Citation Harvesting

---
name: citation-harvesting
description: >-
  Builds backlinks and brand citations through digital PR: expert-source
  platforms (Qwoted, Muck Rack), source-blogger outreach, and data-driven PR
  assets. Use when the user needs authoritative links or press mentions, wants
  to answer journalist requests, or is planning a link-building campaign.
  Triggers on: "citation harvesting", "backlink building", "digital PR", "link
  building", "get featured in publications".
license: MIT
compatibility: Claude Code, Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, Goose, Hermes, Windsurf, Zed
metadata:
  version: "1.0.0"
  author: LeadMagic
  category: content-seo
  tags: [content-seo, citations, backlinks, digital-pr, link-building]
  frameworks:
    - "Moz — Beginner's guide to link building"
    - "Google Search Central — SEO Starter Guide"
    - "Google Search Central — Spam policies (link schemes)"
---

# Citation Harvesting & Link Building

## Overview

Citation harvesting is the most efficient link building strategy for B2B SaaS:
respond to journalist and blogger source requests with expert commentary, and
earn backlinks from high-authority publications. This skill covers the full
citation harvesting motion.

## Authoritative Foundations
- **Moz — Beginner's guide to link building** — Prioritize relevant, authoritative referring domains and evaluate each link opportunity for quality before volume.
- **Google Search Central — SEO Starter Guide** — Earn links with genuinely useful content and expertise; links should be a byproduct of being worth citing.
- **Google Search Central — Spam policies (link schemes)** — Never buy or trade links for ranking; mark paid or sponsored placements with rel=sponsored.

## When to Use

- "Build backlinks"
- "Citation harvesting"
- "Get featured in publications"
- "Digital PR for links"
- "Get cited by journalist sources"

## Step-by-Step Process

### Phase 1: Source Request Monitoring

Monitor these platforms for source requests in your domain:

- **Qwoted:** Journalist source request platform — high-quality requests, verified journalists
- **Muck Rack:** PR platform for finding journalists by beat, monitoring coverage, and building media lists
- **Help a B2B Writer:** Slack community for B2B writers seeking expert sources
- **SourceBottle:** Free source request platform with daily digests for expert opportunities
- **Twitter/X:** Search "[your topic] + seeking sources" or "journo request"
- **LinkedIn:** Follow journalists and editors in your industry
- **Connectively (formerly HARO):** The original, still high volume
- **Help a B2B Writer:** Slack community for B2B writers seeking sources
- **Twitter/X:** Search "[your topic] + seeking sources" or "journo request"
- **LinkedIn:** Follow journalists and editors in your industry
- **Subreddit:** r/Journalism, r/PR, r/HARO

### Phase 2: Response Strategy

Respond within 2-4 hours of request posting. Journalists work on deadlines.

**Response template:**

```
Subject: Re: [Their subject line]

Hi [Name],

[Direct answer to their question in 2-3 sentences — lead with the quote]

[A bit more context or data to support your answer — 1-2 sentences]

About me: [Full name], [Title] at [Company]. [One sentence on why you're
qualified to speak on this topic — relevant experience, data, or perspective].

Happy to provide more detail or data if helpful.

[Your name]
[Your title + company]
[Link to your website or LinkedIn]
```

**Rules:**

- Lead with the answer. They don't care about you — they care about the quote.
- Be specific. "According to our data, 67% of..." > "I think it's important..."
- Be concise. 3-5 sentences total. They're skimming 50 responses.
- Include credentials. Why should they quote you?
- Never pitch your product. This is about being a source, not a vendor.

### Phase 3: Data-Driven PR

Create original data that journalists want to cite:

- **Industry surveys:** "2026 State of [Industry] — Survey of 500 [ICP]"
- **Data studies:** "We analyzed 10,000 [X] and found..."
- **Benchmark reports:** "Average [metric] by [segment]"
- **Trend analysis:** "The 3 trends shaping [industry] in 2026"

Publish the data on your site. Then proactively pitch it to journalists covering
your industry. "I have data on [topic] — would it be useful for your piece?"

### Phase 4: Expert Commentary Database

Build a database of your internal experts and their topics:

- **CEO/Founder:** Industry trends, startup/scale-up, fundraising
- **CTO/VP Engineering:** Technical architecture, engineering culture, scaling
- **CRO/VP Sales:** Sales methodology, GTM strategy, pipeline metrics
- **Product leader:** Product development, UX, customer feedback
- **Customer success:** Retention, onboarding, customer health

When a request comes in that matches an expert, route it to them with a
pre-written response draft they can customize in 5 minutes.

### Phase 5: Measurement & ROI

- **Citations earned:** Total mentions and backlinks per month
- **Domain authority of linking sites:** Weighted by DA/DR
- **Referral traffic:** Visitors from earned links
- **SEO impact:** Keyword ranking improvements from new backlinks
- **Pipeline:** Deals influenced by PR mentions (ask: "How did you hear about us?")
- **Cost:** Time spent (5-10 hours/week) + any tools (Qwoted, monitoring)

## Output Format

Citation harvesting playbook with: source monitoring setup, response templates,
data-driven PR calendar, expert database, and measurement dashboard.

## Quality Check

Before delivering, verify:

- [ ] All required sections are complete
- [ ] Output matches the user's stated need
- [ ] Named frameworks are cited for key recommendations
- [ ] No vague claims — every recommendation has a specific action
- [ ] Deliverable is ready for operational use, not just conceptual

## Common Pitfalls

1. **Writing for search engines, not humans.** Keyword-stuffed content that reads like a robot wrote it. Fix: write for your ICP first, optimize for search second.
2. **Publishing and praying.** Creating content without a distribution plan. Fix: every piece gets a 30-day promotion calendar across email, social, and paid.
3. **Ignoring content freshness.** 2-year-old content with outdated data and examples still ranking. Fix: quarterly content audit — update or retire stale pieces.

## Execution Artifacts

- `references/framework-notes.md` — B2B link tactics, HARO ops, data PR, Pattern 25 routing
- `templates/output-template.md` — Deliverable shell for agent output
- `scripts/check-output.py` — Lightweight deliverable validator
- `references/seo-strategy-playbook.md` — Repo root: §6 link building, §8 LLM citations
- the `using-gtm-skills` skill — Pattern 25: B2B SEO Stack (step 5)

## Related Skills

- seo-strategy, content-marketing, social-media-strategy, founder-brand, podcast-gtm