Press releases remain one of the fastest ways to earn coverage—as long as you choose the best press-release service for SEO. After reviewing 30+ industry guides and interviewing 12 in-house SEO leads, we narrowed the field to the 10 strongest platforms for 2025. Prefer a hands-off approach? Outreach Labs tops our list with guaranteed editorial backlinks. Below, you’ll find pricing, reach, and ROI tips so you can pick a partner, secure coverage, and turn your next announcement into organic search power.

Press releases & SEO in 2025: do they still work?

They do, just not in the way some link-building playbooks once promised. According to Cision’s 2024 State of the Media report, seventy-two percent of journalists still say a press release is the single most useful asset a PR team can send, and PR Newswire’s 2024 State of the Press Release survey found that 93 percent of communications pros expect to distribute the same number or more releases this year. That volume keeps the format squarely in every newsroom’s workflow.

From an SEO angle, the release is a spark, not the firework. Google’s John Mueller has reiterated that links embedded inside a syndicated release carry minimal weight. What matters is the chain reaction that follows: reporters read a well-timed announcement, write their own story, and place an organic link that does influence rankings and referral traffic.

Three trends are making that chain reaction easier to trigger in 2025:

1. Generative AI enters the toolkit. According to the same PR Newswire survey, about 26 percent of strategic communicators already use AI to draft releases, slicing hours off headline polishing and angle testing.
2. Rich media is now table stakes. That study also found that 88 percent of PR teams embed images or video, assets that increase engagement and hand journalists ready-made visuals.
3. Instant indexation via Google News. Wires that feed Google News push your announcement into search results within minutes, giving you a first-mover advantage while long-form content climbs.

The takeaway: a press release still moves the SEO needle when it’s newsworthy, multimedia-ready, and routed through a network that real reporters trust. Treat it as the fuse; the earned coverage it sparks is the boom that lifts your rankings.

What to look for in an SEO-friendly press-release service

Your release is only as powerful as the network that carries it, so trace the path from send to search result before you spend a dollar.

Reach still trumps everything else. One mention on Yahoo Finance or AP News can outweigh a hundred low-traffic blogs. Confirm that the provider’s circuit feeds Google News and shows up on recognizable media domains.

Next, review the targeting controls. Geography, industry beats, and language filters keep your announcement in front of the buyers—and journalists—who care. Precise routing avoids wasted impressions and protects your backlink profile from off-topic sites.

Because Google considers wire links sponsored, ask how the service handles link attributes. Reputable wires tag internal links nofollow or sponsored while giving reporters an easy path to create their own follow links.

If you’re new to PR, editorial support is worth every dollar. A human editor who trims jargon and sharpens the headline can double pickup odds and spare your brand an embarrassing typo.

Finally, insist on transparent reporting. A good dashboard shows which outlets ran the story, how many views it logged, and which backlinks drove referral traffic. Without that data you cannot prove ROI or improve the next release.

Balance these factors against budget. Prices run from under $100 to well over $1,000 per release. A local bakery unveiling a new menu can skip Business Wire; a fintech announcing a Series B cannot. Match spend to potential upside, not vanity.

Snapshot: how the top services differ at a glance

Service	Starting cost	Where your news appears first	Stand-out SEO angle
Outreach Labs	$777 /mo (9-month retainer)	Earned stories on 20–50 niche-relevant sites per campaign	Guarantees editorial backlinks, not just syndication
PR Newswire	~$350 per U.S. release	Yahoo Finance, AP News, MarketWatch	Deep Google News penetration and six-decade newsroom trust
Business Wire	~$760 per U.S. release	Bloomberg & Reuters terminals	Fast EDGAR filing, critical for public companies
GlobeNewswire	~$200 per release	Nasdaq.com and multinational finance desks	Built-in AI writing wizard plus multilingual push
eReleases	$399 per release	PR Newswire circuit via reseller deal	Human editor included, SMB-friendly flat pricing
Newswire.com	$349 per release (Digital)	500+ U.S. web outlets, optional state targeting	Guarantees placements on marquee domains like Yahoo News
PRWeb	$110 per release	PRWeb.com and search-engine feeds	Unlimited word count, useful for keyword-rich storytelling
EIN Presswire	$99.95 per release	Google News within minutes	Lowest price point that still lands on AP News sections
24-7 Press Release	$89–$429 tiers	Associated Press at mid-tier and up	Flexible scale-up menu from basic hosting to PRN reach
Linking News	$159–$999	Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Digital Journal	White-label distribution with guaranteed DA-80+ pickups

1. Outreach Labs: earned links without lifting a finger

Outreach Labs acts less like a wire and more like a digital-PR task force. The agency’s own profile calls its service “thoughtful link building,” a shorthand for manual, white-hat outreach that swaps bulk syndication for context. Its digital PR service starts with a news angle such as survey data or proprietary research, then the team pitches the story to journalists already on the beat and guarantees that every placement comes from a DR 60+ publication your buyers actually read. Independent round-ups of link builders show that most wins land on DR 30–85 publications, the sweet spot where topical relevance meets authority. The payoff is editorial coverage on sites your buyers read, not just a PDF buried in a press-release section.

Typical outcome. Outreach Labs guarantees at least ten do-follow links during a nine-month engagement, and many campaigns secure twenty to fifty pickups. Independent 2025 round-ups of white-hat link builders note that most wins land on DR 40–70 sites, a sweet spot where authority meets topical relevance. Every placement then appears in a live dashboard, so you can trace links to referral traffic and conversions.

Cost and commitment. Pricing starts at $777 per month on a nine-month contract. That fee covers ideation, writing, outreach, and monthly reporting with no word-count upsells or hidden multimedia charges.

Go with Outreach Labs if the goal is “earn authoritative links,” not “blast a release.” The service works like an outsourced PR desk, perfect for lean teams that lack in-house media relationships yet expect measurable results.

2. PR Newswire: the broadest stage when reach is non-negotiable

Founded in 1954, PR Newswire still owns one of the largest footprints in news distribution. Company data indicates the network touches more than 440,000 newsrooms, websites, and journalist dashboards across 170 countries. When your announcement crosses the wire it surfaces within minutes on portals such as Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, and scores of local TV-station sites, then lands in Google News almost immediately.

That ubiquity makes PR Newswire the default choice for IPOs, earnings reports, and other milestones where regulators or investors expect simultaneous disclosure. Every release goes through an editorial review for style and compliance, one reason reporters still monitor the feed daily.

Cost. A basic U.S. distribution package starts around $350 for a sub-400-word release. Word-count overages, images, or international circuits raise the fee, but for high-stakes news the premium is often cheaper than limited reach or delayed disclosure.

Choose PR Newswire when you must guarantee the widest possible blast and cannot risk a lightweight alternative. The name recognition alone often opens doors that budget wires miss.

3. Business Wire: built for earnings calls and other market-moving announcements

Owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 2006, Business Wire is the service public companies rely on when every second—and every comma—matters. Because the wire integrates with Bloomberg, Reuters, and other financial terminals, an earnings release can reach traders’ screens within seconds, satisfying Reg FD and other disclosure rules.

Beyond speed, Business Wire supports multimedia press releases through its NX platform. Charts, photos, and interactive infographics travel with the copy, giving journalists ready-made assets and lifting click-through rates.

Reach and languages. The network spans 150 countries and 45 languages, with regulatory circuits for the United States, Canada (SEDAR+), and key EU markets.

Cost. A U.S. national release of up to 400 words starts near $760. Adding regions, extra word blocks, or multimedia can push the invoice above $1,500. When you face a pre-IPO filing or merger update, that premium is often cheaper than a disclosure misstep.

Choose Business Wire when investor relations, compliance, or sheer market visibility outweigh budget concerns and you want the release to reach both Wall Street terminals and Google News in the same heartbeat.

4. GlobeNewswire: financial reach plus an AI boost

GlobeNewswire sits at the intersection of global reach and investor credibility. Now owned by Notified, the wire distributes releases to more than 150 countries in 35 languages and feeds platforms such as Nasdaq.com, Morningstar, and Bloomberg—the outlets analysts read first.

The standout feature is an AI-powered press-release generator, launched in 2023 and recognized with a 2024 AI Excellence Award. Draft your copy in minutes, polish it, then send it through the same investor-grade network.

Pricing. Single-country distribution starts near $200 and scales logically when you add regions or translations. That places GlobeNewswire between budget wires and premium giants.

Choose GlobeNewswire when you want investor-focused distribution, multilingual options, and an integrated drafting assistant without paying Fortune-500 prices.

5. eReleases: PR Newswire muscle on an SMB budget

eReleases earned its following by negotiating wholesale rates with PR Newswire, then bundling them into flat-fee packages that small businesses can handle. Every submission passes an in-house editor—usually a former journalist—who sharpens the headline, trims jargon, and flags compliance issues before your copy hits the wire.

Base distribution—up to 400 words for $399—routes your announcement through PR Newswire’s national circuit and emails it to a hand-picked list of niche reporters. Two higher tiers allow longer copy or extra industry lists, but each option keeps the same core advantage: your story still lands on Yahoo Finance, AP News, and hundreds of local TV-station sites without PR Newswire’s à la carte pricing.

If you have a newsworthy milestone but no PR team, the editorial polish alone can justify the fee. Because eReleases is essentially “PR Newswire plus guidance,” it remains one of the most cost-effective ways to put a credible, search-indexable release in front of both journalists and Google News.

6. Newswire.com: pay only for the reach you really need

Newswire.com wins mid-market fans because its menu scales from a simple online push to a full national circuit. A Digital release (about $349) syndicates your news to hundreds of business sites. Step up to State or National plans and the platform layers in geo-targeted newsroom feeds plus a promise of placement on heavy hitters such as Yahoo News and Benzinga.

What separates Newswire from low-cost wires is the human outreach baked into upper-tier packages. The team builds a journalist list for your beat and emails a short pitch alongside the release. When a reporter bites, you earn follow links and original coverage instead of a copy-and-paste post.

The dashboard tracks pickups, headline impressions, and social chatter in near real time, helping you show stakeholders exactly what the spend delivered. Choose Newswire when your announcements vary in scale—local charity drive this month, national product launch next—and you refuse to overpay for blanket distribution each time.

7. PRWeb: the budget workhorse for online visibility

When your priority is quick indexation across the web, PRWeb remains the lowest-risk option. A basic release costs about $110 and includes hosting on PRWeb.com, an authoritative domain that often reaches Google’s Top 10 for your headline within hours. Higher tiers add keyword tagging, industry targeting, and video embeds, but the core draw stays the same: broad online syndication at a bargain price.

PRWeb focuses on search visibility rather than newsroom outreach, so feature articles rarely follow directly. What you gain is a reliable blast to search engines, news aggregators, and a long tail of blogs—ideal for brand-SERP control and link diversity. Pair it with targeted journalist pitching for true editorial coverage, and use PRWeb as the fast, inexpensive layer in a multi-channel PR stack.

8. EIN Presswire: Google News pickup on a shoestring

EIN Presswire’s offer is simple: pay $99.95 and your release reaches Google News the same day. That single advantage makes it the go-to choice for startups that want search visibility but cannot justify three-figure wire fees. The base package also posts your announcement to EIN’s niche-news network and to partner sites such as AP News, Benzinga, and Digital Journal—a strong haul for the price.

Targeting remains surprisingly granular at this tier. You can tag one industry and one region (more if you buy a bundle), ensuring the release lands in front of journalists who actually cover your beat. Bundle deals push the effective cost below $60 per release, ideal when you plan a regular cadence of smaller updates.

Remember that EIN tilts toward online syndication rather than high-touch editorial outreach. Use it to claim fast indexation, pad your backlink profile, and save budget for larger launches that deserve a premium wire.

9. 24-7 Press Release: stair-step pricing from $49 to full PR Newswire reach

Few wires provide as much latitude on price as 24-7 Press Release. A $49 “Visibility Boost” simply hosts your news on the 24-7 domain. Spend $89 and the same release enters the Associated Press feed, placing it on dozens of local TV-station websites and in Google News overnight. At the top end—about $429—24-7 hands your copy off to PR Newswire’s national circuit, effectively matching big-wire reach without big-wire account fees.

This tiered menu lets a nonprofit post a community update one month and crank distribution to PR Newswire levels the next, all without switching platforms. Reporting is basic (a PDF of live URLs and view counts) yet adequate for tracking pickups and referral clicks.

Go with 24-7 when you plan to dial distribution up or down based on the story’s news value and prefer one vendor login for every level of coverage.

10. Linking News: guaranteed big-site logos without a visible footprint

Agencies rely on Linking News because each release lands on high-authority domains such as Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, and Digital Journal, with no “via Linking News” credit line. Pick the Basic ($159), Standard ($399), or Premium ($999) package and receive about 100, 200, or 400 live URLs. A white-label report makes it easy to prove coverage to clients or leadership.

Links in these pickups are nofollow, so the return comes from credibility and referral traffic. You can add an authentic “As seen on Yahoo News” badge the same day your announcement posts. If your brand targets China, an optional upgrade pushes the copy to major portals such as Sina and Sohu—coverage few Western wires match.

Choose Linking News when visual proof on marquee sites matters for ads, investor decks, or trust badges, and you accept trading link equity for iron-clad placements.

Bonus for job seekers: If you’re a link builder, SEO strategist, or digital PR pro looking to join a results-driven SaaS agency like the ones benchmarked here, ApplyIQ can help. It’s a free AI job agent that applies to relevant roles for you — automatically — so you can focus on pitching, not paperwork.

How to match the wire to the moment

Start with your objective, then choose the wire most likely to deliver it.

Hands-off link building. When your brief is “earn authoritative backlinks and let someone else run the process,” Outreach Labs is the shortest path. Their team ideates, pitches, and reports; you receive the links.

Maximum visibility or regulatory compliance. Announcing funding, an IPO, or any news that must hit Wall Street and media desks at the same instant? PR Newswire or Business Wire justify their price tags by guaranteeing ubiquity and meeting disclosure rules.

Investor reach on a tighter budget. GlobeNewswire offers many of the same finance-centric pickups—Nasdaq.com, Morningstar, regional exchanges—at roughly half the cost and adds an AI drafting tool.

SMB budgets that still want polish. eReleases resells PR Newswire distribution and wraps it in an editor’s touch, making it the value play for founders who write their own releases.

Scale up or down. Newswire.com and 24-7 Press Release let you dial distribution from local to national without switching vendors, perfect when you juggle product launches and community events in the same calendar.

Credibility badges fast. When leadership wants to see the brand logo on Yahoo Finance tomorrow morning, Linking News is the paid shortcut.

Most teams blend tiers: a low-cost service such as PRWeb or EIN Presswire for routine updates and a premium circuit for critical announcements. Ensure the news is genuinely newsworthy, because Google ignores syndicated links while rewarding the editorial coverage a good story earns.

Frequently asked questions

Do press releases still move the SEO needle?

Yes. Google ignores the nofollow links inside most wires, yet the lift arrives when reporters translate your announcement into an original article and link back to your site. That editorial link passes PageRank and often drives referral traffic.

How many releases make sense in a year?

Match cadence to real milestones. Most small brands distribute six to eight releases annually—enough to stay visible without numbing reporters with fluff.

Which metrics prove ROI?

Track four signals: (1) total pickups, (2) new do-follow backlinks, (3) referral visits from those links, and (4) keyword movement on linked pages. Add UTM tags so you can trace those visits to conversions.

Could Google penalize us for wire links?

No. Google’s public guidance says nofollow or sponsored links in press releases are simply discounted, not punished. Penalties occur only when brands stuff exact-match anchors across low-quality releases.

Is timing still a factor?

Tuesday through Thursday mornings give journalists a full news cycle to react. Late Friday drops often sink into the weekend void.

Can AI draft the release for me?

Generative tools speed up structure and keyword placement, but a human should still verify tone, quotes, and facts. A sloppy AI artifact can undo the credibility the wire is meant to build.

Conclusion: the press release sparks, earned coverage fuels the fire

A well-timed, well-written press release still lights up search results, but only when three pieces line up:

1. A newsworthy angle. Announce something people outside your company genuinely care about.
2. A distribution partner that fits the moment. Match the wire’s reach, targeting options, and reporting depth to the scale of your story.
3. A ready destination. Link to a landing page that expands on the news and converts the surge of referral traffic the release—and the coverage it inspires—can deliver.

Get that trio right and backlinks, brand mentions, and organic traffic follow naturally. Treat an optimized press release as the spark, not the firework, and you add lasting authority to your SEO program while staying within Google’s link policies.

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Updated: 7 August 2025