If you run a startup with a small marketing budget, HARO (Help a Reporter Out) is still one of the few ways to earn backlinks from real news sites and industry publications without paying an agency or a link seller. You answer a journalist’s question with a genuinely useful quote, they cite you and link to your site, and you walk away with a citation that’s far harder to get through cold outreach.
This guide walks through what HARO actually is today (it’s been through some ownership changes), how to sign up, how to pitch in a way that actually gets picked, and the mistakes that get most source responses ignored.
Quick Answer
Sign up as a ‘source’ at helpareporter.com, pick the topic categories that match your expertise, and you’ll start receiving three query digests a day by email. Reply directly to any query your startup can genuinely answer with a concise, specific quote and your credentials — if a journalist uses it, you typically get a byline and a backlink in the published article.
What HARO Is Now (and Why the Name Got Confusing)
HARO was founded back in 2008 and became the go-to way for journalists to crowdsource quotes from experts, while sources got free press and backlinks in return. Cision, which owned HARO for years, rebranded it to ‘Connectively’ and then shut that platform down in December 2024.
Featured.com bought the HARO name and relaunched it as a free service in April 2025, bringing back the classic format: three email digests a day, at no cost to sources or journalists. Connectively still exists as a separate, more feature-rich platform from the same company for people who want filtering and response tracking beyond a plain email inbox, but the core HARO newsletter is free to use.
Because of that history, you’ll see older articles reference paid tiers or a platform that no longer exists — as of 2026, HARO itself has no subscription cost and no pay-per-pitch fee. The company monetizes through sponsorships inside the newsletter instead.
How to Sign Up and Start Pitching
Go to helpareporter.com and choose the ‘source’ option (as opposed to ‘journalist’). You’ll set up a free account, select the topic categories relevant to your business — options span things like business and finance, tech, healthcare, lifestyle, education, and public policy — and choose how many digests you want to receive.
Once you’re subscribed, you’ll get three emails a day, each containing dozens of open queries from journalists and bloggers grouped by category. Skim for questions your startup’s founder or team can answer with real expertise, not generic opinions.
When you find a fit, reply directly to that specific query (don’t mass-email your pitch to multiple queries). Keep the format plain text — HARO strips attachments and heavy HTML — and open with a subject line that mirrors the journalist’s question so it’s obvious you’re responding to them specifically, not sending a form pitch.
Structure your response like this: a one- or two-line credibility statement (who you are, why you’re qualified), then a direct, quotable answer to the exact question asked, and finally your name, title, company, and a link back to your site in your signature. If the query has multiple sub-questions, answer each one so the journalist doesn’t have to chase you for more.
Speed matters. Journalists work on deadline and often stop reading responses once they have enough good quotes, so replying within a few hours of the query going out — rather than waiting until the end of the day — meaningfully improves your odds.
Tips and Common Mistakes
Don’t pitch your product. Unless the query explicitly asks for product or tool recommendations, keep the response to expert commentary — journalists and HARO’s own guidance are clear that overt self-promotion is the fastest way to get ignored.
Only respond to queries you can answer with specific, concrete insight. A vague quote that could apply to any company signals you didn’t actually read the question, and it won’t get used.
Not every quote you submit will get published, and even published quotes don’t always include a link — some outlets only credit your name and company. Treat HARO as a numbers game: consistent, high-quality responses over weeks tend to produce a handful of solid placements, not an instant backlink on your first try.
Watch for AI-generated spam skewing the query pool. Since the relaunch, some journalists and sources have reported an uptick in low-effort, AI-written responses flooding queries, which makes a genuinely specific, well-credentialed answer stand out even more.
If you want more control than a shared email inbox offers — filtering by keyword, tracking which pitches you’ve sent, seeing response status — consider using Connectively or a competing platform like Qwoted alongside HARO rather than instead of it.
Explore more: More startup growth tactics.
Help a Reporter Out (HARO) FAQs
Is HARO free to use in 2026?
Yes. Both journalists and sources use HARO for free — there are no subscription tiers or pay-per-pitch fees. Featured.com, which now owns the brand, funds it through sponsorships inside the newsletter.
How many emails does HARO send per day?
Three: a morning, afternoon, and evening digest, each containing dozens of open journalist queries across categories like business, tech, healthcare, and lifestyle.
What’s the difference between HARO and Connectively?
They’re sister products from the same company, Featured.com. HARO is the free, three-times-daily email digest. Connectively is a fuller platform with filtering and response tracking built on top of the same journalist queries.
Does responding to a HARO query guarantee a backlink?
No. Journalists pick from many responses, and even quotes that get published don’t always include a link — some just credit your name and title. Treat it as a numbers game and keep pitching consistently.
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