HARO Changed — Here's What Replaced It
Connectively (formerly HARO) shut down its free tier in late 2024 and pivoted to a paid model that priced out most small businesses and SEOs. The service that once let anyone respond to journalist queries for free now costs $49/month minimum, and response volumes have dropped significantly since the change.
But journalist outreach through source request platforms is still one of the most efficient ways to earn high-authority links. A single quoted response can land you a mention on Forbes, Business Insider, or a major industry publication — the kind of links that move the needle on domain authority.
Current Platforms That Work
Qwoted (Free + Premium)
The closest HARO replacement. Qwoted connects sources with journalists from outlets like Inc., Fast Company, USA Today, and hundreds of others. The free tier gives you access to queries, though premium ($99/month) adds filtering, alerts, and priority placement.
Response quality on Qwoted tends to be higher than HARO was in its later years, partially because the smaller user base means less competition per query. I've seen response-to-publication rates of 15-20% on Qwoted versus the 3-5% that was typical on late-stage HARO.
Featured.com ($149/month)
More curated than Qwoted. Featured.com vets both journalists and sources, which means fewer spam queries and higher publication rates. The price tag limits it to businesses that are serious about ongoing PR. They claim a 30%+ placement rate, which aligns with what I've heard from regular users.
Help a B2B Writer (Free)
Niche platform focused on B2B and SaaS content. Smaller query volume but highly targeted — if you're in the B2B space, the queries are more relevant and the competition is lower. Writers here are creating in-depth industry content, not quick news hits, so the resulting articles tend to have longer shelf life.
Terkel (Free + Premium)
Terkel takes a different approach — they send you specific questions and compile expert roundups. The links are typically from smaller publications, but the volume is high and the effort per response is low. Good for building a base of diverse referring domains.
SourceBottle (Free)
Australian-based platform that's expanded globally. Particularly strong for lifestyle, health, and business media. Fewer tech-focused queries, but if your expertise spans business strategy or entrepreneurship, it's worth monitoring.
Direct Journalist Outreach via Twitter/X
Many journalists post source requests directly on social media using #journorequest or #PRrequest hashtags. Setting up saved searches for these hashtags plus your industry keywords surfaces opportunities that never hit the platforms. The advantage: you're often one of the first respondents since most people only monitor the platforms.
Maximizing Your Response Rate
Speed Matters — A Lot
Queries on these platforms get 50-200 responses within 24 hours. Journalists often stop reading after the first 20-30 quality responses. Responding within the first 2-3 hours dramatically increases your chances.
Set up push notifications on mobile for your platforms. Some users even create Zapier automations to get alerts for queries matching specific keywords.
Response Template That Converts
Subject: Re: [Original query subject] — [Your Name], [Title] at [Company]
Hi [Journalist Name],
[2-3 sentence direct answer to their question, with a specific data point
or unique perspective.]
[1-2 sentence background establishing why you're qualified to answer this.]
Happy to provide additional detail, data, or a different angle if needed.
[Name]
[Title, Company]
[Website — optional, don't make it look like link building]Notice what's NOT there: no company pitch, no "we'd love to tell you about our product," no multiple paragraph bios. Journalists want a quotable answer, not a sales pitch.
Provide Unique Value
The responses that get picked share one trait: they say something the journalist hasn't heard from the other 100 respondents. Generic advice ("businesses should focus on customer experience") gets ignored. Specific anecdotes, contrarian takes, and actual numbers stand out.
Bad: "Companies should invest in cybersecurity training."
Good: "We cut phishing click-through rates from 34% to 6% in three months by running simulated attacks every two weeks instead of quarterly — the frequency matters more than the content of the training."
Tracking and Measuring
Keep a spreadsheet tracking every response you send:
- Date, platform, journalist name, outlet, query topic
- Whether you were published (check 2-4 weeks later)
- Link included (yes/no/nofollow)
- Domain authority of the linking site
This data shows you which platforms perform best for your niche, what types of queries you win, and your overall hit rate. After 3 months, you'll have enough data to double down on what works and drop what doesn't.
Realistic benchmarks: spending 30 minutes per day across platforms should yield 5-15 published mentions per month, with 60-80% including links. That's 3-12 new referring domains monthly from high-authority sites — hard to match with any other link building method at that time investment.