James Dooley Interviews Chris Panteli from Linkifi
What Does “James Dooley Interviews Chris Panteli from Linkifi” Talk About?
In this episode of the James Dooley Podcast, James Dooley sits down with Chris Pantelli, co-founder of Linkify, to explore the world of digital PR and expert quote link building. They begin by breaking down exactly what expert quote links are, how journalists source credible voices for their articles, and how this process creates powerful backlink opportunities from some of the world's most authoritative publications. The conversation also covers the transition from HARO to Connectively, explaining why the shift to a paid model has actually improved results for agencies like Linkify by eliminating the wave of AI-generated spam that had been flooding journalist inboxes.
The discussion moves into the broader landscape of digital PR, touching on the implications of the Google algorithm leak and how it validated what practitioners like Chris had already believed about tier-one publications and fresh pages carrying significant SEO weight. Chris explains why he believes we are living in the golden era of link building, arguing that as AI makes generic content easier to produce than ever, high-quality expert commentary placed in trusted journalistic outlets becomes increasingly scarce and valuable. The episode also covers how AI is shaping entity data and brand reputation, and why being featured in credible publications helps control the narrative that AI systems learn from. Practical advice is shared for those wanting to pursue digital PR on their own, including recommended tools like Connectively, Quoted, and monitoring Twitter hashtags like journorequest and PRrequest.
“Getting featured builds brands and controls the narrative that AI will learn from. The more our names and businesses and messages are out there, the more we control what AI says about us.”
— Chris Pantelli
Who Are the Guests on “James Dooley Interviews Chris Panteli from Linkifi”?
Chris Pantelli is the co-founder of Linkify, a UK-based digital PR agency specialising in expert quote link building and reactive PR campaigns. With deep experience navigating platforms like HARO and its successor Connectively, Chris has built a reputation for helping brands earn placements in tier-one publications. He has spoken at international SEO events including the Dubai SEO conference and is a co-organiser of the SEO Vibes conference in Cyprus, reflecting his standing as a thought leader in the link building and digital PR space.
James Dooley serves as the host and is a well-known figure in the SEO industry. Throughout the interview he brings sharp, practical questions drawn from his own experience as an SEO professional and entrepreneur, keeping the conversation grounded and actionable. His style of interviewing draws out specific, usable insights rather than surface-level discussion, making the episode particularly valuable for practitioners.
What Are the Key Takeaways From “James Dooley Interviews Chris Panteli from Linkifi”?
Here are the key points discussed in this episode:
- The transition from HARO to Connectively has reduced AI spam and raised the quality of pitches, creating a better environment for serious practitioners who invest care and originality in their outreach.
- Journalists can detect AI-written pitches almost immediately, so the most effective strategy is to use AI to polish a voice-noted response rather than generating content from scratch, preserving a natural and quotable tone.
- The Google algorithm leak validated what digital PR specialists already believed, confirming that links from tier-one publications on fresh pages carry significant trust signals in Google's ranking systems.
- Digital PR is no longer just an SEO tactic but a form of brand infrastructure, influencing E-E-A-T signals, reputation management, and the entity data that AI systems extract and learn from.
- Those with limited budgets can still pursue expert quote link building for free using tools like Connectively's free tier, Twitter hashtags such as journorequest and PRrequest, Quoted, and Help A B2B Writer, while also chasing unlinked brand mentions which can represent 40 to 60 percent of potential link opportunities.
“You should be using AI. We do. But the best thing you can do is have individuality to the voice and the English language you're using. Journalists want quotable expert commentary with a unique voice. Not something ChatGPT spits out.”
— Chris Pantelli
Is “James Dooley Interviews Chris Panteli from Linkifi” Worth Listening To?
This episode is worth listening to for anyone trying to understand where link building and digital PR intersect in the current SEO landscape. Chris Pantelli brings genuine hands-on experience rather than theoretical advice, and the conversation around the HARO to Connectively transition alone is worth the listen for any SEO professional who has relied on that platform. The voice-note-to-AI pitch technique is a practical, immediately applicable tip that stands out as one of the more original pieces of tactical advice you will hear on the topic.
Beyond the tactics, the episode offers a broader strategic perspective on why digital PR has moved from a nice-to-have to an essential part of building authority online. The discussion of how AI systems learn from published content and how being featured in trusted publications helps shape what AI says about your brand adds a layer of forward-thinking insight that goes well beyond traditional link building conversation. Whether you are a solo SEO practitioner, agency owner, or brand marketer trying to understand earned media, this episode delivers clear, specific, and genuinely useful guidance.
Who Should Listen to “James Dooley Interviews Chris Panteli from Linkifi”?
This episode is ideal for:
- SEO professionals and agency owners looking to understand how digital PR and expert quote link building fit into a modern authority-building strategy.
- Small business owners and entrepreneurs who want to learn how to pursue earned media placements on a limited or zero budget using free tools and platforms.
- Content marketers and PR professionals navigating the shift from traditional PR to digital PR and wanting to understand the SEO implications of media placements.
- Brand managers and marketing directors concerned with reputation management and how AI systems are increasingly shaping how brands are perceived online.
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You can also subscribe using the RSS feed: https://feeds.transistor.fm/james-dooley-podcast
What Are Listeners Saying About This Episode?
“The breakdown of why Connectively is actually better for serious link builders than the old HARO system was eye-opening. Chris explains it clearly and the logic holds up. Immediately signed up for a free account after listening.”
“The voice note trick for creating AI-assisted pitches that still sound human is genuinely brilliant. I have been struggling with this exact problem and this episode gave me a practical solution I could use the same day.”
“Really appreciated how Chris connected digital PR to what AI learns about your brand. Most link building content stops at SEO metrics but this episode made me think about the bigger picture of entity-building and reputation. Well worth an hour of your time.”
James Dooley: So today I'm joined with Chris Pantelli from Linkify.
Chris Pantelli: Hey James. Thank you. Thanks for having me.
James Dooley: Good stuff mate. Good stuff. I'm going to start grilling you now with who you are and what you do and your bit of background. So for anyone that doesn't know who is Chris Pantelli.
Chris Pantelli: Uh he's a male model. No. Yeah Chris Pantelli. I'm from the UK and I co-founder of Linkify. So we are a digital PR agency specialising in expert quote links and PR campaigns.
James Dooley: So let's dive straight into it then. Expert quote links. Can you briefly explain for anyone that doesn't know what expert quote links is and has it got SEO value.
Chris Pantelli: Yeah so expert quote link building is inbound requests from journalists looking to source experts that they can quote in their article. It's not a link building opportunity per se from the journalist perspective but as seos we noticed that often times the journalists when they quote an expert they will link back to the expert’s website or the website that the expert is representing and therefore it is a wonderful opportunity to win links from some of the world's biggest publications.
James Dooley: So obviously it's a great time to be doing a podcast with yourself because recently HARO, Help A Reporter Out, has now upgraded to Connectively. So can you explain a little bit about for anyone that knows about HARO why the change. Is it better. The dashboard now. Is it making it harder for people who are trying to do expert quote link building. Has it made it better for Linkify. Why have they upgraded and is it good or is it bad for you as a company.
Chris Pantelli: Yeah so it used to be three emails a day. Anyone that knows the old system or remembers it. It's been around for nearly 15 years. It was three emails a day from multiple journalists sourcing experts. Everybody got very used to that. Fifteen years is a long time to be doing something the same way. As the introduction of AI became prevalent maybe 20 months ago journalists were getting bombarded with AI spam. Although there were some blocking systems with the old system it wasn't enough for journalists not to be annoyed by the mass onset of AI spam. Anything in SEO that’s good gets taken over quickly and becomes a bad thing. Also it was free. It had been free for 15 years. Peter Shankman the original founder started it as a free way to connect journalists with expert sources. The new system is now pay to play. You’ve got to pay if you want to play. It's not prohibitively expensive but there is a cost. You get five free pitches per month and then on top of that any additional pitches you want to do there's a cost. Is it better. It's different. It takes some getting used to. The biggest change is the psychology behind it. You used to get three emails a day and you'd maybe set aside time to look through and pitch. Now it's a continual roll of source requests dripping in continually. So now you have to decide how to approach it. Us as an agency we find it better. Our results have gone up because the barrier to entry even though small is there. Those mass AI spam systems are wiped out. If you want to be involved you’ve got to pay a small amount which means less AI spam. It’s a golden opportunity to create better pitches than people who pay but don’t take care. If you go one step above you will beat 90 percent of what’s being sent in.
James Dooley: So what was interesting then is several times you mentioned AI but you followed it with AI spam. Obviously artificial intelligence is everywhere. Does Chris Pantelli at Linkify use AI. Garbage in garbage out. It's how good your prompts are. Not all AI is spam. Some can be used in a good way. Is Linkify using AI in any way to integrate further growth.
Chris Pantelli: I think you’d be mad not to be using AI. It’s fantastic. But it's how you use it. I spoke at Dubai SEO conference last year about how journalists choose what they want and what they don't want. You should be using AI. We do. But the best thing you can do is have individuality to the voice and the English language you're using. Journalists want quotable expert commentary with a unique voice. Not something ChatGPT spits out. AI can massively improve workflow and speed. It's great for analysing data and cross-analysing documents. But the pitches sent to journalists need originality. Journalists can smell AI. They won't read past the first sentence if it’s obviously AI. They also need to protect their reputations. Publications may ban AI. So journalists will use AI detection tools. You need to pass those tools. AI can help rewrite things in your tone of voice. A really neat trick is to voice-note your answer on your phone for five minutes, then feed the messy text into AI with a prompt to keep your tone but tidy it up. You get a strong pitch that passes AI and plagiarism and is in your own voice.
James Dooley: Great knowledge bomb there. I like that. So as I've come to interview Chris Pantelli at Linkify I wanted to dig into what you've said recently. There's a quote where you said we are living in the golden era of link building. Can you explain what you mean.
Chris Pantelli: What we're noticing is content is everywhere now. It's easy to produce. The distinguishing features now are quality and where it’s coming from. News publications and journalistic content will survive AI mass production. Journalists enhance their articles by quoting experts. So this is a great time for us to be those experts. Getting featured builds brands and controls the narrative that AI will learn from. The more our names and businesses and messages are out there, the more we control what AI says about us.
James Dooley: Linkify does reactive PR campaigns and expert quote link building. For anyone wanting to know the difference check the link in the description. I'm now going to ask about the Google leak. Because the leak talks about tier one publications and fresh pages which screams digital PR. The SEO community now seems obsessed with fresh T1 links. Has business grown because of the leak. What’s your thoughts.
Chris Pantelli: It hasn’t really changed much for us. It just validated what we were already saying. Tier one publications get huge organic traffic which shows Google trusts them. Getting links there is safer long term than PBNS or Niche edits. The leak validated that tier one publications and fresh pages matter. PR goes beyond SEO. PR is older than the internet. PR builds brands and touchpoints. PR affects what AI learns about you. It grows E-E-A-T. When a human quality rater reviews your site, being featured in trusted publications helps you pass.
James Dooley: With digital PR you've sold the viewers. They all want to do digital PR. But for whatever reason they don't want to use Chris Pantelli. They think you look like my business partner Scott. They don't want to use Linkify. So if they want to do it themselves what setup, what profile, what visibility is needed.
Chris Pantelli: Sign up for the free platforms. Free Connectively account. Set alerts on X for #journorequest and #PRrequest. Make sure your about page reflects your credentials. You must look like an expert. Everything needs to be visible on your site and your social profiles. Consistency matters. Build a clean pitch template. Go for opportunities that match your expertise. Use AI detection and plagiarism checks. Set alerts on your name because 40 to 60 percent of our client links come after the fact from unlinked mentions. Chase those mentions and get the links added.
James Dooley: Sounds like a lot of hard work to me Chris. Anyone watching knows if I'm building an extension I get the bricklayer, the roofer, the electrician. For me it’s just better to outsource to people like Linkify.
Chris Pantelli: You can absolutely do it on your own. My advice for people with no budget is to find competitors, see what logos they’ve got, find those opportunities on the platforms, and pitch those exact ones.
James Dooley: Just a couple of things. If people are doing it themselves you mentioned tools. HARO has changed to Connectively. Is it pay and play or free tier. You mentioned Quoted. Press Plugs. Twitter hashtags. What's the four things people should do.
Chris Pantelli: Twitter with #journorequest and #PRrequest. Connectively free account with five free pitches. Quoted has a free tier. Press Plugs is paid. Media Matchmaker has a decent trial. Help A B2B Writer is free. All good places to source requests.
James Dooley: So last bits. Digital PR as a whole. Should people do everything or specialise.
Chris Pantelli: More referring domains brings more authority. If budget allows then yes do everything. Expert quotes get US-centric unique domains. PR campaigns get different publications. Both support each other. Both make you more visible to more journalists.
James Dooley: Well anyway Chris it's been an absolute pleasure interviewing you. Check the links in the description. I dig deeper into HARO to Connectively, why seos should use expert commentary, etc. For anyone that doesn't know where to find you, where's the best place.
Chris Pantelli: Linkify.io. Linkify on X. Christopher Pantelli on LinkedIn. Book a call. Or see me at a conference soon.
James Dooley: Chris Pantelli at Linkify it's been an absolute pleasure. Before we leave can you explain the WhitePress and Linkify joint venture SEO conference in Cyprus for anyone without tickets.
Chris Pantelli: Yes. SEO Vibes. With WhitePress and Linkify. October 23rd to 25th in Limassol Cyprus. Beautiful weather. Great speakers including the head of SEO at Alibaba, Lisa from Boohoo, Roman Halliday, Greg Elfrink from Empire Flippers.
James Dooley: Just so you know they’ve got a secret assassin, me and Kasra are coming. We’re doing a Q&A. I love the SEO Vibes conferences. They’re not a profit-making machine. They provide value worldwide. Massive hats off to WhitePress. I'm excited. Hope you've enjoyed the interview with Chris Pantelli from Linkify. Leave a comment and check out the other videos.
Chris Pantelli: Cheers James. It's been awesome.
James Dooley: Cheers mate.
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James Dooley is a UK entrepreneur.