HARO Link Building: How Journalist Requests Earn Links in 2026
HARO link building means answering journalist requests to earn quotes and links. What happened to HARO, the alternatives, and how to pitch well.
HARO link building means answering journalists who are looking for expert sources, so that when the article is published it quotes you and links to your website. HARO (Help a Reporter Out) was the service that made the tactic famous, and "HARO" became shorthand for the whole approach.
It matters because it is one of the few ways a small business can earn a mention on a national news site or a large industry publication without a PR agency. The catch is that the platform itself has had a rocky couple of years, and the tactic now runs across several services rather than one.
What happened to HARO?
HARO went from the default tool in the industry to closed and back again in roughly eighteen months. Here is the timeline, from Cision's and Featured.com's own announcements and the public record.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Peter Shankman starts HARO, originally as a Facebook group |
| June 2010 | Vocus acquires HARO |
| 2014 | Vocus merges with Cision, and HARO becomes a Cision brand |
| 2024 | Cision rebrands HARO as Connectively |
| 9 December 2024 | Cision discontinues Connectively to focus on its core CisionOne product |
| 15 April 2025 | Cision announces the sale of HARO to Featured.com |
| 22 April 2025 | HARO emails restart under Featured.com's ownership |
When it announced the acquisition, Featured.com said HARO would stay free for journalists and sources, funded by advertising in the newsletter, and would return to its original format of daily email digests. Terms can change under a new owner, so check the current details on helpareporter.com before you build a process around it.
The practical effect of the shutdown was that many sources and journalists moved elsewhere in the gap, so today the work is spread across several platforms.
How journalist request link building works
The mechanics are the same whichever platform you use.
- A journalist posts a request ("Looking for a mortgage adviser to comment on first-time buyer rates")
- Sources reply with a short pitch: a usable quote, their credentials and a link to their site
- The journalist picks the quotes that fit the story, usually from a large pile of replies
- The article goes live, sometimes weeks later, often without anyone telling you
- The publication may link to your site, mention you by name without a link, or cut you entirely
There is no guarantee of a link at any stage. You are giving a journalist something useful, and the link is their choice.
HARO alternatives: where journalist requests live now
| Platform | How it works | Cost for sources |
|---|---|---|
| HARO (owned by Featured.com) | Daily email digests of journalist requests | Free, supported by newsletter ads (per Featured.com's announcement) |
| Source of Sources | Email list run by HARO founder Peter Shankman, up to three emails a day | Free |
| Qwoted | Expert profiles plus a feed of journalist requests | Free sign-up, with paid plans on its pricing page |
| Featured | A platform for journalist requests, podcast invitations and other media opportunities | Plans listed on its pricing page |
| #journorequest | Journalists post requests on social platforms using the hashtag | Free |
Source of Sources is notably strict. Its site warns that pitching a reporter off topic even once can get you removed from the list, which is a good rule to follow everywhere.
Most people who do this well use two or three sources at once rather than relying on a single inbox.
How to write a pitch that gets used
Journalists are on deadline and wading through a lot of replies. The pitches that get picked make their job easy.
- Answer the question in the first two lines. Lead with the quote, not your biography
- Be specific. A number from your own work, a named example or a clear opinion beats generic advice every time
- Keep it short. A few tight paragraphs the journalist can paste straight in
- Prove you're qualified in one line. Job title, company and why you know this
- Reply fast. Requests with short deadlines fill up quickly, so speed matters more than polish
- Only answer requests you're genuinely right for. Off-topic pitches burn your reputation with the journalist and the platform
The same principles apply to any cold pitch, and the outreach email templates guide covers the structure in more detail.
Are HARO links worth it?
Often, yes, but go in with realistic expectations about what you're getting.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Links and mentions on sites you could never buy or pitch your way onto | Low hit rate, so it takes steady, daily effort |
| Editorial placements, the kind Google's policies are designed to reward | Many publications use nofollow or don't link at all |
| Builds the founder's or expert's profile as well as the site's | Requests are skewed to some niches (finance, health, business, tech) |
| Free or cheap in cash terms | Hard to predict or schedule, so not a reliable monthly volume |
A nofollow link from a major publication is still worth having. Google treats nofollow as a hint, the referral traffic is real, and being named on trusted sites feeds the brand mentions that AI assistants pick up when they decide which companies to recommend.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it fails | Better approach |
|---|---|---|
| Pitching every request in your inbox | Journalists spot generic, off-topic replies instantly | Answer only where you have real expertise |
| Using AI to write the whole pitch | Requests are flooded with interchangeable AI answers | Add one specific detail only you could know |
| Leading with a sales pitch for your product | Journalists want insight, not adverts | Make the quote useful on its own |
| Asking for a followed link | It's the journalist's call, and asking looks transactional | Include your URL and let them decide |
| Not tracking what got published | You miss coverage you could link to or share | Set up alerts for your name and brand |
That last point overlaps with link reclamation: if a journalist quotes you without linking, a polite note sometimes gets the link added.
Where it fits in a link building plan
Journalist requests sit alongside digital PR as an earned, editorial tactic. Digital PR creates the story and pitches it out; journalist requests let the story come to you. Both build a handful of high-trust referring domains rather than a high volume of links.
For predictable volume you'll still want a repeatable tactic such as outreach or media placements. The strategies hub compares every option on cost, effort and risk.
The short version
- HARO link building means answering journalist requests so the published article quotes and links to you
- HARO was shut down as Connectively in December 2024, sold to Featured.com in April 2025 and relaunched as a free email service
- Source of Sources, Qwoted, Featured and #journorequest all carry requests too, so most people use more than one
- Short, specific, fast and genuinely expert pitches win; generic or AI-written ones don't
- Many placements are nofollow or unlinked, but the brand mentions and authority are still worth having
It's slow and unpredictable, but it's one of the cleanest ways to earn links from sites that can't be bought.