HARO (Help a Reporter Out)
HARO (Help a Reporter Out) was a service connecting journalists with expert sources, widely used to earn editorial links and brand mentions from authoritative publications.
Reporters posted queries asking for expert quotes, data, or commentary, and sources replied with concise, usable answers. When a journalist used your contribution, you often earned a citation link from a high-authority news or industry site. For years HARO was a staple of digital PR precisely because the resulting links were genuinely editorial and hard to fake.
The practical reality changed in 2024 when the original HARO brand was wound down and folded into Cision's Connectively, which itself later shut down. So when people say HARO today they usually mean the broader workflow of responding to journalist source requests, now served by alternative platforms.
The mechanics still reward speed, relevance, and a quotable answer that needs no editing. Pitch only queries where you have real expertise, never fabricate credentials, and accept that link placement is at the journalist's discretion, so the practice is best measured by coverage earned over time rather than a guaranteed link per pitch.