Journalist Requests On HARO Climb 68% Year Over Year
In a wide-ranging interview with PR and media newsletter writer Aly Walansky, Featured founder Brett Farmiloe shared new data on HARO's rebound since its April 2025 relaunch — including a 68% year-over-year increase in journalist requests across the platforms Featured owns and operates.
Farmiloe said the growth isn't concentrated in one category. HARO's request categories span Business and Finance, Technology, Travel, Lifestyle and Entertainment, Health and Pharma, General, Gift Bags and Gift Guides, and Podcasts and Shows — and all of them are seeing more journalist activity.
“”AI visibility rewarding authoritative earned media has driven significant growth across the brands we own and operate. Journalist requests are up 68% year over year, and that growth isn't concentrated in one category.
The interview also surfaced three numbers Farmiloe called out as standout stats on the pitching side of the business.
Featured scored 1,394,740 pitches for AI authorship using Pangram, then tracked publication outcomes. Roughly 1 in 3 human-written pitches got featured, compared with closer to 1 in 10 AI-written pitches. Farmiloe pointed to that gap as the reason he's optimistic that AI is pushing pitching toward higher quality rather than more volume.
“”Journalist requests on HARO have increased 68% year over year. There's journalists using the service, and returning back to it, because it works.
Key facts from the interview
- HARO's history
Founded in 2008, sold in 2010, rebranded to Connectively in April 2024, then relaunched under Featured in April 2025 after Connectively announced it would be discontinued.
- Scale
Featured has sent more than 100 million emails to subscribers and delivered more than 2 million pitches from sources to journalists.
- Subscriber growth
HARO subscribers grew 54% year over year, with many new subscribers coming from PR professionals.
- Pitch volume pressure
Pitch volume to journalists has increased 43% in the last 18 months, according to Farmiloe.
Farmiloe also described the trust and safety work behind the numbers: every pitch runs through AI detection powered by Pangram, 35% of journalists now opt out of AI-flagged pitches, and HARO bans an account roughly every 23 minutes for spam or terms-of-service violations. Clear-cut violations are automated; anything ambiguous, or any appealed ban, goes to a human reviewer.
About Featured
Featured is the AI co-pilot for PR, a platform that helps PR professionals and subject-matter experts land media placements, build brand authority, and grow AI visibility. The company owns and operates HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and Connectively as standalone products within its portfolio. Learn more at Featured.com.