citation-harvesting

Files (5)

• SKILL.md
• framework-notes.md · references/
• seo-strategy-playbook.md · references/
• check-output.py · scripts/
• output-template.md · templates/

SKILL.md (first lines)

# 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

From LeadMagic/gtm-skills, MIT.

More from LeadMagic/gtm-skills