Since Featured relaunched HARO (Help a Reporter Out) in April 2025, the platform has sent over 100 million emails connecting journalists with sources, according to new data released today. The statistics provide a revealing snapshot of how artificial intelligence, spam, and crowded inboxes are reshaping the relationship between journalists and PR professionals.
The data shows that 21% of pitches submitted through HARO are entirely AI-generated, a figure that underscores the rapid adoption of generative AI in public relations. At the same time, 35% of journalists now actively block AI-generated pitches when submitting requests, signaling a growing preference for human-crafted responses.
“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.”
The platform has also seen a significant amount of moderation activity: a user is banned every 23 minutes, primarily for spam or violating terms of service. Additionally, 32% of journalist requests are rejected during the approval process after review for quality and legitimacy.
To combat the influx of AI-generated content, HARO employs AI detection technology provided by Pangram to analyze every pitch. Journalists can also report unhelpful pitches, which triggers a manual review by the HARO team.
These insights point to a growing challenge for PR professionals: as access to journalists increases, earning their attention becomes harder. In increasingly crowded inboxes, relevance, credibility, and expertise are becoming critical ways for sources to stand out. The data suggests that while AI can help produce responses at scale, it cannot replace the nuanced understanding and personal touch that human-written pitches provide.
HARO, originally founded in 2008, was shut down by its previous owner in December 2024 and relaunched by Featured in April 2025. It operates as a free newsletter connecting journalists with expert sources, and its parent company Featured supports more than 100,000 users and helps 2,500 publishers fill content gaps with expert insights.
