The widespread adoption of artificial intelligence in media pitching has led to noisier and less effective outreach, according to Brett Farmiloe, founder and CEO of Featured, the company that owns Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and Connectively. In an interview on Majestic's SEO in 2026 podcast series, Farmiloe explained that the ease of generating pitches with AI has flooded journalists' inboxes with generic responses, diminishing the impact of high-volume strategies.
"Less is more in 2026, in terms of being an outreach specialist," Farmiloe said. "What we've seen is that AI has made it incredibly easy to reach out to more people, and it's made it more noisy and less effective as a result." This observation is backed by data from Featured's platforms, which handle thousands of journalist requests and source pitches daily. The pattern is clear: pitches that win are not those sent in bulk but those that are tailored and demonstrate genuine expertise.
The decline in quality is directly tied to the acquisition of HARO, which came under Featured's ownership due to falling standards and trust. "The reason why HARO ended up in our ownership in the first place was a decline of quality and trust within the system, and a lot of that was targeted through the adoption of artificial intelligence," Farmiloe noted. To counter this, Featured has implemented AI detection and quality scoring on every pitch submitted through its platforms. Journalists can see these scores and filter out pitches that are entirely AI-generated with a single click, giving them more control over the information they receive.
Farmiloe also dispelled the myth that being first to respond is the key to success. "It's not necessarily being the first in line, but it's being at the top of the line with the best credentials and the most helpful response," he said. He introduced a framework built on the HARO acronym: helpful, authentic, relevant, and on time. These elements, he argues, are what truly set a pitch apart in a crowded digital landscape.
Looking ahead, Farmiloe highlighted a shift in how brands measure their visibility. "In 2026, the metrics are changing. AI visibility scores are one thing that we're seeing more and more innovators measure against," he said. "It's really around: Is my brand visible in AI and LLMs?" As artificial intelligence becomes a primary source of information for many users, being cited in AI-generated answers is becoming the new front page of the internet. Marketers are adjusting their KPIs to include these metrics, recognizing that traditional SEO alone is no longer sufficient.
For practitioners, Farmiloe's advice is straightforward: focus on sharing knowledge rather than chasing volume. "The key takeaway is that you have knowledge to share, and that knowledge is highly valued by journalists and publications. Find a way to share that knowledge, and if you share your knowledge in a meaningful way, it will benefit your business," he said. The full episode is available on the Majestic podcast page, offering deeper insights into these trends.
