The Noise Problem
In 2025, journalist inboxes are drowning. A single HARO or source-request query often attracts hundreds of responses, according to practitioner guides and HARO overviews. With the resurgence of HARO under Featured.com following its acquisition from Cision in April 2025, the volume and competition have only intensified.
Amid that deluge, unmonitored AI-generated, templated pitches have become a pervasive clog, they waste editorial attention, dilute quality, and make it harder for real experts to get noticed. In fact, modern media outreach depends on genuine connection and relevance, the kind of relationship-focused communication that helps PR pros cut through the noise of automation. The result: journalists increasingly skim or discard submissions without reading closely.
For PR professionals focused on real relationships, the takeaway is simple: it’s time to bring back the human touch. This playbook shares practical, proven ways to rise above the flood of automated replies, rebuild trust with journalists, and win the kind of HARO placements that actually make the difference.
The Authenticity Signal: Standing Out in an AI-Saturated Inbox
In today’s saturated media environment, a pitch must broadcast more than a news hook, it must emit what I call an “authenticity signal”: the subtle cues in language, structure, and context that convey genuine human expertise, not template-based automation.
Journalists have grown vocal about their frustration with generic, unedited AI-toned pitches. Recent industry research found that 73% of journalists said they reject pitches because they lack relevance, and many remarked that they “can tell when it’s a mass-email.” Nearly half (49%) say they seldom or never respond to pitches, due in large part to sketchy signals in the pitch itself.
That pushback means PR pros must lean harder into the human side:
- Personalize with precision: begin by referencing a reporter’s recent story or beat.
- Lead with a quote or insight, not your biography, so the human voice lands first.
- Write naturally: avoid keywords strung together or robotic sentence structures.
In fact, Propel’s Q2 2024 Barometer found that the upward trend in response rates with 3.43% on average, coincided with communicators sending fewer, more focused, and more personalized pitches. That alignment suggests human-led pitch personalization is resonating in a way that stand-alone automation cannot.
The Ten Commandments of a Winning HARO Pitch
- Respond quickly: Most journalists finalize their selections within hours. While HARO doesn’t publish open metrics, media outreach data from Propel shows that journalists respond to only around 3% to 4% of total pitches, rewarding those that arrive promptly and read cleanly.
- Read carefully: A shocking 73% of journalists reject pitches because they fall outside their coverage.
- Lead with value: Put your most newsworthy or unique insight first. Cision advises: “Provide a clear, concise reason a journalist should write about your story in the very first line of your pitch. Don’t make them hunt for the hook, give it to them up front.
- Credential with context: Include a short sentence that proves your authority (e.g. your role, a successful relevant project) without burying it in a long bio.
- Format for clarity: Use plain text, short paragraphs, and line breaks to make the pitch easily scannable. Journalists consistently prefer pitches that are easy to skim.
- Be quotable: Design at least one sentence that a journalist can lift directly as a quote. That increases the chances your perspective is used.
- Avoid fluff: Skip phrases like “I’d be happy to comment” or “just checking in.” In PR Daily’s survey, 79% of journalists cited irrelevance or padding as major reasons for rejecting pitches.
- Mind brevity: Propel’s data shows that pitches containing 51 to 150 words achieved the highest journalist response rate, which was 7.51%.
- Follow directions: If a journalist gives a format, word limit, or deadline, obey it. Disregarding clear instructions is a fast track to being filtered out.
- Respect relationships: Never harass or pressure a journalist after the deadline; send a thank-you or move on. Over time, consistency and respect build repeat opportunities.
When this framework is applied consistently, it helps PR pros shift from being “just another name in the inbox” to trusted sources. Over time, high-quality responses yield recurring journalist relationships and compound media ROI.
Beyond the Obvious: Finding Hidden Opportunities
Many PR professionals confine themselves to queries squarely within their niche, but that limits exposure and backlink potential. Instead, look for adjacent expertise zones where your insight still holds value. For example, a fintech CMO might not only answer questions about digital payments, but also lend perspective on leadership challenges in remote teams or executive burnout during scale cycles.
In practice, some agencies track HARO successes and notice that cross-category answers, especially in overlapping themes such as management, remote work, or data ethics, yield unexpected Tier-1 pickups. Search Engine Journal notes that HARO outreach often works best when experts stretch their relevance across overlapping industries rather than staying rigidly within one niche.
A simple but powerful tip: maintain a spreadsheet of HARO query topics that resulted in placements, along with their angles and keywords. Periodically review it to spot patterns. Over time, this approach diversifies your backlink portfolio and elevates your visibility beyond your core verticals.
The Golden Rule: Make the Journalist’s Job Effortless
Journalists favor sources who make their jobs easier. Start by providing complete attribution (name, title, company, relevant link) up front, so they don’t have to chase you. Provide complete attribution (name, title, company, link) upfront. Clarity matters, so don’t make reporters dig to find who you are.
Whenever relevant, include a concise, pre-approved bio (one or two lines), a headshot, and social links. And keep your quotes tight, journalists prefer punchy, direct statements over long soliloquies.
By doing this, you remove friction, helping them cut and paste your contribution cleanly and in turn, they are more likely to choose you again.
Authenticity Wins Long-Term
Authentic, value-driven responses will outpace automation every time. As AI-generated pitches multiply, credibility becomes a measurable differentiator in journalist selection.
The future of HARO belongs to those who combine speed, clarity, and sincerity, not just to earn backlinks, but to build reputational equity in an algorithmic age.
With over a decade in digital marketing, Leury Pichardo builds scalable growth systems for businesses using a powerful mix of SEO and AI. This data driven playbook is the same one he used to sell his own websites for six figures and get his clients featured in outlets like Forbes and Entrepreneur.
