Brett Farmiloe

Podcasts

Why Are Journalist Request Platforms So Important for SEO?

Majestic's SEO in 2026

Brett Farmiloe joined Majestic's SEO in 2026 podcast to share insights on how to leverage journalist request platforms like HARO and Connectively for SEO and PR.

Majestic's SEO in 2026 podcast ↗Apple ↗Spotify ↗YouTube ↗

Takeaways

  • Featured acquired HARO after a decline in quality and trust on the platform, that Brett Farmiloe, founder and CEO of Featured, attributes largely to the adoption of AI. Restoring authentic connections between journalists and sources has been the core of the mission since, starting with AI-detection scoring on every pitch submitted through HARO and Connectively.
  • Brett Farmiloe's best-practice framework for journalist request platforms follows the HARO acronym: be Helpful, be Authentic, be Relevant and be On time. Being on time is not about replying first; it is about being at the top of the line with the best credentials and the most helpful response.
  • Connectively, which puts HARO's journalist requests into a searchable platform, lists hundreds of open opportunities at any given time, and paid subscribers can filter by domain authority and by whether a placement carries a dofollow or nofollow link. The most common user is an SEO agency or an in-house marketing team, and a strong response runs four to eight sentences.
  • HARO emails a digest of journalist requests three times a day, and most Featured customers use the platforms every day. Many block 15 minutes on their calendar daily to review new requests, because missing a perfect request from a high-value publication is, in Farmiloe's words, "a pretty big miss."

“The outreach that I'm seeing win on our platforms is the folks who aren't sending out a higher volume of pitches, but they're sending out a higher quality of pitch.”

— Brett Farmiloe · Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Featured

Companies discussed: Featured, Help a Reporter Out (HARO), Connectively

Episode notes and full transcript: featured.com/press/podcast/why-journalist-request-platforms-important-seo

Cite as: Brett Farmiloe on Majestic's SEO in 2026, “Why Are Journalist Request Platforms So Important for SEO?,” August 5, 2026.

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