AI in PR: How PR Professionals are actually using AI

How are PR professionals actually using AI in their daily work?

To explore how AI is being used in PR, we issued a HARO query seeking firsthand perspectives from practitioners across the industry. More than 64 professionals responded, ranging from solo consultants to established, award-winning agencies, many with careers spanning two to three decades.

What was the main takeaway? AI is delivering PR the most value as an accelerator of thinking, research, and execution.

The following sections offer qualitative glimpses into how AI is being applied in PR:

  • AI as a Thinking Partner
  • Research and Data Aggregation
  • List Building for Media Contacts
  • AI-Powered Influencer Discovery
  • Tailoring Pitch Angles for Different Geographic Markets
  • Persona-Based Prompts for Pitch Refinement
  • Real-Time News Monitoring and Reactive Pitching
  • AI Visibility and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
  • Productivity and Workflow Management
  • Custom GPT “PR Command Center”
  • Meeting Documentation and Notetaking
  • Content Review and Quality Assurance
  • Administrative Tasks and Billing
  • Prototyping and Mockups
  • The Human Element Remains Essential

AI as a Thinking Partner

At O’Connell & Goldberg, a public relations firm founded in 1993, AI has become embedded in the agency’s creative and strategic process.

“I like to consider AI my thinking partner,” said Barbara Goldberg, CEO and founding partner of the firm. “What used to happen in the old days was gathering everyone for a brainstorming session. I still love a good brainstorming session, but now I don’t have to rely solely on staff to generate ideas. I can prompt AI, reason with it, and treat it like a strategic collaborator.”

Goldberg describes the technology as a source of feedback and alternative perspectives rather than a replacement for human expertise.

“It serves as a creative engine for us, giving ideas and strategies we may not have considered,” she explained. “It doesn’t replace our staff. It’s an extension of our staff, and it makes us better, smarter, and faster.”

She emphasized that effective use requires active engagement.

“You have to push it, challenge it, and not settle for the first response,” Goldberg said. “The value comes from the back-and-forth, where you keep refining the thinking.”

Research and Data Aggregation

For Jennifer Schenberg, AI has become deeply integrated into how her agency approaches research, particularly when evaluating new prospects or supporting client expansion.

“What AI is wonderful at is bringing analyst research, quotes, statistics, and public data together very quickly,” said Schenberg, chief talker at PenVine, a technology-focused public relations and marketing agency. “It really provides fresh perspectives, which is what we’re looking for. When clients are expanding into new markets or offering new solutions, AI helps us understand competitive positioning, market history, opportunity, and even market sizing data.”

PenVine’s team relies on multiple AI engines, including Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT, to accelerate discovery. Schenberg emphasized, however, that speed does not eliminate the need for careful validation.

“Storytelling is a very nuanced thing, and when AI misses those nuances, everything blows up,” she said. “Nuances can determine the difference between facts and fiction, and ultimately shape whether we meet the goals clients care about.”

For PR teams, AI’s value in research lies in accelerating information gathering, not replacing critical evaluation. Human judgment remains essential for interpreting context, verifying accuracy, and preserving the nuances that shape effective communications.

List Building for Media Contacts

When faced with doing outreach for a very niche client, Olivia Walker used a paid version of ChatGPT to create a targeted media list. She then hired a specialist with access to contact databases to complete the list for around $150, which she found to be significantly cheaper compared to traditional PR software providers. 

“I must have been the very last person to adopt AI,” said Walker, founder of Evolved PR, a San Diego-based strategic public relations and crisis communications firm. “But what I have found is that AI is very good at creating media lists. I can get journalist names, what they cover, their angles, and publication names – but it doesn’t give me access to personal email information. That’s when you need to get a little creative.”

Walker’s experience highlights how AI is reshaping one of PR’s most fundamental workflows, as well as where dollars are flowing within the industry. By separating media discovery with data enrichment, practitioners are reducing costs while preserving the precision required for effective outreach. 

AI-Powered Influencer Discovery

Langley Allbritton is a communications consultant who spent the last decade working across roles at NetApp and Intel, working in both external and internal communications. Recently, she wanted a way to identify influencers in her space. So, she went to LinkedIn, struggled with the search capabilities, and got frustrated with the inability to quickly build an influencer list. 

“I ended up building an agent that scanned the internet for topics I was interested in, and ended up with a complete list of influencers,” said Albritton, now the president of AI Communications Consulting, a firm that supports leaders and communicators to accelerate AI adoption. “The system cross-checks LinkedIn profiles against other public online information, consolidates the data, creates overviews, categorizes results, and provides direct links to LinkedIn profiles.” 

This AI-powered influencer discovery allows for more efficient identification of relevant contacts and enables better understanding of their interests before outreach, helping ensure an authentic connection. 

Tailoring Pitch Angles for Different Geographic Markets

Pitch customization for regional media outlets often proves more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach. That’s why Jodie Booras uses AI to adapt story angles for clients, including a senior in-home care company seeking to connect with audiences across multiple markets.

“Even though my client is in Boca Raton, they want to reach their target audience in Boston, Detroit, Canada, and New York,” said Booras, who was named Freelancer of the Year by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) through her work at Kaiona Communications. “When I come up with a pitch angle, AI can help me identify how to make it attractive to publications in other locations and make sure I didn’t overlook anything.” 

Personalized outreach is often the difference between being ignored and earning coverage. In this context, AI helps communicators craft pitches that feel both timely and tailored to the expectations of specific markets.

Persona-Based Prompts for Pitch Refinement

Jennifer Stephens Acree and her team have developed a distinctive way of using AI to pressure-test their work before it reaches clients or journalists.

“One of the ways we use AI is through persona-based prompts,” said Acree, founder and CEO of JSA+Partners, a Los Angeles-based communications agency. “We created a persona called Farrah, modeled as a tough journalist. We’ll write a pitch, put it into Farrah, and see what Farrah thinks.”

Rather than generating content, the persona functions as a critic.

“Farrah gives very honest feedback on whether or not a pitch is going to land,” Acree explained. “It’s a way to really hone in on what’s going to resonate, especially in a tough media environment where you’re constantly asking how to make people care.”

The team applies a similar approach internally, including personas modeled after agency leadership.

“For junior team members who want another layer of feedback before routing something internally, AI personas are a really nice way to make that more efficient,” she said. “It helps refine the work without adding additional review cycles.”

Real-Time News Monitoring and Reactive Pitching

Alex Fiske and his team use AI to monitor breaking news stories in real-time for clients. 

“We’ll prompt AI with something like, ‘Give me the top 10 breaking news stories around the world that involve car insurance,’” said Fiske, the PR lead at Aira, a UK-based digital marketing agency. This allows the team to spot opportunities within an hour and respond quickly.

“In one case, we managed to submit an expert comment on an article that was live for only 23 minutes,” shared Fiske. “Then we used that same story and expert to go to other media. We got 13 pieces of coverage off the back of it, thanks to AI allowing us to spot a timely opportunity.”  

Real-time news monitoring and reactive pitching are core to PR workflows, where AI can function as an always-on system that scans large volumes of unstructured information. This allows PR teams to identify timely opportunities that can translate into meaningful coverage and generate follow-on results. 

AI Visibility and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Julie Wright began closely examining AI’s impact after noticing a steady decline in organic search performance, both for her site and her clients. As Wright investigated the shift, she concluded that AI-driven interfaces were fundamentally altering how audiences access information.

“I realized that AI overviews and chat-based systems are the new intermediary between your customer and your information,” said Wright, president and founder of (W)right Communications, an integrated communications and public relations agency headquartered in San Diego, California. “If users are no longer clicking through to websites because they’re getting the answers they need directly from AI, then the real question then becomes how a brand shows up in those AI-generated responses.”

Wright found that earned media plays an increasingly important role in this environment, citing the credibility signals associated with authoritative coverage.

“It became clear that high-quality media placements carry weight because of the authority and trust they convey,” she said. “That insight pushed us to think about visibility in a way that blends public relations, search strategy, and message consistency.”

Her experience reflects a broader industry realization that AI visibility is emerging as a new communications priority. Rather than replacing traditional PR objectives, generative engine optimization reframes them around discoverability, authority, and structured brand presence.

Productivity and Workflow Management

Don Martelli’s Boston-based basement setup features two 50-inch TVs, an iPad, a gaming setup, and a digital calendar on the wall – essentially configured like a war room bunker with screens surrounding him. The screens display an orchestration of an extensive AI-powered tech stack – including Motion, Evernote, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Gamma, Notion, Granola, Otter AI, and Prowly – to allow Don to effectively and efficiently function as a one-person PR firm.

How does Don leverage this stack to operate independently and deliver on media list development, project management, billing, invoicing, reviewing data, and other critical tasks? 

“I just built out a bunch of account coordinators that are LLMs,” said Martelli, a former Boston Globe journalist and CEO at PR Bunker, a strategic communications consultancy. “Each tool functions as a specialized assistant handling a different aspect of my workflow. The format allows me to be more efficient with the work, and focus on making my clients successful.”

Martelli emphasizes the system allows him to “work on the business” instead of getting buried in execution – a shift that illustrates how AI is reshaping how communications professionals structure their work and scale their impact.

Custom GPT “PR Command Center”

Blair Huddy did not come from a technical background when she decided to build a custom GPT. Encouraged by how simple the process sounded, she began by asking herself what would be valuable for the work her integrated marketing communications agency was doing.

“That’s really how it started,” said Huddy, founder of Hudson Davis Communications. “I designed a GPT as a command center so I wasn’t constantly repeating the same thought processes or tracking the same details for every client. Now I can simply activate my command center for each client and work from there.” 

Huddy’s command center serves as a comprehensive system covering all the core functions: providing pitch ideas, finding ideal journalists, keeping a running tab of events and awards, conducting industry and competitive research, supplying quote ideas for subject matter experts, and running crisis analysis and scenarios. Plus, the GPT flags execution gaps before they happen.

By centralizing knowledge and workflows, AI-enabled command centers allow for greater consistency across clients and campaigns while serving as a highly trained thinking partner. 

Meeting Documentation and Notetaking

Amy Power founded The Power Group, a PR agency based in Dallas, more than 26 years ago. The firm currently has about 10 employees, serves clients nationwide, and uses the AI notetaker Fireflies for meeting documentation and client call recaps.

“Fireflies has been especially helpful for recapping our meetings,” said Power, who noted the tool provides bullet points of calls and serves as a great reminder of what a client said. “On average, it has given each colleague maybe five to ten hours back in a week, which allows them to do more creative, fun, and strategic things.”

The notetaker also integrates with the firm’s CRM, allowing an automatic import of notes from new business conversations directly into a defined workflow. For PR teams, AI notetakers are key to reducing manual work while keeping everyone aligned. 

Content Review and Quality Assurance

After more than two decades in public relations, Nicole Blake-Baxter has seen how much time agencies can lose to internal review cycles.

“Something as simple as a press release would usually take several rounds of reviews internally before it even gets to the client,” said Blake-Baxter, who founded The Blake Agency, a boutique PR firm in Atlanta serving nonprofit, tech, and travel clients. 

For her team, AI has helped compress that process while also improving accuracy.

“We’re really checking for not just tone or media-friendly language, but also making sure that we’re accurate,” she explained. “I can take a briefing document a client shared with us and compare it to a page on their website. That makes it much easier to confirm there aren’t any gaps between the two sources.”

By reducing internal review time, Blake-Baxter said AI allows the agency to move content forward more efficiently while maintaining quality control.

Administrative Tasks and Billing

Julie Phillippi-Whitney, a PR professional with 35 years of experience, recently received a request from a client that was unlike any she’d received before.

“Julie, can you please send me links or PDFs for every story that’s run since 2011?” 

“There were 383 of them,” said Phillippi-Whitney, a children’s author and owner of Phillippi-Whitney Communications, a PR firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio. “It was going to take me forever to go through every invoice since 2011. So I uploaded all invoices into Claude and asked for an Excel spreadsheet that listed all the stories in chronological order with any associated links. I’d work in batches of 20 invoices at a time, and boop – they’re on a spreadsheet. It saved me hours.” 

For PR professionals faced with time-consuming administrative work, Phillippi-Whitney’s experience reinforces how AI can turn even the most tedious archival requests into manageable, time-efficient tasks. 

Prototyping and Mockups

Diane Gayeski is a professor of strategic communications at Ithaca College who has been teaching students since 1979. In her introductory PR class, she requires her students to use AI for creating prototypes of media materials, particularly when they lack technical production skills.

“Using AI to mock up a video or presentation gives the students and the client an idea of what they’re thinking,” said Gayeski, who is also the owner of the consulting firm, Gayeski Analytics. “It gets you a lot closer to a finished product, and you get better feedback from the client when they see something that’s more specific.” 

Whatever the media material, the result for PR practitioners of all skill levels is faster iteration, clearer alignment, and more actionable client feedback.

The Human Element Remains Essential

While AI is reshaping many PR workflows, Adam Handelsman argues that the profession’s defining skill remains deeply human.

“I started PR before email,” said Handelsman, founder of SpecOps Communications, a media relations firm in Austin, Texas. “It taught me how to get on the phone and talk. You can’t build a real relationship through email or text. That may get you in the door, but relationships are built through actual conversations.”

For Handelsman, relationship building is not just part of the job but the core differentiator in media relations.

“The only thing that separates good PR people from bad PR people is that they don’t foster relationships,” he said. “If I work with a reporter once, I’m going to go back to that person again and again. Over time, they know I’m not going to waste their time, and that trust is everything.”

When asked whether AI could play a meaningful role in that process, Handelsman was skeptical.

“I don’t think it’s personal enough,” he said, emphasizing that credibility and rapport are earned through direct human interaction rather than automation.

Despite the growing reliance on AI tools, Handelsman views technology primarily as an enhancement rather than a substitute. The mechanics of PR may evolve, but its foundation remains rooted in trust, judgment, and relationships.

AI Is Changing How PR Works, Not What PR Is

AI is reshaping how public relations work gets done, but not why it matters. 

The practitioners featured here are not using AI to replace judgment, creativity, or relationships. Instead, they are deploying it to accelerate thinking, compress research cycles, reduce operational drag, and create more space for strategic and human-centered work.

The most effective uses of AI appear where it functions as a collaborator rather than a shortcut. Whether acting as a thinking partner, a research accelerator, a quality-control layer, or an always-on monitoring system, AI is helping PR professionals operate with greater speed, consistency, and confidence. At the same time, these examples make clear that nuance, credibility, storytelling, and relationship building remain resistant to automation.

As AI continues to evolve, the competitive advantage in PR will come integrating tools thoughtfully into existing expertise. The mechanics of public relations may change, but its foundation remains the same: trust, relevance, and human connection.

HARO Launches Journalist Profiles to Add Verification, and Help Reporters Out

New profiles help journalists showcase their work, diversify income streams, and bring more transparency to HARO’s daily queries.

Help a Reporter Out (HARO), the iconic platform that connects journalists with expert sources, today announced the launch of HARO Journalist Profiles – a new, free tool designed to help reporters display their work, attract assignments, and strengthen HARO’s verification process. The new feature gives journalists a platform to build their professional brand and monetize their expertise, while helping HARO highlight the reporters behind every query.

With HARO Profiles, journalists can create, claim, and customize a personalized page to present their bylined work in a portfolio that automatically stays current as new stories are published. Reporters can also attract new assignments and signal their availability by activating an “Open to Write” badge visible to editors and audiences.

“Journalists today are creators, educators, employees, entrepreneurs and freelancers — sometimes all at once,” said Brett Farmiloe, CEO of HARO and Founder of Featured.com. “HARO Profiles help journalists organize and feature their work, amplify their income streams, and grow their audience by leveraging the authority and reach of the HARO platform.”

HARO journalist profile

Profiles also include tools to support and expand a journalist’s readership — from a Buy Me a Coffee widget that allows supporters to contribute directly, to a Substack integration that builds distribution, to drag-and-drop options for selling digital products, getting booked for consulting, or earning affiliate income — all while keeping 100% of their revenue.

“Having a HARO journalist profile makes it easy to showcase my work, track bylined articles, and create visibility for my passive income-generating projects, all in one place,” said Rosie Bell, Travel Journalist with bylines in Fodor’s, Lonely Planet, BBC Travel, and National Geographic.

The introduction of Journalist Profiles directly enhances HARO’s core service — the daily media opportunities that connect journalists with expert sources. Each HARO email will link directly to a journalist’s profile, allowing sources to easily research and verify reporters before pitching. Queries from HARO-verified journalists will appear at the top of every HARO edition, signaling credibility, improving trust, and helping reporters get the sources they need faster.

HARO Journalist Profiles are fully customizable, free forever, and ad-supported — ensuring every journalist can build and grow their presence without platform fees or revenue splits. More than 75,000 journalists have used HARO to connect with expert sources, and now they can use the same trusted platform to strengthen their professional identity and build new opportunities for their work.

Journalists can create or claim their profile today at www.helpareporter.com/journalist-profiles

About Help a Reporter Out (HARO)

Founded in 2008, Help a Reporter Out (HARO) connects journalists with credible sources to make reporting faster and easier. Acquired by Featured.com in 2025, HARO continues to serve as a trusted, journalist-first platform — now modernized with tools that help reporters showcase their work, grow their audience, and drive passive income.

About Featured.com

Featured.com is a knowledge-sharing platform that connects subject-matter experts with leading publishers to create quality, ready-to-publish content. With a community of over 200,000 experts and more than 2 million answers submitted, Featured powers articles across a network of 2,500+ media outlets, unlocking the full potential of human expertise — one insight at a time.

HARO Submission Guidelines & Requirements

HARO allows journalists, content creators, and qualified media outlets to submit source requests provided they meet the following guidelines:

1. Credible Media Outlet

  • The outlet must be fully launched, with a live domain, recent content, and a verifiable editorial presence.
  • Outlets must have a minimum Domain Authority of 20 or receive at least 10,000 monthly visitors (via Moz, Ahrefs, or internal HARO review).
  • Podcasts must be published on a recognized platform (e.g., Apple Podcasts, Spotify). Podcasts that are only hosted on a company’s website will not be accepted. 
  • Social media posts on a reputable platform (e.g., LinkedIn, X, Bluesky) must be published from a public profile with at least 5,000 followers and demonstrate clear editorial intent or thought leadership.
  • Medium and Substack blogs must have at least 5,000 followers/subscribers.
  • Proof of contributor status must be publicly available, either on the media outlet’s website or linked from the journalist’s personal site or social media profiles.

2. Transparent and Relevant Queries

  • The name of the media outlet must be included in the submission.
  • Query requests must ask for content responses of no more than 3,000 words.
  • Reporters may not link to outside surveys, blog comments, or data capture forms. All responses must go through HARO.
  • No guest blogging, link exchanges, or backlink solicitation is allowed.
  • No requests for monetary compensation from sources are permitted.

3. Restrictions and Prohibited Use

  • Student reporters may only submit if part of an accredited journalism program with faculty endorsement.
  • No subscription-only content is allowed. The public must be able to view published stories without paywall access.
  • Product sample requests are only accepted from verified, reputable outlets or creators. Samples must be returned unless otherwise agreed to by the sender.
  • Gift bag queries are only allowed for confirmed in-person or high-profile digital events. Sponsorships, pay-to-play opportunities, or solicitations for paid placements are prohibited.
  • No online gambling sites are permitted.
  • No data collection, business lead sourcing, or testimonial/review farming is allowed on our platform.
  • Queries must never require pre-recorded video. Experts may optionally provide one, but it must not be mandatory.
  • Story pitches and business/client solicitation within the query submissions will be marked as spam. 

Guidelines Subject to Change

These guidelines are intended to help maintain quality, clarity, and alignment with the platform’s standards. However, they are not exhaustive and are subject to change at any time without prior notice. We encourage you to review this page regularly for the most up-to-date information.

HARO maintains a strict one-strike policy for any violations of our submission guidelines. Our company reserves the right to approve, reject, edit, or remove any submission, query, or content at our sole discretion—regardless of whether it fully meets the guidelines outlined here. Adherence to these guidelines does not guarantee query approval. 

By submitting a query on helpareporter.com (HARO), you acknowledge and agree to these terms.

Note: The HARO team reviews and schedules query submissions 8 am – 5 pm  MST Mon -Fri.

Help a Reporter Out (HARO) Partners with the Podcast Professionals Association to Connect Podcast Creators with Expert Guests

Help a Reporter Out (HARO), the leading platform connecting journalists with expert sources, is proud to announce a new partnership with the Podcast Professionals Association (PPA) to support podcast service professionals streamline the process of identifying and sourcing high-quality guest experts for the shows they produce and manage.”

Through this collaboration, members of the PPA—including podcast producers, audio engineers, marketing specialists, podcast managers, coaches, and consultants—will gain direct access to HARO’s powerful query system. With this access, PPA members gain a powerful tool to simplify guest sourcing, ensuring the podcasts they produce feature credible, high-impact experts from HARO’s extensive network.

“Where and how people want to be featured in the media is changing,” said Brett Farmiloe, Founder of Featured.com and CEO of HARO. “Podcasts have become a major channel for raising professional visibility online. Supporting the growth of the podcast creator community is a key area of focus for HARO, and we’re thrilled to partner with the PPA to advance that mission.”

As part of the partnership, PPA will also receive monthly newsletter placements within HARO’s expert community, helping to raise awareness of the Association and its efforts to elevate podcast professionals across the industry.

The Podcast Professionals Association is the industry’s only 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association supporting a broad network of podcast production agencies, hosting platforms, guest booking agencies, and others committed to advancing careers, expanding professional networks, and staying ahead of industry trends. This partnership provides podcast service professionals with strategic tools and exposure to strengthen the shows they manage and amplify their clients’ audience growth.

To learn more about submitting podcast guest queries or joining the HARO community, visit www.helpareporter.com.

HARO Partners with Outdoor Writers Association of America to Support Outdoor Journalists

September 17, 2025 — HARO (Help a Reporter Out) today announced its partnership with the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA), the nation’s largest organization of professional outdoor journalists.

Recognized as “The Voice of the Outdoors,” OWAA represents writers, photographers, videographers, broadcasters, digital storytellers, and artists dedicated to covering outdoor experiences and conservation. Since its founding in 1927, OWAA has worked to enhance the professional skills of its members, uphold the highest ethical standards, and encourage public enjoyment and preservation of natural resources.

“It’s so great to have HARO back,” stated OWAA Executive Director and freelance writer Chez Chesak. “I can say that I’ve used the new HARO both as E.D. of OWAA and as a writer now and I’ve found success as both. We’re excited to bring this to our more than 600 vetted outdoor media members to connect them to just the right sources for their own work too.”

The partnership will provide OWAA members with streamlined access to HARO’s extensive network of expert sources, empowering journalists to find credible voices quickly and produce well-sourced stories that inspire people to enjoy and protect the outdoors.

About HARO
 HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is a leading platform that connects journalists with expert sources across industries. By facilitating fast, reliable connections, HARO helps journalists produce credible, well-rounded stories while providing experts with valuable media opportunities.

About OWAA
The Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) is a nonprofit professional organization representing more than 600 outdoor communicators. Founded in 1927, OWAA supports journalists through professional development, ethical standards, and community while encouraging the enjoyment and conservation of the natural world.

OWWA Linkedin

OWAA X

HARO Partners with South Asian Journalists Association to Expand Access to Expert Sources

September 15, 2025 – HARO (Help a Reporter Out)  announced its partnership with the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA), a nonprofit dedicated to fostering community, professional growth, and nuanced coverage of the South Asian diaspora.

Through this collaboration, SAJA’s members will gain streamlined access to HARO’s vast network of expert sources, making it easier than ever to connect with credible voices for their reporting. The partnership underscores a shared commitment to supporting journalists, expanding access to expert perspectives, and amplifying diverse voices in media.

“As a former journalist and Edelman alum, I’ve seen how helpful HARO’s mission of connecting journalists with expert sources is from both sides of the pitch,” said Kiran Khalid, Vice President of SAJA. “It’s an amazing resource that, frankly, has saved me from missing deadlines.“

Founded in 1994, SAJA provides mentorship, scholarships, training, and networking opportunities for journalists covering South Asia and the diaspora. With this partnership, members will have new tools to strengthen their reporting and produce well-sourced stories that reflect diverse perspectives.

The partnership reflects HARO’s broader mission to strengthen journalism by connecting reporters with the right sources at the right time.

About HARO
 HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is a leading platform that connects journalists with relevant expert sources. With a global network of professionals across industries, HARO enables reporters to access timely, credible insights that power great storytelling.

About SAJA
 The South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting professional development, community, and the coverage of South Asia and the diaspora. Since 1994, SAJA has supported journalists through mentorship, scholarships, training, and networking opportunities. 

SAJA Linkedin

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7 HARO Pitch Tips From Sources

Millions of sources have used Help a Reporter Out (HARO) to get a daily email – sent three times a day – with journalist queries they can respond to.

Sourcing for stories is a constant challenge for journalists, and HARO helps by delivering their queries directly to potential sources. If you can offer relevant expertise – or know someone who can – you can reply directly to the journalist to support their story.

Every source has a go-to tip for using HARO effectively. So, to surface the best advice and help others share their expertise more successfully, we did what any good journalist would do: we put out a HARO asking sources to share their top tips.

Here’s what some sources shared about what makes a HARO pitch stand out.

Set up keyword alerts

Finding the right opportunity is half the battle when using Help a Reporter Out. With so many queries coming in, not all will be the right fit – and sorting through them can take time. 

While HARO does not offer built-in keyword alerts, Featured.com does. As the parent company of HARO, Featured lets you set up your keyword alerts for free to help you spot the right media opportunities. 

Cory Nott, who operates a coaching business with his wife, took it a step further by creating a custom email filter to surface relevant HARO queries. By filtering specific keywords, he’s able to stay on top of opportunities and land media coverage – including a feature on Kiplinger. 

Call to action: Set up keyword alerts on Featured.com

Quickly provide clear and valuable information

Melissa Rolston is the Chief Strategy Officer at Paramount Landscaping, a landscaping company in Ontario, Canada. Paramount monitors HARO queries daily and selectively responds to ones that align closely with their expertise — whether that’s in landscape construction, property maintenance, or leadership in the green industry.

This selective approach has helped Paramount land multiple placements through HARO, including mentions in respected outlets like PRB and MSN. Melissa’s best tip? 

“If you can quickly provide clear, valuable information – without trying to turn it into a promotional pitch, you’ll stand out,” said Rolston. “Reporters are looking for trustworthy sources they can quote easily — the more you focus on making their job easier, the better your chances of being featured.”

Call to action: Before sending a pitch, run it through an AI tool like ChatGPT to improve clarity and remove promotional language. 

Lead with your credentials

Hazel Navarro is a licensed psychotherapist and independent clinical social worker (LICSW) in private practice at Human Heart Connection. She began answering HARO queries in 2022. Despite having over 20 years of experience, each media feature – including placements in Verywell Mind, PS, and others – helped boost her “street cred” among fellow therapists. 

Hazel’s top tip? Include a brief line or two about your credentials before diving into the pitch. 

Journalists want to see your qualifications – and verify them quickly. If you’ve got the credentials, lead with them.

Here’s an example:

“My name is Hazel Navarro.  I’m a bilingual/bicultural, licensed psychotherapist in private practice specializing in working with leaders and high achievers.”

Word of caution: Never misrepresent your credentials. Doing so will result in a permanent ban from HARO.

Be succinct 

It’s not uncommon for a journalist to receive dozens – or even hundreds – of pitches from a single HARO query. For journalists on deadline, sorting through responses can be time consuming, especially when a pitch may not directly address the original journalist request.

That’s why Bruce A. Hurwitz, Ph.D., President and CEO of Hurwitz Strategic Staffing, recommends responding quickly and succinctly to the journalist’s question. His approach has earned him placements in over 750 articles across 500 publications in more than 30 countries over the past 10 years using HARO. 

Call to action: HARO exists to save both journalists and sources time. The more concise and relevant your pitch, the more helpful it is to a journalist on deadline.

Consider including a press page link

Mindy Solkin has trained thousands of people to run marathons. A HARO contributor since 2017, Coach Mindy knows that—just like running—you don’t go the distance by weighing a journalist down with extra baggage. 

That’s why she recommends including a link to a press page in your email signature. While some journalists may avoid widely quoted sources, others find it helpful to review a source’s credibility and media experience. For Coach Mindy, placements in outlets like Total Shape and The Healthy show how sharing past media coverage can help a pitch go the distance. 

Call to action: Add a link to your press page in your email signature to give journalists a quick way to verify your credibility and media experience.

Make sure your pitch directly answers the journalist’s question

HARO has a thumbs up/down feature at the end of every pitch email, asking journalists: “Was this pitch responsive to your request?” If a journalist clicks “thumbs down,” the source receives feedback explaining that their response missed the mark.

The truth is, some pitches simply don’t answer the journalist’s question. That’s why author Carol Gee – who has gained international exposure and was featured in Essence – recommends asking yourself: “Does this response answer the question?” before hitting send. 

Call to action: If the pitch doesn’t answer the question, take a moment to revise. 

It’s about being helpful

HARO stands for Help a Reporter Out. At its core, that’s exactly what it’s meant to do. 

That’s why Salvatore Surra, Director of SEO & Content at Seamless.AI, says the key is to focus on the journalist’s audience. 

“It’s not about you, your company, or even your product,” said Surra. “It’s about what it means to the writer’s audience.  We try to put ourselves in the position of the writer and what would help them rather than promoting ourselves.”

This approach has led to placements on industry websites like CloudTalk, proving that when sources can be prioritize being helpful, everyone wins. 

The Bottom Line for Better Pitches

Pitching through HARO isn’t about being the loudest voice. It’s about being the most relevant, credible, and helpful. Whether it’s setting up keyword alerts, leading with your credentials, or simply answering the question clearly, these small adjustments can make a big difference in getting noticed by journalists.

The best pitches save journalists time and serve their audience. Keep that in mind, and you’ll not only increase your chances of being featured – you’ll also build lasting credibility as a trusted source.

Subscribe to HARO by inputting your email address on our homepage, at helpareporter.com. 

HARO Now Detects AI-Generated Responses

We know how important it is to trust the sources you quote. That’s why HARO has partnered with Pangram, an industry-leading AI detection tool built by researchers from Stanford, Tesla, and Google.

This partnership gives you more control and confidence when reviewing pitches. Starting now, you can:

  • Hide AI-generated responses. When submitting a query, just check “No AI responses” — and HARO will automatically filter out pitches flagged as likely AI-generated.
  • See AI Likelihood Scores. Every response in your Journalist Dashboard now includes a score showing the likelihood it was AI-written. You can also choose to “Filter Out AI Responses” entirely with a single click.
  • Operate with more trust. We’re actively banning AI abusers and spammy accounts — and this is just one more way we’re working to protect your time and improve pitch quality.

Want to see it in action? Submit a query today: helpareporter.com/submit-query

New Quick Response Feature for HARO Journalists

Journalists who put out a HARO query can receive a high quantity of submissions from sources, making it difficult to reply to everyone who submitted.

That’s why Help a Reporter Out just launched a new “quick response” feature to make replying to sources faster and easier.

From the Journalist Dashboard, journalists can now respond to sources with a single click—without revealing an email address to prevent unwanted follow ups.

We hope this Quick Response feature is helpful for journalists to reply to sources, and for sources to receive a status update on their pitch.

In addition, journalists can now bookmark their favorite sources for future stories. Try out these new features by submitting a query.

HARO Journalist Dashboard: View & Manage Queries

Help a Reporter Out has launched a new Journalist Dashboard to help you easily track and manage your HARO queries in one place. If you’ve submitted a query recently, you can view it — along with all responses — at helpareporter.com/view-queries.

Journalists are able to do the following on their Journalist Dashboard:

  • View all queries in one dashboard
  • Mute a query if sufficient responses have been received
  • Send a “quick response” to a source with a single click
  • Bookmark your favorite sources
  • View AI detection scores of a pitch
  • Mark a pitch as “unhelpful”
  • Report Spam
  • And, more

If you haven’t submitted a HARO query recently (or even if you have), we’d love to help you find expert sources for any stories you’re working on this week. You can submit one directly here: helpareporter.com/submit-query