Journalist request platforms reverse the usual cold-outreach dynamic. Instead of convincing an editor to care about an unsolicited topic, you respond to a published request for expertise, examples, or data. The opportunity is real, but a relevant, accurate contribution matters more than sending volume.
In the source demonstration, the Distribb speaker connects an AI agent to Quoted and Gmail, creates an expert profile, searches opportunities, builds a statistics asset, prepares a pitch, and schedules follow-up work. He also shows an email inviting him to an interview after an earlier pitch. That is a first-person example, not an independently audited success rate.
This playbook keeps the useful automation while adding the controls a production PR process needs. The goal is to help journalists do better work and earn citations as a consequence, not to treat every request as a backlink vending machine.
Prepare a source profile before pitching
Quoted refers to experts as sources. Build one profile for each real spokesperson rather than a composite identity. Include:
- Full name, current title, and organization
- Narrow topics they can discuss from experience
- Relevant credentials, years, or projects
- Geographic or industry scope
- A professional headshot if appropriate
- Company and personal profile URLs
- A monitored email address
The demonstration asks the agent to draft the bio from a short business description. Let the agent create a first draft, then have the expert verify every claim. Remove broad labels such as “leading authority” unless a credible third party supports them.
Create an internal expertise sheet as well. List approved biographical facts, subjects to avoid, available datasets, prior interviews, and disclosure language. This gives the agent boundaries and reduces inconsistent pitches.
Connect accounts with minimum necessary access
The video connects Gmail through the Claude desktop settings and logs into Quoted through a browser so the agent can retain a session. These steps involve sensitive access.
Use a dedicated professional mailbox or tightly scoped account where possible. Review connector permissions, enable multi-factor authentication, and understand where browser cookies and session files are stored. Do not commit session JSON, credentials, or attachments containing private data to a repository. Revoke access when the workflow is no longer used.
Start in read and draft mode. Do not allow autonomous sending until you have reviewed enough outputs to trust opportunity matching, tone, and factual handling.
Search and score live opportunities
The demonstrated search returns publication, deadline, topic, a score, and recommendation. Recreate that structure, but make the score explainable. A useful rubric assigns points for:
- Direct match with the expert's documented experience
- Relevant publication and audience
- Enough time for fact-checking
- A question that can be answered specifically
- Availability of original evidence or a concrete example
- Clear journalist and outlet identity
Apply disqualifiers for requests outside the expert's competence, anonymous or suspicious outlets, expired deadlines, prohibited topics, or requests that demand payment for coverage.
Read the full request. A keyword match for “SEO” does not mean a software founder can answer legal, medical, or financial questions that happen to mention search. High selectivity protects both the journalist and your brand.
Decide whether you need a supporting asset
Many requests need only a concise expert answer. Others benefit from a statistics page, chart, case note, or PDF. The video chooses a local SEO opportunity and asks the agent to produce both a web page and PDF. It reports that generation took roughly 12 minutes in that demonstration.
Choose a web page when the evidence deserves a stable, public methodology page. Use a PDF when the journalist requests an attachment or when publishing access is unavailable. A PDF can support a pitch, but asking for a homepage link does not guarantee one, and a journalist may cite the expert without linking.
Before sending any asset, verify:
- Every statistic against its primary source
- Calculation formulas and sample sizes
- Dates, geography, and category definitions
- Rights to publish charts or underlying data
- Claims about your product or customers
- Accessibility and mobile readability
Contrary to advice stated in the video, do not remove source links merely to conserve crawl budget. A research page should make provenance easy to audit. Link to primary evidence where licensing and access permit, and distinguish your original calculations from third-party facts.
Build a response for editorial use
A strong response answers the request immediately. Use this format:
- Direct answer: One sentence that addresses the exact question.
- Quotable detail: Two or three sentences with a concrete insight, example, or number.
- Why it matters: A restrained interpretation for the publication's audience.
- Evidence: Method, source URL, or attachment.
- Attribution: Exact name, title, company, and relevant credential.
- Availability: A short offer to clarify or interview before the deadline.
Keep marketing language out of the quote. Do not have an agent invent a personal anecdote for the expert. If the journalist asks for first-hand experience, the named person must supply it or approve an accurate draft based on an interview.
The demonstration switches from one agent environment to another after hitting a usage limit and recovers the workflow from saved files. That shows the value of structured state. Store the opportunity ID, deadline, requirements, asset paths, approved quotes, and pitch status in a durable campaign record rather than relying on chat history.
Send, monitor, and follow up professionally
Submit through the channel requested by the platform. Proofread names, outlet, deadline, and attachments immediately before sending. One focused response is better than several variations.
Connect inbox monitoring to labels or a dedicated folder. The video schedules a daily task to check for Quoted replies, find new opportunities, create assets, and prepare pitches. A safer production schedule is:
- Pull new opportunities and remove duplicates
- Flag high-scoring requests for human selection
- Draft answers and required evidence
- Route drafts to the named expert for approval
- Send only approved responses
- Classify replies and create deadline reminders
- Escalate interview requests to a person
Never auto-answer a journalist's follow-up when the response could introduce a new factual claim or commitment. The invitation shown in the video required the speaker to confirm interview availability, a decision an agent should surface rather than make.
Track mentions accurately
Maintain a ledger with the request ID, outlet, journalist, expert, topic, deadline, pitch date, response, interview date, publication URL, mention text, link URL, and link attributes. Separate these outcomes:
- Pitch delivered
- Journalist replied
- Expert interviewed
- Brand mentioned
- Source page cited
- Backlink published
A mention is not always a backlink, and a backlink may be nofollow or later removed. Check the live HTML instead of assuming an outlet's usual policy. Avoid describing a link as “high DR” without recording which tool, date, and domain-level metric produced that label.
Improve the workflow from real evidence
Review campaigns monthly. Compare response and publication rates by topic, outlet type, expert, asset format, and turnaround time. Read journalist feedback closely. If data-heavy pitches perform well, invest in a maintained research library. If broad responses fail, narrow the expertise profile.
Do not infer that a press link caused rankings or AI citations by itself. Search visibility changes for many reasons. Measure referral traffic, assisted conversions, branded search, and citation coverage alongside links, then report correlation carefully.
Quoted outreach scales through relevance and preparedness. An agent can watch deadlines, organize evidence, and draft clean responses, but the expert remains responsible for truth and the journalist remains responsible for publication. Preserve those roles and the workflow can produce credible earned media rather than automated noise.
