# Human Pitches Still Beat AI Pitches, HARO Data Shows - **Issued by:** [Featured](https://www.helpareporter.com/news-releases/featured) - **Published:** Oct 16, 2026, 6:54 PM UTC - **Category:** [Media mentions](https://www.helpareporter.com/news-releases/media-mentions) - **Topics:** Media mentions - **Web page:** https://www.helpareporter.com/news-releases/human-pitches-still-beat-ai-pitches-haro-data-shows - **Original source:** https://featured.com/press/media-mention/human-pitches-still-beat-ai-pitches-haro-data-shows --- ## Human Pitches Still Beat AI Pitches, HARO Data Shows A new HARO report put real numbers behind what many PR pros already suspected: human-written pitches land far more often than AI-generated ones. **Online, October 15, 2026** Artificial intelligence has made its way into media pitching, but a new report from Help a Reporter Out (HARO) suggests the human touch still matters most. Of the more than 2 million pitches HARO analyzed, 79 percent had some human involvement, HARO CEO Brett Farmiloe told EIN Presswire. The remaining 21 percent were entirely AI-generated. [Read the Full Interview](https://substack.einpresswire.com/p/yes-ai-can-write-your-pitch-but-can) ## What the data shows - **79% have a human hand**: HARO analyzed more than 2 million pitches and found 79 percent had some human involvement; 21 percent were entirely AI-generated, roughly 420,000 pitches. - **3x more likely to land**: Human-written pitches were about three times more likely to get featured than pitches written entirely by AI, according to HARO's analysis. - **35% filter out AI**: 35 percent of journalists have switched on HARO's filter that blocks pitches flagged as AI-generated. The filter is off by default. - **42 pitches per request**: Connectively, HARO's sister platform, sees an average of 42 responses for every journalist request, a sign that volume alone rarely wins. > Most journalists I speak with say that they can tell when a pitch is AI generated or not, just from a blink test. > > — Brett Farmiloe, CEO, HARO Farmiloe's advice to publicists follows the HARO acronym itself: be Helpful, be Authentic, be Relevant, be On time. Authentic doesn't mean avoiding AI entirely. It means the pitch that goes out has to clear a bar higher than what a generic AI draft would produce on its own. ### Where AI answers pull their citations - Editorial sources: **~67%** - Brand-owned content: **1.7%** From the Featured AI Citation Report, cited in the HARO interview ### Featured AI Citation Report, by the numbers Metric Figure Audits run 405 Brands covered 378 Buying questions asked 1,983 Citations traced 22,881 Domains identified 11,499 Median domain authority 37 Citations to DA 80+ sites 31.2% Citations to DA under 40 sites 34.5% The pattern matters for communicators, Farmiloe said: media mentions help with model mentions. Earned coverage from independent editorial outlets showed up far more often in AI answers than content brands publish on their own sites. ## HARO's safeguards - **AI detection on every pitch**: HARO partners with Pangram to screen every submission and runs added checks for fully automated senders. - **Human review before send**: Every journalist request is reviewed and approved by a person, and websites must meet a minimum Moz domain authority of 20; about 32 percent of requests are rejected at that step. - **A ban every 23 minutes**: HARO bans an account roughly every 23 minutes for spam or terms-of-service violations. An AI score alone never triggers a ban. ## About Featured Featured is an AI-powered public relations platform that matches founders and experts with journalist requests to secure earned media coverage. Featured and HARO are sister brands under the same leadership. ## Media contact Featured Communications Featured [press@featured.com](mailto:press@featured.com) ## Related releases - [How Reachable Is Local TV News? — Featured TV Newsroom Report](https://www.helpareporter.com/news-releases/how-reachable-is-local-tv-news-featured-tv-newsroom-report) - [The State of Substack for PR](https://www.helpareporter.com/news-releases/the-state-of-substack-for-pr) - [76% of Domains Cited by AI Appeared Only Once](https://www.helpareporter.com/news-releases/76percent-of-domains-cited-by-ai-appeared-only-once) Distributed by [HARO Newswire](https://www.helpareporter.com/news-releases).