Listicle Outreach: How to Secure Placements in "Best" and “Top” Lists

Google and AI engines are currently cracking down on self-promotional listicles.

Lily Ray tracked 6 brands that lost 29-49% of their traffic after publishing hundreds of listicles where they put their company at number one. Seer Interactive also found that listicle citations have dropped by 30% in ChatGPT.

So if publishing your own listicles is no longer a reliable play, what actually moves the needle?

Getting featured in other people’s listicles. Specifically, the ones already ranking in Google and showing up in LLM answers. 

This guide walks through the steps.

Step 1: Find Listicle Opportunities

The first step is to gather all relevant listicles in your category. 

There are two ways to find listicle opportunities:

Use Google search operators

You can use Google search operators to surface existing listicles that are already indexed and ranked by the search engine.

The syntax is straightforward:

“[your category]” intitle:“best” OR intitle:“top”

For example, if you run CRM software, use “CRM” intitle:“best” OR intitle:“top”.

To go deeper on a specific publisher, use site:domain.com intitle:“best” OR intitle:“top” to pull all listicle content they’ve published in one go.

This is the exact tactic used by Brandon Schroth, Founder of Reporter Outreach, for all his clients.

Use a listicle outreach tool

If you’d rather skip the manual work, use a listicle outreach tool like ListBrew. 

It helps you find listicles already ranking in Google and appearing in LLM answers for your target keyword in minutes.

These are the pages you want to appear on. They have established authority and audience base, and AI systems are already pulling citations from them.

Simply sign up for free and create a new campaign. After that, enter your brand details, target keyword, and preferred AI engines.

ListBrew will then pull every listicle already ranking for that keyword across Google and your chosen LLMs.

Step 2: Filter and Prioritize Your Targets

Not every listicle is worth your time and effort.

The goal of this step is to cut your list down to the pages where inclusion is realistic, valuable, and achievable.

Evaluate each opportunity against four criteria: 

• Relevance. Does your brand truly belong in the listicle? The clearest signal is whether it already features your direct competitors.
• Organic performance. Is the listicle already ranking in Google and driving considerable traffic?
• AI citations. Check whether the listicle is being cited in AI answers. An inclusion there can instantly boost your AI visibility.
• Last update time. Is the list constantly being updated? 

The last one matters more than most people think. A static listicle that hasn’t been touched in two years is unlikely to be refreshed just for you.

Tom Pinder, Founder of StartVest, gave a useful trick:

Once you’ve filtered for active, relevant listicles, study each article before you draft a single email. 

Look at which companies they included, what criteria they applied, and whether the methodology feels genuinely researched or partnership-driven. That context shapes everything about your outreach.

Step 3: Find the Right Person to Contact

One common outreach mistake is reaching out to someone who has no editorial control over the article. 

For example, guest post contributors or freelance writers who write for multiple sites, as Syed Asif Ali pointed out:

Here’s what you need to do before sending an outreach email: 

• Check the listicle’s byline to make sure the author is an in-house employee.
• If the author isn’t clearly mentioned, use tools like Hunter and Apollo to find the publication’s editor or content manager instead.
• You can also check the company’s LinkedIn profile to see who’s likely responsible for content production.

If you’re a ListBrew user, you can find contact details in bulk for all listicle opportunities directly inside the platform.

There’s also a feature that lets you search contacts by role, so you can send a pitch to the right person.

Step 4: Send a Personalized Pitch

Writers and editors receive a lot of requests from link builders every day, so make sure your pitch actually stands out.

Sending the same pitch to everyone is a recipe for disaster, as Rachel Sinclair, Acquisitions Director at US Gold and Coin, put it:

Here are five ways to improve your outreach emails and increase your reply rate:

Personalize your subject line

Your subject line is the first thing your prospects read, so make sure it catches their attention. 

Thomas Oldham, Founder of WebMotion Media, shared his approach:

Make the opening line relevant

Once they open your email, your opening line determines whether the reader keeps reading or ignores your pitch. 

Reference something specific from their article to show you genuinely read their content and aren’t sending a generic outreach email.

In ListBrew, you can use the built-in AI feature to pull relevant details about each listicle and personalize your opening line.

Explain why you belong in the listicle

In the next line, explain how your tool, product, or service adds value to the article instead of simply asking to be included.

One effective tactic comes from Brandon Schroth: identify a specific gap in the listicle and position your company as the missing piece.

This works because it actually helps the editor improve the list.

Make it paste-and-publish ready

Make it easy for the writer or editor to update the listicle by preparing a blurb they can easily copy and paste.

Don’t forget to follow the content’s structure and writing style.

Offer something in return

Don’t just ask for a mention; provide something valuable for the author or editor, too.

Irina Maltseva, Founder & AI SEO Advisor at Seen, said it best:

Here are some ideas:

• Link exchange. Offer to link back to the prospect from your own website or a partner site.
• Content distribution. Offer to promote the listicle to your newsletter, social channels, and community groups once you’re featured.
• Free product access. If you run a SaaS company, give them temporary premium access, a trial account, or demo credits to test your product properly.

Step 5: Follow Up Without Being Annoying

Most outreach campaigns fail because people send one email and give up. 

Editors and writers are busy. Your email may get buried, forgotten, or opened at the wrong time. A polite follow-up can dramatically increase your response rate — but only if it adds value instead of pressure.

A good rule: follow up 2–3 times maximum, spaced a few days apart.

To increase the reply rate, David Vail, Vice President of Business Development at Latitude Park, also advised adding new information.

Give the editor a fresh angle: a new feature launch, an updated case study result, a relevant piece of coverage you just received. Something that makes the second email worth opening.

Bonus Tactics (Optional But Worth to Try)

Here are two additional, non-obvious tactics that can really boost your response rate:

Pitch during the research phase, not after publication

Your best window to get included is when the writer is building the list, not after it’s already live. 

This works for a simple reason: it speeds up the research process for the writer.

One way to monitor these opportunities is by subscribing to journalist platforms like Qwoted, Haro, Source of Sources, MentionMatch, etc.

Build relationships before you need placements

Another tactic is to build relationships with writers, journalists, content marketers, and founders.

When someone already knows your name, has seen you contribute helpful insights, or has interacted with you in a community, your outreach no longer feels like a random request from a stranger.

Tooba Jamal, Senior Content Associate at Growth Marketing Pro, gave his two cents:

GEO Listicle Best Practices

Peec AI analyzed 5.7 million listicles across 8 AI engines: ChatGPT, Claude Sonnet 4, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overview, GPT-5 Search, Copilot, and Perplexity.

Their findings could shape your GEO listicle strategy:

• Being included in listicles does matter to AI visibility, but only if the listicles are frequently cited by LLMs.
• Your position in the listicle also matters. Brands in position #1 have the highest visibility lift (+16.5 percentage points (pp)).
• More listicles eventually stop adding much. Maximum impact is often reached after just a few repeated placements. The goal isn’t to be included in every listicle, but to win the few listicles that AI actually cites (use ListBrew to find those).
• Each AI engine behaves differently. Google’s AI products (AI Overviews and AI Mode) tend to cite more sources, while ChatGPT and Copilot tend to rely on a smaller set of sources, which means being featured in a top-ranked listicle can have a much larger impact on your visibility.

Case Study: How We Secured 18 Listicle Placements in 7 Months

Between October 2025 and May 2026, Position Digital secured 18 listicle placements on sites with Domain Ratings ranging from 18 to 70. 

The approach was built on three interlocking moves: 

• First, we published our own listicles targeting competitive keywords and ranked them in Google’s top 10. That gave us something credible to trade.
• Second, those ranking listicles generated inbound requests for listicle exchanges from other sites looking for high-authority inclusion opportunities.
• Third, we ran proactive outreach to other publishers offering a listicle exchange. Because our own listicles were already ranking highly, those publishers had a clear reason to collaborate.

The case study makes one thing clear: having your own ranked listicles isn’t just a content play. It’s outreach leverage. Publishers are far more open to including you when you can return the value.

Listicle Outreach Email Template

Here’s the email template we used to secure 18 listicle placements:

Initial email

Subject line: Inclusion in your [listicle name] roundup

Hi [First Name],

I came across your roundup of the best [topic] here, and I think our [company / product / tool] can be a great fit.

We focus on helping [your target audience] scale through [your expertise]. You can check out our client results here [add link to case studies].

If helpful, I can provide a short write-up that matches the format of your roundup, along with other details you may need.

In return, I’d also be happy to feature [the prospect’s brand name] in our [your listicle]. It’s currently ranking on Google and AI answers, so inclusion would give you instant visibility.

Let me know if you’re interested!

Best regards,

Sean

Follow-up email (if no reply)

Hi [First Name],

I wanted to follow up on my previous email about including my [company / product / tool] in your [listicle name] roundup.

To make it easier for you, I’ll provide a short write-up that matches your format.

In return, I’ll also feature your brand in either our existing listicle (currently ranking #2 in Google) or our upcoming guest post for [partner site].

Do you think it’s something you’d be open to?

Best regards,

Sean

Get Featured in Listicles That Matter

LLMs love citing listicles, especially for commercial queries where users are comparing options. 

According to Wix, listicles are cited in 40.9% of commercial queries in AI Mode, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.

That’s why getting included in the right listicles can instantly improve your visibility in AI search.

But if you don’t have the experience, connections, or time to consistently land those placements, the process can quickly become overwhelming.

That’s where Position Digital’s listicle link building services come in.

We have the team, expertise, and tools to consistently land placements in listicles that Google ranks, LLMs cite, and your target audience consumes.

Contact us today and let’s set up a quick meeting to discuss your needs!

FAQs About Listicle Outreach