What to Know About HARO Migration and Connectively Link Building

If you used HARO before 2024, the last two years have been confusing. HARO was renamed Connectively, Connectively was shut down, HARO came back under a new owner, and in 2026 Connectively came back too. Both brands now sit under the same company and do different jobs: HARO is the free email digest, and Connectively is the searchable platform built around the same journalist requests.

This guide explains what actually happened, what “migrating” from HARO to Connectively means today, and how to move your media outreach across without losing placements, duplicating pitches or weakening the authority signals that AI search platforms rely on. If you only need a feature-by-feature breakdown, see our full HARO vs. Connectively comparison.

Key Takeaways

• Connectively did not permanently replace HARO. Cision shut Connectively down in December 2024, Featured.com bought and relaunched HARO in April 2025, and Featured revived Connectively in May 2026.
• HARO remains a free, three-times-daily email digest. Connectively is the platform version, with search, keyword alerts, expert profiles and submission tracking, on free and paid plans.
• Migrating is a workflow decision, not a forced switch. Many teams run both and simply move their filtering and tracking into one place.
• Placements from either service build backlinks, brand mentions and third-party citations, which ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews use when deciding which brands to trust.

What Happened to HARO?

HARO was rebranded, discontinued and then revived under new ownership. It was founded by Peter Shankman in 2008 and later became part of Cision. In 2024, Cision rebranded it as Connectively and introduced paid tiers, a change many long-time sources disliked. Cision then discontinued Connectively on December 9, 2024.

On April 15, 2025, Cision sold the HARO brand to Featured.com, which restored the original free email format. (Source: Cision, 2025) In May 2026, Featured revived Connectively as a standalone platform that runs alongside HARO rather than replacing it. (Source: GlobeNewswire, 2026)

If you are new to the service, our guide to how HARO works for SEO and AI citations covers the basics before you plan a migration.

HARO vs. Connectively: How the Two Workflows Differ

The core difference is how you find and manage journalist requests, not where the requests come from. HARO delivers queries to your inbox three times every weekday. Connectively puts them inside a dashboard where you can search, set keyword alerts, keep a reusable expert profile and track every submission. Connectively can also show HARO queries as soon as reporters post them, before they reach the email digest.

Do You Need to Migrate From HARO to Connectively?

No. You only need to migrate if your current email workflow is costing you opportunities. HARO still works well for a founder or consultant who answers a few well-matched queries a month. Connectively starts to pay off when you are managing several spokespeople, monitoring many topics or reporting results to a client or leadership team.

If your team does not have time to monitor either feed properly, a managed HARO link building service can handle query selection, pitch writing and placement tracking for you.

Step-by-Step HARO to Connectively Migration Checklist

Moving from inbox-based pitching to a platform is mostly about carrying over what already works. Follow these steps in order.

1. Audit your current HARO results

List the topics you answer, the spokespeople you use and every placement from the past six to twelve months. Note which query categories led to published quotes and which consumed time without results. This becomes your baseline for comparing the two workflows.

2. Build a complete expert profile for each spokesperson

Connectively asks experts for a name, headshot, LinkedIn URL, job title, company, website, bio and areas of expertise. Complete profiles help publishers verify sources quickly, so fill them in fully and keep job titles and bios consistent with each expert’s LinkedIn and your About page. Consistent details also strengthen the entity signals that AI search relies on.

3. Turn your inbox rules into keyword alerts

Most HARO users filter digests with email rules for industry terms, job titles or product categories. Recreate those rules as Connectively keyword alerts so relevant requests reach the right expert without manual scanning. Keep alerts narrow: a smaller set of strong matches beats a flood of loose ones.

4. Keep one shared tracking log

Because HARO queries can appear in both places, the biggest migration risk is two people answering the same request. Before anyone pitches, they should check one shared log that records the query, expert, date, outlet and status. This also gives you the data you need later to measure results.

5. Keep your pitch standards the same

A platform organizes pitches, but it does not make a weak answer stronger. Lead with the direct answer, add a specific example or data point, keep credentials short and submit well before the deadline. Our guide on how to write a HARO pitch that gets quoted applies to Connectively submissions as well.

6. Widen your sources beyond one platform

Neither HARO nor Connectively covers every journalist request. Add other channels, such as reporter requests on social media and direct outreach, using our guide to finding journalists who need expert sources.

How the Migration Affects Link Building and AI Visibility

Switching platforms changes your workflow, not the value of a placement. A quote in a respected publication still earns the same three things: a possible editorial backlink, a brand mention and an independent source that connects your expert to a topic. Neither service guarantees a link, because the publisher decides whether to include one, and dofollow links are only part of what gets you cited by AI search.

For AI visibility, consistency matters more than volume. Placements that repeatedly connect your brand to the same areas of expertise give ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity clearer evidence of what you are known for. That is why journalist outreach works best as one part of a wider AI digital PR programme, and why we explain how digital PR helps AI search visibility separately from backlink counts.

Earned media also works better when your own site is ready to be cited. Pair your outreach with pages that are structured so AI can quote them directly, so that when an AI system checks your brand after finding a press mention, it finds clear answers on your site too. Our AI visibility strategy guide shows how these pieces fit together.

What to Track After You Migrate

Measure placements and visibility, not the number of pitches sent. Compare the first three months on your new setup with your audit baseline using the same metrics:

• Pitches submitted and placements earned: your selection rate, by expert and topic.
• Referring domains and unlinked mentions: the authority gained with and without links.
• Referral traffic: whether coverage sends real visitors.
• AI mentions and citations: whether your brand appears more often in AI-generated answers.

Our guide to measuring your brand’s visibility in AI search explains how to track that last metric, and the free AI Visibility Scanner gives you a quick starting benchmark.

Frequently Asked Questions

Did Connectively replace HARO?

Only briefly. Cision rebranded HARO as Connectively in 2024 and shut it down in December 2024. Today, HARO and Connectively are separate sister products owned by Featured.com.

Is HARO still free in 2026?

Yes. HARO remains free for sources and sends three email digests every weekday. Connectively offers a free plan with usage limits as well as paid plans.

Can I use HARO and Connectively at the same time?

Yes. Many teams receive the HARO digest and use Connectively for search, alerts and tracking. Keep one shared log so the same query is not answered twice.

Will moving to Connectively get me more backlinks?

Not by itself. Better filtering helps you find relevant requests faster, but links still depend on the quality and relevance of your answer and the publisher’s editorial choice.

Make Your Next Placement Count

Whether you stay on HARO, move to Connectively or use both, results come from the same discipline: pitching only where your expertise fits, answering clearly and connecting every placement to a consistent authority story. If you are weighing whether to manage this in-house, read whether a HARO outreach service is worth it.

RankAISearch combines journalist outreach with AI link building and AI search optimization, so each placement supports your visibility in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity. Contact our team to plan your media outreach strategy.