Featured Research · August 2026

HARO Statistics (2026)

These figures come from HARO, Featured’s journalist-request network. Here is how those pitches are written, how journalists choose to receive them, and how requests and accounts are reviewed.

21%

of pitches submitted through HARO are written entirely by AI.

“More than one in five pitches submitted through HARO are written completely by AI — and journalists are about three times more likely to use a human-written pitch instead.”

Key Definitions

HARO
Help A Reporter Out, Featured’s journalist-request network. Journalists publish requests for sources; sources reply with pitches.
Pitch
A response a source sends to a journalist’s request. HARO classifies whether that response was written by a person or generated entirely by AI.
AI-generated pitch
A pitch classified as written completely by AI, with no meaningful human authorship. Journalists can choose to block these when they submit a request.
Journalist request
A query a journalist submits seeking sources, quotes, or expertise. Featured reviews the journalist, publication, and request before it is sent to sources.

Five findings

  1. 21%

    One in five pitches is written entirely by AI

    More than one in five pitches submitted through HARO are written completely by AI.

  2. 35%

    A third of journalists now block AI-generated pitches

    More than one-third of journalists now choose to block AI-generated responses when submitting a request.

  3. 23 min

    A user is banned every 23 minutes

    HARO bans users primarily for spam and violations of its terms of service.

  4. 32%

    Nearly a third of journalist requests are rejected

    Nearly one-third of journalist requests are rejected during the approval process after reviewing the journalist, publication, and request for quality and legitimacy.

  5. ~3×

    Human-written pitches are far more likely to be used

    Human-written pitches are about three times more likely to be used by journalists than AI-generated pitches.

Human-written pitches still win

Journalists are about three times more likely to use a human-written pitch than an AI-generated one. More than a third now block AI-generated responses when they submit a request.

Relative likelihood that a journalist uses the pitch. Human-written pitches are scaled to the AI-generated baseline.
21%of pitches submitted through HARO are written entirely by AI
35%of journalists block AI-generated responses on their requests
32%of journalist requests are rejected in approval review
~3×more likely that a journalist uses a human-written pitch

Pitches. Pitch figures cover responses submitted through HARO. A pitch is counted as entirely AI-generated when the submission is classified as written completely by AI, with no meaningful human authorship. Use rates compare how often journalists use human-written pitches versus AI-generated pitches.

Journalists. Journalist blocking is the share of journalists who opt to exclude AI-generated responses when they submit a request.

Review. Ban frequency is the average interval between HARO account bans, issued primarily for spam and terms-of-service violations. Request rejection is the share of journalist requests declined during Featured’s approval review of the journalist, publication, and request for quality and legitimacy.

Pitch journalists who still read every response

Featured matches you to HARO and journalist requests in your beat — and helps you send a human pitch, the kind journalists actually use.

See journalist requests