Brett Farmiloe, founder and CEO of Featured, the company behind HARO and Connectively, has observed a significant shift in media outreach effectiveness, attributing the decline to the proliferation of AI-generated pitches. In a recent interview on Majestic's SEO in 2026 podcast series, Farmiloe highlighted that the ease of generating mass outreach has led to a noisier and less effective pitching environment.
“Less is more in 2026, in terms of being an outreach specialist,” Farmiloe stated. “What we've seen is that AI has made it incredibly easy to reach out to more people, and it's made it more noisy and less effective as a result.” Drawing on data from HARO and Connectively, which connect journalists with sources, Farmiloe noted a consistent pattern: the pitches that succeed are not those sent in high volume but those crafted with higher quality.
The acquisition of HARO by Featured was itself a response to declining quality and trust, which Farmiloe linked to AI adoption. To combat this, Featured has implemented AI detection and quality scoring for every pitch. “We run AI detection on every single pitch,” Farmiloe said. “We'll run a quality score on every pitch that goes through our platform — whether that's HARO, whether that's Connectively — and we'll allow journalists to see those scores. If it's 100% AI-generated, the journalists will see that. They've got a one-click filter to opt out of those pitches entirely.”
Farmiloe also challenged the notion that being first to respond is paramount. “It's not necessarily being the first in line, but it's being at the top of the line with the best credentials and the most helpful response,” he explained, outlining a framework based on the HARO acronym: helpful, authentic, relevant, and on time.
Looking ahead to 2026, Farmiloe predicts a shift in marketing metrics. “AI visibility scores are one thing that we're seeing more and more innovators measure against,” he said. “It's really around: Is my brand visible in AI and LLMs?” He described marketers moving their metrics “towards the new front page of the internet,” implying that brand presence in AI-generated answers will become as critical as traditional search rankings.
Farmiloe's advice to practitioners is to focus on sharing valuable knowledge. “The key takeaway is that you have knowledge to share, and that knowledge is highly valued by journalists and publications. Find a way to share that knowledge, and if you share your knowledge in a meaningful way, it will benefit your business.”
