# Media Mentions Help With Model Mentions: Featured CEO Brett Farmiloe on On Top of PR with Jason Mudd

- Show: On Top of PR
- Guest: Brett Farmiloe
- Published: March 10, 2026
- Length: 35 min

Brett Farmiloe, founder and CEO of Featured and owner of HARO, joined Jason Mudd of Axia Public Relations on the On Top of PR podcast to explain why HARO came back and how it now vets pitches, and to make the case that earned media mentions feed the AI models that recommend brands.

## Listen

- [Apple](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/haros-comeback-modern-sourcing-for-journalists-and-brands/id1530395967?i=1000754426704)
- [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSsZp2I95UA)
- [On Top of PR Episode Page](https://www.axiapr.com/blog/haro-comeback-with-brett-farmiloe-on-top-of-pr)

## Key takeaways

- **75,000** — More than 75,000 journalists have used HARO . Founded in 2008, the service was rebranded to Connectively in 2024, announced for discontinuation in December 2024, and revived by Featured in April 2025 after Farmiloe cold-emailed the support line.
- **100%** — HARO is 100% supported by newsletter ads and stays free for journalists and sources. It remains what it was built to be: a three-times-a-day email of journalist requests.
- **64.5%** — Media mentions help with model mentions. Farmiloe argues that platforms like HARO boost the earned media mentions that raise how often a brand is cited by AI models, a metric he sees replacing vanity placements as the measure of PR value. Research from Featured shows 64.5% of all mentions are from earned media.

> “Media mentions help with model mentions. Platforms like HARO are a great way to help boost up those media mentions so that your model mentions can start to increase.”
>
> — Brett Farmiloe, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Featured

Source: https://featured.com/press/podcast/on-top-of-pr (episode notes and full transcript).

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Brett Farmiloe · Founder & CEO, Featured · CEO, HARO & Connectively · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brettfarmiloe/) · [X](https://x.com/brettfarmiloe)
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