The widespread adoption of AI in media pitching has made outreach noisier and less effective, according to Brett Farmiloe, founder and CEO of Featured, the company behind HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and Connectively. In an interview on Majestic's 'SEO in 2026' podcast series, Farmiloe shared insights from platform data that reveal a shift in what works for PR professionals.
'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.' The company's visibility across both sides of the journalist-source exchange shows a consistent pattern: pitches that win are not those sent in high volume but those with higher quality.
Farmiloe traced the quality decline to the acquisition that brought HARO under Featured's ownership. '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.' In response, Featured has made AI authorship visible rather than prohibiting it. 'We run AI detection on every single pitch,' Farmiloe said. 'We'll run a quality score on every pitch that goes through our platform - whether that's HARO, whether that's Connectively - and we'll allow journalists to see those scores. If it's 100% AI-generated, the journalists will see that. They've got a one-click filter to opt out of those pitches entirely.'
Farmiloe also challenged the assumption that being first to respond is best. '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, describing a framework built on the HARO name - helpful, authentic, relevant and on time. This approach emphasizes thoughtfulness over speed.
On measurement, Farmiloe noted that the metrics the market reports against are shifting. '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?' He described marketers moving their metrics 'towards the new front page of the internet,' recognizing that AI-driven search and answer engines are becoming primary discovery channels.
Asked what practitioners should take from the conversation, Farmiloe pointed away from tactics. '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.'
The full episode and transcript are available at https://majestic.com/seo-in-2026/additional-insights/brett-farmiloe.
