Journalist link building for SEOs
Answer journalists.
Earn backlinks.
The digital PR tool for SEOs and founders. Find the media requests that fit your expertise, pitch them fast with your own journalist pitch template, and track every editorial backlink you earn.
Maya Bernard · The Atlantic
Looking for sources on urban renewable microgrids — need two experts with recent field projects.
Fit with your expertise
Energy & climate tech · yoursite.com
What LinkBuilder AI does
Fit scoring
Every journalist request is scored against your expertise, so you only spend time on the ones likely to quote you and link to your site.
Your templates, your words
Save the pitches you've written and reuse them. Your name, title, website and facts fill in automatically. AI never writes a word, so you stay within journalist-request platform rules.
Backlink tracking
Log every article that links to you, from dofollow backlinks to nofollow mentions, and see which outlets and topics earn you links.
From query to placement in one flow
- 01 · Inbox
Paste in journalist requests
Requests arrive from HARO, Qwoted and Featured digests you forward, and from Bluesky #journorequest, or paste one from anywhere. AI reads out the reporter, outlet, deadline and topics.
- 02 · Score
See what fits you
Each request gets a fit score against your expertise, plus a short note on which angle of yours is most relevant.
- 03 · Pitch
Write, review, send
Start from your own template, add your own answer, and send it from your own Gmail, Outlook or mail app. Replies go straight to your inbox. Set a reminder or route for approval if you like.
- 04 · Links
Track the backlinks
Log the articles that cite you and link to your site, and watch your response rate and links grow week by week.
Who LinkBuilder AI is for
Anyone who earns links by sharing real expertise. If you're doing SEO for a new site or PR on a small budget, journalist requests are one of the fastest ways to get cited.
SEO for startups
Early-stage sites need authority fast. Journalist requests are one of the few ways to earn real editorial backlinks before you have a big brand or budget.
PR for startups
Founders get quoted as experts in their own field. It's earned media that builds trust with customers and investors, without paying an agency retainer.
Link building for SaaS
SaaS teams can turn product knowledge into expert commentary for trade and business press, earning links that point back to the pages that matter.
Agencies and consultants
Run PR for several clients from one place: one expertise profile per client, shared templates, and approvals before anything goes out.
Why journalist requests beat other link building
Most link building tools help you send more cold emails. LinkBuilder AI helps you answer the people who are already asking for sources, which is how PR link building and digital PR link building earn their best results.
White hat link building
You earn the link by answering a real question for a real journalist. There's nothing to buy and nothing that breaks search engine guidelines, so it stays clean by design.
Links that carry weight
Links from news and industry sites are editorial: an editor chose to cite you. These authority backlinks tend to carry far more weight than directory or forum links.
Better than cold outreach
Traditional link building outreach means emailing site owners who never asked to hear from you. With journalist requests, the reporter has already asked for a source like you.
Digital PR for SEO and brand
Every placement is a public mention, so this kind of PR builds your brand as well as your rankings. Even when a link is nofollow, the mention and the referral traffic still count.
Works with your sources
Forward your HARO, Qwoted and Featured digests to your private address, or paste a request from any source, and LinkBuilder AI reads out the reporter, outlet, deadline and topics. Pitches go out from your own email with replies straight to your inbox.
- HARO
- Qwoted
- Featured
- Bluesky #journorequest
- Gmail & Outlook
- Teammate approvals
Frequently asked questions
What is LinkBuilder AI?
LinkBuilder AI is a web app that helps SEOs, founders and agencies earn backlinks by answering journalist source requests. It collects requests from HARO, Qwoted, Featured and Bluesky #journorequest, scores each one 0–100 against your expertise, and lets you pitch with your own human-written templates from your own email address.
Which journalist request sources does LinkBuilder AI support?
Requests from HARO, Qwoted and Featured arrive automatically when you forward their email digests to your private LinkBuilder AI address. Public Bluesky #journorequest posts are imported automatically. You can also paste a request from anywhere, and AI pulls out the reporter, outlet, deadline and topics.
How much does LinkBuilder AI cost?
There is one plan, Link Builder AI Pro: $49.99 per month, or $29.99 per month billed yearly ($359.88 per year). It includes 300 journalist queries a month, fit scoring, templates, email sending, approvals and backlink tracking. You can cancel at any time.
What are the best link building tools for journalist requests?
The best tools for this work help you find the right requests quickly, answer them in your own words and keep track of results. LinkBuilder AI does all three: it scores each request against your expertise, fills your own pitch templates and logs every link you earn.
How do I pitch a journalist?
Answer the exact question they asked, lead with your most relevant credential, keep it short and meet the deadline. A good pitch email to a journalist reads like a helpful expert answer, not an ad. LinkBuilder AI lets you save a media pitch template for each topic so every pitch starts from your best work.
How do I get press coverage without a PR agency?
Respond to media requests in your area of expertise. Journalists post what they need every day, and a fast, specific answer from a credible source is often all it takes to be quoted.
Are the links dofollow?
It depends on the publication. Some outlets give dofollow links and some use nofollow. On the nofollow vs dofollow question: dofollow links pass more SEO value, but both bring referral traffic and brand exposure. LinkBuilder AI lets you log which type each link is.
Can this help increase my domain authority?
Domain authority is a third-party score based largely on the quality of sites that link to you. If you're asking how to increase domain authority, earning PR backlinks from respected publications is one of the most reliable approaches, though results depend on how often you're quoted.
Does AI write my pitches?
No. AI reads each request and scores how well it fits you, but your pitches come from your own templates and your own edits. That keeps you within the rules of journalist-request services that ban AI-generated pitches.
Start earning backlinks today
Learn how to pitch a journalist the right way, answer faster, and earn coverage that links back to you.