Since Featured relaunched HARO (Help a Reporter Out) in April 2025, the service has sent over 100 million emails connecting journalists with sources. This milestone provides a unique window into how AI, spam, and inbox overload are transforming the PR landscape. The data, released today, offers critical insights for PR professionals and journalists alike.
According to HARO's 2026 statistics, 21% of pitches submitted are entirely AI-generated. More than one-third of journalists now block AI-generated responses when posting requests, and a user is banned every 23 minutes for spam or terms of service violations. Additionally, 32% of journalist requests are rejected during the approval process due to quality and legitimacy checks.
The most striking finding is the effectiveness gap: human-written pitches are approximately three times more likely to be used by journalists. "Human-written pitches are about 3x more likely to get featured than AI-written ones," said Brett Farmiloe, CEO of HARO. "The sources who stand out typically come from fully human teams who can provide credible information, respond to what the journalist actually asked for, and make the journalist's job easier. As inboxes get more crowded, being helpful becomes the differentiator."
Every pitch is analyzed using AI detection technology from Pangram, and journalists can report unhelpful pitches, triggering manual review. This dual-layer approach aims to maintain quality and trust.
These data points underscore a growing challenge for PR professionals: as access to journalists expands, earning their attention becomes harder. In an era of crowded inboxes, relevance, credibility, and expertise are critical for sources to stand out. The findings suggest that AI, while a useful tool for drafting, cannot replace the nuanced understanding and authenticity of human communication. For journalists, the ability to filter AI-generated pitches helps preserve the integrity of their reporting. For sources, the takeaway is clear: investing in genuine, human-crafted pitches yields significantly better results.
HARO, a free newsletter that connects journalists with expert sources, was originally founded in 2008. After being shut down by its previous owner in December 2024, it was relaunched by Featured in April 2025. Featured is an AI co-pilot for public relations, helping professionals find media opportunities and secure coverage. The company also owns Connectively and supports over 100,000 users and 2,500 publishers.
