HARO Alternatives 2026: Featured, Qwoted and Source of Sources

Why HARO ended and what it means for DACH companies

Those who built backlinks and brand mentions through journalist queries lost their most important source at the end of 2024. Cision shut down the HARO ecosystem: According to the official notice page, the Connectively (HARO) platform was permanently shut down on December 9, 2024, citing customer feedback and a focus on the CisionOne product. The backstory: HARO (Help a Reporter Out) was founded in 2008 by Peter Shankman, sold to Vocus in 2010 and later to Cision, and renamed Connectively in 2023. As Wikipedia documents, citing the Cision user email of November 8, 2024, Cision announced the permanent shutdown for December 9, 2024.

The core failure of the late phase was the pay-to-pitch model. Connectively introduced paid pitch quotas, which lowered quality and frustrated both journalists and sources. After the shutdown, the market fragmented. Featured.com acquired the HARO brand and relaunched it in April 2025 as a paid platform. In parallel, Qwoted and Source of Sources established themselves as free or cheaper alternatives.

For companies in the DACH region, this means: The central, free point of contact no longer exists. Instead, a conscious platform selection and clear distribution of pitch capacity is needed. This is not a step backward. It is an opportunity to set up outreach more targeted and higher quality than in the HARO era.

The three most important HARO alternatives in detail

Source of Sources (SOS): Peter Shankman, the original founder of HARO, operates SOS as a direct successor. The format is nearly identical to the old HARO: a daily email digest with journalist queries, free and financed through a donation model. SOS enforces strict spam blocks to maintain quality. From a pure link-building perspective, SOS is particularly strong: According to the BuzzStream platform study, SOS queries have the highest share of follow links at 36.26 percent and also the highest combined share of follow and nofollow links at 43.94 percent, ahead of Qwoted at 40.17 percent in second place.

Qwoted: Qwoted is considered the platform that comes closest to the original HARO. Journalists are verified, which increases the relevance of queries. Publication quality is high: According to the BuzzStream study, 70.3 percent of Qwoted queries come from publications with Domain Rating 70 to 100, representing 7,613 high-DR opportunities. The price is the low success rate: In an independent twelve-month test, Qwoted achieved only around 6 percent approval rate. Those who succeed here, however, often land on highly authoritative media.

Featured.com: Featured holds the HARO brand and works with a question-answer model where experts respond to editorial questions. Access is paid and follows a subscription model. In return, the approval rate is significantly higher: In the same twelve-month test, Featured achieved an approval rate of 18 to 20 percent from 573 submitted pitches. Featured is thus suitable for plannable, scalable placements, while SOS and Qwoted serve more cost-sensitive and link-oriented use cases.

To put overall expectations in context: The independent test secured 143 brand mentions from over 1,000 pitches across 7 platforms. This is the realistic order of magnitude. Journalist outreach is a volume and relevance game, not a self-runner.

Platform selection by goal

There is no single best platform, but the right one depending on the goal. A pragmatic selection matrix:

Goal backlinks (follow-link rate): Source of Sources is the first choice because the highest follow-link rate is documented here. Qwoted follows as a strong second option with good combined link share.

Goal brand mentions and reach: Featured delivers the highest approval rate and thus plannable volume. Even unlinked mentions on authoritative media contribute to brand signals.

Goal publication authority (high DR): Qwoted offers the best DR distribution of the tested platforms and thus the highest probability of landing on a strong medium.

Goal AI citability (GEO): Here the combination of mention and authoritative source counts. Across platforms: The higher the DR of the target publication, the more valuable the placement for visibility in AI answers.

For most DACH B2B companies, a two-platform combination makes sense: SOS free for link volume plus Featured or Qwoted for quality and plannability.

Off-page impact of expert quotes

Expert quotes work on two off-page levels: through classic backlinks and through brand signals.

Backlinks remain a strong ranking factor. An international analysis of 11.8 million Google search results shows that the result in position 1 has on average 3.8 times more backlinks than positions 2 to 10. At the same time, the result in position 1 has more than three times as many referring domains as the positions behind it. The scarcity factor is decisive: According to the same analysis, around 95 percent of all pages have zero backlinks. Every editorial link from an expert quote is thus a rare commodity.

At least equally relevant are unlinked brand mentions and brand signals. Here the picture shifts toward entity SEO. An international Ahrefs study of 75,000 brands found that brand mentions on the web correlate significantly more strongly with AI visibility in ChatGPT at 0.664 than backlinks at around 0.218, about three times as strongly. The highest individual value was achieved by YouTube mentions with a correlation of 0.737. This means: Even a mention without a link has value, both as a brand signal and as a building block of the entity that search engines and AI systems assign to a brand.

AI citation optimization (GEO) through expert quotes

Generative Engine Optimization describes the optimization of content for visibility in AI answers like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode. Expert quotes on authoritative media are a lever for this because AI systems preferentially derive from trustworthy, frequently cited sources.

The underlying mechanism is documented by an international study by several researchers, including Princeton affiliation: According to this, GEO can increase visibility in generative answers by up to 40 percent. The most effective methods according to the study were adding quotes at 41 percent, adding statistics at 33 percent, and citing sources at 30 percent relative improvement. Exactly these three elements, quotes, reliable data, and source citations, are delivered by a well-placed expert quote.

The practical conclusion: A quote that conveys a concrete number or proprietary study and appears on a strong medium increases the probability that one's own brand appears as a source in AI answers. This connects classic digital PR with GEO.

DACH and Austria specifics

The mentioned platforms are US-centric and English-language. For German-language placements, complementary approaches are needed.

German-language source acquisition: Direct journalist outreach via LinkedIn and XING is often more effective in the DACH region than US platforms. Many trade editors respond to relevant, well-prepared topic offers. The reach is there: In Austria, according to DataReportal, 8.69 million people used the internet in early 2025, representing a penetration of 95.3 percent, and there were 7.30 million social media identities, or 80.1 percent of the population.

Trade media and industry public: WKO-affiliated trade media, regional business magazines, and vertical trade publications are often the most qualitatively valuable targets for Austrian B2B brands. They reach the relevant target group directly and contribute to the entity in the German-speaking region.

Positioning: Those who maintain a clear expert profile on LinkedIn and XING increase the success rate with direct outreach. Journalists check sources before inclusion. A consistent profile with specialist topics, references, and accessibility is the entry ticket.

Common mistakes

Mass over relevance: The most common mistake is sending generic pitches to as many queries as possible. This behavior was encouraged by Connectively's pay-to-pitch model and ultimately damaged it. Relevance beats volume.

Advertising tone: Journalists seek facts, data, and quotes, not sales messages. A pitch that sounds like marketing gets filtered out.

No hook: Pitches without added value, such as without original data, proprietary study, or clear thesis, get lost. Proprietary data is the strongest hook.

Wrong platform for the goal: Those who want backlinks but only pitch on the platform with the lowest follow-link rate waste capacity. Define goal first, then choose platform.

Ignoring unlinked mentions: Many brands leave unlinked mentions on the table. This is wasted link potential and an avoidable forfeiture of reclamation.

GDPR and compliance when pitching via US platforms

Those who work via US platforms like Featured, Qwoted, or SOS transfer personal data to the USA. This affects both one's own expert profile data and contact data in pitches. Relevant points for DACH companies:

Data transfer: Platform use entails a third-country transfer. Before productive use, the provider's data protection terms should be reviewed and internally documented which personal data is shared.

Expert data: Profile information of employees appearing as experts is personal data. Its use should be based on a sound legal basis and internally coordinated.

Imprint and disclaimer obligations: If own content on quotes or studies is published in the DACH region, the usual imprint and disclosure obligations apply. Sources and data basis should be transparently disclosed.

This section is informative and does not replace legal advice. For systematic use, a brief data protection review is recommended.

Pitch strategy and expectation management

Realistic benchmarks protect against frustration. The tested approval rates range from around 6 percent at Qwoted to 18 to 20 percent at Featured. Plan accordingly: From 100 pitches, depending on the platform, a few to around 20 placements result.

Relevance over mass: Only pitch queries where genuine expertise exists. One precisely fitting pitch beats ten generic ones.

Pitch length: Short and concrete. Answer the question asked, deliver a quotable statement and a number, state name, function, and company. No preamble, no filler.

Original data as hook: Proprietary studies, customer surveys, or industry data are the strongest lever, both for journalist uptake and for subsequent GEO impact.

Speed: Journalists work under deadline. Those who respond quickly and precisely have an advantage.

Practice workflow and measurement

A lean workflow makes journalist outreach plannable:

1. Monitoring: Review daily digests from SOS and possibly Qwoted or Featured, mark relevant queries. A fixed slot per day is usually sufficient.

2. Templates: Maintain modular text modules for expert bio, core data, and frequent topics, individualize per pitch.

3. Tracking: Record every placement with medium, Domain Rating, link status (follow or nofollow), and mention type. This makes the contribution of individual platforms measurable.

4. Reclamation of unlinked mentions: Actively monitor brand mentions without links and politely ask the editor for a link. Given that around 95 percent of all pages have zero backlinks, every subsequently gained link is valuable.

Metrics: Meaningful metrics are pitch volume, approval rate per platform, average DR of placements, follow-link rate, and number of AI citations of one's own brand. The latter can be tracked via brand monitoring in AI answers and connect digital PR with GEO impact.

Further reading

Journalist outreach is a component of a broader off-page and entity SEO strategy. Meaningful follow-up topics are broken link building, reclamation of unlinked brand mentions, building brand signals, and targeted AI citation optimization. For the DACH region, parallel development via WKO trade media, trade publications, and consistent positioning on LinkedIn and XING is worthwhile. Those who systematically back expert quotes with proprietary data win twice: in classic rankings through backlinks and in visibility in AI answers through brand signals.