Updated for 2026
How to actually get links from HARO after the Cision shutdown
⏺ 8 min read
link building guide
HARO has died, been resurrected, changed owners, and somehow survived. No wonder people aren’t sure it’s still worth the effort in 2026.
Short answer: yes — but only if you run it like a system. Average success rate is 5-10%: send 100 pitches, land 5 to 10 placements. Most people quit after 20 pitches with zero wins and call it dead.
The people who win treat HARO as a system, not a lottery. This guide is that system.
In This Article
What Happened to HARO (The Full Timeline)
2008-2022: the golden era. HARO (Help a Reporter Out) was a free email service. Journalists posted requests, you replied, you got quoted. Simple, free, and it worked.
2022-2023: Cision rebrands it “Connectively.” Paid tiers ($29-$149/month) got bolted on, plus a clunkier interface. Users hated it. Journalist engagement dropped.
December 2024: Connectively gets killed. Cision shut it down entirely to push everyone toward CisionOne instead.
April 2025: Featured.com buys HARO. Featured (formerly Terkel) relaunched it as a free service with the classic 3x/day email digest. Sign up at helpareporter.com.
2026: it works, but it’s crowded. Each query now pulls 50-300 responses. AI-generated pitches are flooding the platform. You can still win — you just have to be better than the noise.
The Numbers: What Success Actually Looks Like
Here’s what to actually expect:
- Average success rate: 5-10% (5-10 placements per 100 pitches)
- Expert-level success rate: 15-20%, with tight targeting and a sharp pitch
- Responses per query: 50-300, depending on topic and outlet
- The window that matters: the first 15-60 minutes after the digest lands
- Pitch within the first hour: 20% higher conversion than pitching later
Send 10 solid pitches a week and expect 2-4 placements a month starting out. Refine your approach and that climbs to 4-8 a month.
Not glamorous numbers, but real ones. These are DR 50-90+ placements in actual publications. You can’t buy those. Or if you can, you’re paying $500-$2,000 per link. HARO gets you there for the cost of your time.
5-10%
average success rate
15-20%
expert-level rate
60 min
response window
150-250
words per pitch
2026 reality check: AI-generated pitches have flooded HARO. Journalists get 100-300 responses per query. Your pitch needs to sound human, specific, and credentialed to stand out. Generic AI responses get deleted instantly.
Pro Tip
Focus on earning links from sites your target audience actually reads. A niche trade publication link often drives more qualified traffic than a generic high-DA site.
The 7 Rules That Separate 5% From 20% Success Rates
Rule 1: Speed Kills (In a Good Way)
Reply within 60 minutes or you’re already behind. HARO emails land at fixed times — the moment one hits your inbox, the clock starts. Journalists often lock in sources within a day, and the first 50 responses have a massive edge.
Build the system once:
- Mobile alerts for HARO emails — separate filter, distinct sound
- Pre-written bios ready to paste (50-word, 100-word, 200-word versions)
- Templates for your top 3-5 expertise areas, customizable in 5 minutes
- 15 minutes blocked after every digest to scan and respond
This is reactive PR in its most basic form.
Rule 2: Be Ruthlessly Selective
Only respond if all three are true:
- You have genuine, specific expertise on this exact question
- The outlet is one you’d be proud to appear in — check the DR
- You can add something the other 200 responses won’t
5 excellent pitches beat 20 generic ones. Every single time.
Rule 3: Write Like a Journalist, Not a Marketer
Give the journalist a quote they can paste with zero editing. That’s the whole job.
Bad pitch:
“At [Company], we believe in providing innovative solutions that help our customers achieve their goals. Our CEO would be happy to provide expert commentary on this topic.”
Good pitch:
“The biggest mistake first-time homebuyers make is skipping pre-approval before they start looking. They fall in love with a house, then discover they can’t afford it. Get pre-approved first, set your budget 10% below the approval amount, and never waive the inspection to win a bidding war.” — [Name], mortgage broker, 12 years
The second one is quotable. The journalist lifts it straight into the article. That’s what wins.
The test: Read your pitch out loud. If it sounds like something a person would say in conversation, it’s good. If it sounds like a press release, rewrite it.
Rule 4: Lead With the Credential, Not the Company
Journalists trust credentials, not company names.
Structure every pitch the same way:
- First sentence: your direct answer — the quotable part
- Second sentence: one supporting data point or example
- Third sentence: your credential, proving you’re qualified
- Sign-off: name, title, company, one-line bio
Total length: 150-250 words. Not 50 — too thin. Not 500 — too long.
Rule 5: Include One Number
Pitches with a specific stat get picked up more. Numbers make a quote sharper and more quotable.
- “Remote work has increased” → generic
- “Remote work applications increased 340% between 2019 and 2023 in our dataset” → quotable
A widely-cited analysis of 5,272 media placements from a leading UK digital PR agency found that data-backed campaigns consistently outperform opinion-only pitches — the same pattern we lean on when we build HARO responses for our own clients.
Rule 6: Never Pitch What You Can’t Prove
Stay in your lane. If a journalist asks about healthcare and you sell software, don’t stretch. Go deep on your niche, not wide across every query. Pitch 20 relevant queries in one niche and journalists start recognizing your name.
Rule 7: Follow Up on Wins
A placement is the start of a relationship, not the end of one.
- Thank the journalist with a short email — not a sales pitch
- Share the article on LinkedIn and tag them
- Add them to your list for future direct pitching
- Track it: outlet, DR, date, topic, what worked
Pitch Quality Checker
Before you hit send, check every box. Miss one and your success rate drops.
HARO Pitch Template
Here’s the format I use. Steal it.
Subject: Re: [Exact query title from HARO]
Hi [journalist name if provided],
[2-3 sentence direct answer to their question. Make it quotable. Include one specific number or example.]
[1 sentence of supporting context or a second angle they might not have considered.]
About me: [Name], [Title] at [Company]. [One sentence credential.] [Optional: link to a previous article where you were quoted.]
Happy to provide additional context or data if needed.
[Name]
[Email]
[Phone]
Total: 150-250 words.
“HARO isn’t a shortcut to backlinks—it’s a shortcut to journalist relationships. The links are just a side effect of being genuinely useful.”
— Salva Jovells, Presslei
What Types of Queries to Target
Not every query deserves a response. Sort them fast:
High-value (target these):
- Queries from named outlets with DR 50+ (Forbes, Business Insider, HuffPost)
- Specific questions that match your exact expertise
- Queries with deadlines 24-48 hours out (less competition)
Medium-value (pitch selectively):
- Queries from unnamed outlets
- Broad topic queries where you have a unique angle
- Roundup-style queries
Low-value (skip these):
- Obvious product placement queries
- Topics where you’d be stretching your expertise
- No outlet name AND vague topics
Key Takeaway
The most valuable backlinks come from earned editorial coverage. When journalists cite your data, the link is a natural byproduct — not the goal you pitched for.
Is HARO Enough on Its Own?
No.
HARO is one channel in a reactive PR strategy. Pair it with:
- Direct reactive PR (pitching your own data stories to journalists)
- Proactive campaign formats (city rankings, surveys, expert tips)
- Other journalist request platforms (Qwoted, ResponseSource, SourceBottle, Featured)
HARO gets you in the door. It’s not the whole strategy.
The Bottom Line
HARO in 2026 is noisier than ever — but the trade still works. Journalists need sources, you have expertise. The gap between people who say “HARO doesn’t work” and people who land DR 70+ placements consistently comes down to speed, selectivity, and pitch quality. All three are learnable.
Start with 5 pitches a week. Track everything. Refine after 50 pitches. By pitch 100, you’ll know exactly what works for your niche.
The HARO formula
Speed (respond within 60 min) + Selectivity (5 quality pitches beat 20 generic ones) + Specificity (one number, one credential, one quotable sentence) = 15-20% success rate instead of 5-10%.
Presslei is a reactive PR agency based in Zurich. We run HARO alongside our own journalist database of 27,000+ contacts to land media coverage for clients. Want help building a system like this? Get in touch.
About the Author
Salvador Jovells
Founder of Presslei. 12+ years in ecommerce SEO across international markets. After a decade of link buying for Hockerty and Sumissura, I reverse-engineered 5,272 earned media placements and founded a reactive PR agency that builds authority through data-driven stories journalists actually want to publish. Based in Zurich.
Related Reading
- HARO vs Qwoted vs Featured vs SourceBottle
- Digital PR vs Link Building
- How I Built a 27,000+ Journalist Database
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DO
- Respond to HARO queries within 60 minutes of publication
- Lead with credentials and a specific data point
- Keep responses under 250 words with a clear expert quote
- Track your response rate and adjust your approach monthly
- Focus on queries where you have genuine domain expertise
DON’T
- Respond to queries outside your area of expertise
- Write lengthy responses that bury the key information
- Pitch your product or service in a HARO response
- Ignore the journalist’s specific format requirements
- Send the same template response to multiple similar queries
Frequently Asked Questions
Does HARO still work in 2026?
Yes, but it’s more competitive. What works is responding within 60 minutes with a specific, credible answer. The people getting consistent HARO placements have built a response system — they’re not responding casually when they happen to remember.
How quickly do you need to respond?
Under one hour. Most journalists select from the first 20–30 responses. Set up email alerts so queries hit your phone immediately. Responses sent after four hours are rarely read unless the deadline is longer.
How do you stand out from other responders?
Three things: specificity (answer the exact question), brevity (150–250 words), and credentials (include one concrete proof point). Opening with a quotable sentence a journalist can drop straight into their article dramatically increases pickup.
