Key takeaways
- Journalist query platforms connect reporters on deadline with experts who can supply quotes and data.
- The platforms changed: Cision shut down HARO’s Connectively rebrand in December 2024, and Featured.com relaunched HARO in April 2025 with AI-content detection and LinkedIn verification.
- Speed and specificity win. Reporters pick the first strong, on-topic answer they receive.
- Write short, quotable answers in your own words; 69% of journalists in Muck Rack’s 2026 survey prefer pitches under 200 words.
- A few relevant responses each week, sustained for months, beat bursts of volume.
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| How do you write responses that get selected? | Make the reporter’s job easy. |
| How do you filter queries to avoid wasting time? | Answer only where you can add real value to a real publication. |
| How do you build a sustainable expert commentary program? | Turn it into a routine with clear owners. |
When a reporter needs a source on your topic and you supply a useful quote, you can earn a mention, often a link, on a publication your buyers read. This Emulent guide covers which platforms to use, how to write responses that get picked, how to filter queries and how to run an ongoing expert commentary program.
Which journalist query platforms should you use?
Several, because reporters in different fields favor different services.
- HARO (Help a Reporter Out): Cision rebranded it as Connectively and then shut it down in December 2024. Featured.com bought the brand and relaunched HARO in April 2025, restoring its daily query emails.
- Qwoted: a profile-based service where reporters search for experts and experts get matched requests.
- Source of Sources: a free, email-based service launched by HARO’s original founder, Peter Shankman.
- Featured.com: an expert-answer platform with its own publisher network.
- Help a B2B Writer: requests from B2B and software content writers.
- Social requests: many reporters post source calls on X, LinkedIn and Bluesky using tags such as #journorequest.
Check each platform’s current rules, since several now screen out AI-generated answers and unverified experts.
How do you write responses that get selected?
Make the reporter’s job easy.
- Answer exactly what was asked, without pivoting to your services.
- Lead with two or three quotable sentences the reporter can use as written.
- State who you are, your role and why you are qualified to speak on the topic.
- Respond fast, ideally within a couple of hours of the query going out.
- Keep it under 200 words. Muck Rack’s 2026 survey, summarized by the University of Minnesota, found 69% of journalists prefer pitches that short.
- Write in your expert’s real voice. Reporters notice generic, AI-written answers, and some platforms now flag them.
How do you filter queries to avoid wasting time?
Answer only where you can add real value to a real publication.
- Prefer named publications with genuine readers; skip anonymous queries and obvious link-collection sites.
- Respond only where your expertise fits directly.
- Accept that some placements are print, podcast or no-link mentions; they still build credibility and brand searches.
- Skip queries whose deadlines have likely passed.
Never pay for inclusion in an article that passes a followed link; Google’s spam policies treat that as link spam.
How do you build a sustainable expert commentary program?
Turn it into a routine with clear owners.
- Choose two or three experts and prepare short bios, headshots and topic lists for each.
- Have one person review queries daily and draft responses for expert approval within hours.
- Log each pitch, placement, publication and link status, and watch rankings and referral traffic for the pages that earn links.
- Thank reporters who use your quotes, share their articles and offer to help on future stories.
Give coverage somewhere to land.
How can the Emulent team help?
Emulent runs journalist outreach programs as part of enterprise SEO and brand strategy work: monitoring platforms, preparing responses with your experts and tracking placements. A caveat: reporters decide what they use and whether they link, so results build gradually and vary by industry. Contact the Emulent team to start an expert commentary program.