In the year since Featured relaunched Help a Reporter Out (HARO), the service has sent over 100 million emails connecting journalists with sources, providing a revealing snapshot of how AI and inbox saturation are reshaping the relationship between media professionals and public relations.
According to HARO's 2026 statistics, the sheer volume of communication has intensified the filtering process on both sides. More than one in five pitches submitted through HARO are now entirely AI-generated, yet journalists are increasingly wary of such content. Over a third of journalists now block AI-generated responses when they submit a request, and 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.”
The data also highlights the challenges of maintaining quality in a high-volume environment. A user is banned every 23 minutes for spam or terms-of-service violations, and nearly one-third of journalist requests are rejected during the approval process after review for quality and legitimacy. Every pitch submitted through HARO is analyzed using AI detection technology provided by Pangram, and journalists can report unhelpful pitches, triggering manual review by the HARO team.
These statistics point to a growing challenge for PR professionals: as access to journalists increases, earning their attention becomes more difficult. In crowded inboxes, relevance, credibility, and expertise are becoming critical for sources to stand out. The rise of AI-generated pitches is a clear signal that while AI can facilitate mass responses, it cannot replace the nuance and credibility of human expertise.
HARO, founded in 2008, was shut down by its previous owner in December 2024 and relaunched by Featured in April 2025. The free newsletter delivers journalist requests directly to subscribers, giving subject matter experts, publicists, and PR professionals opportunities to respond to relevant media inquiries and earn coverage. Featured, the parent company, is an AI co-pilot for public relations that helps communications professionals find earned media opportunities, draft responses, and secure coverage across journalist requests, podcasts, bylined articles, speaking engagements, awards, and generative engine optimization (GEO). Featured supports more than 100,000 users and helps 2,500 publishers fill content gaps with expert insights.
The implications of these findings are significant for both journalists and PR professionals. As AI becomes more prevalent in content creation, the value of human judgment, authenticity, and tailored expertise is more important than ever. The data from HARO underscores that in an era of information overload, the ability to provide credible, relevant, and helpful information is the key to breaking through the noise.
