Expect most pitches to go unanswered, and track your own ratio over a couple of months rather than relying on anyone else’s figures.
Conclusion
HARO link building survived the shutdown, but it is a different discipline now: fewer platforms worth using, stricter rules, and writers who have learned to ignore generic answers. Done by a genuine expert with specific, quotable answers, it remains one of the cleanest ways to earn editorial links and build authority. Done at scale with templates, it earns nothing. If you would rather have this run as part of a wider programme, Ranking Frontier’s digital PR services include expert commentary placement alongside campaign-led coverage.
