In a recent interview on Majestic's SEO in 2026 podcast series, Brett Farmiloe, founder and CEO of Featured, highlighted a significant shift in media pitching dynamics driven by artificial intelligence. Farmiloe, whose company owns and operates the journalist request service HARO (Help a Reporter Out) and Connectively, noted that the ease of AI-powered outreach has led to a decline in effectiveness. "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."
Farmiloe's insights are grounded in data from Featured's platforms, which connect journalists with sources. He observed a consistent pattern: pitches that win are not those sent in high volume but those crafted with higher quality. "The outreach that I'm seeing winning on our platforms is the folks who aren't sending out a higher volume of pitches, but they're sending out a higher quality of pitch," he explained. This quality issue, he said, was a key reason HARO came 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."
To address this, Featured has implemented AI detection and quality scoring on every pitch submitted through its platforms. "We run AI detection on every single pitch," Farmiloe stated. "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." This transparency empowers journalists to curate their inboxes and prioritize pitches that demonstrate genuine human expertise.
Farmiloe also challenged the notion that speed is paramount in responding to journalist queries. "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, outlining a framework built on the HARO acronym: helpful, authentic, relevant, and on time. This approach emphasizes thoughtfulness over haste, encouraging sources to provide substantive value.
On the topic of measurement, Farmiloe noted that the metrics marketers use are evolving. "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 shifting their focus "towards the new front page of the internet," where AI-generated answers and large language models (LLMs) increasingly shape how consumers and professionals access information.
When asked what practitioners should take away from the conversation, Farmiloe steered away from tactical advice and toward a broader principle. "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," he said. This perspective underscores that despite technological disruptions, the fundamental value of authentic expertise and meaningful communication remains paramount.
The full episode and transcript are available at Majestic's SEO in 2026 podcast. The insights from Farmiloe provide a roadmap for marketers and PR professionals navigating an increasingly AI-saturated media landscape, emphasizing quality, transparency, and the enduring importance of human knowledge.
