How to Get Featured in Business Insider in 2026

Business Insider has three free routes in, and it describes all of them on its own pages: send a news tip or pitch the reporter on your beat, write a contributed article if you are an executive or expert, or pitch a first-person or as-told-to essay about your experience. The last one is often the easiest for founders. Here are the steps for each, as of 23 September 2026.

Which route fits you

Business Insider's "How to write for Business Insider" page names the current editor for each kind of submission and topic. Check it for names before you pitch, because an old guide may list someone who has moved on.

As-told-to essays: step by step

In an as-told-to essay, you tell your story in an interview and a Business Insider writer turns it into a first-person article under your name, with an "as told to" credit. You do not need to be a writer. Business Insider's writing page lists editors for these pieces by topic, including careers, small business and entrepreneurship, and AI, tech and the economy; the Life section has its own guide and editor.

1. Read five recent as-told-to pieces in your area. Search Google for site:businessinsider.com "as told to" "your topic", for example site:businessinsider.com "as told to" "small business owner". Notice how specific they are: a decision, a number, a consequence.
2. Find your angle. One experience, not your whole career: why you quit, what went wrong in year one, the price you charge and why, what you would do differently.
3. Gather proof. Business Insider says it asks for documents to support claims, so have revenue figures, dates and records ready.
4. Pitch the editor for your topic using the template below.
5. Follow up once after a week if you hear nothing.

Business Insider says freelance rates vary and that everyone who writes for it signs a contract.

An as-told-to pitch template

Subject: As-told-to pitch: [the story in one line, e.g. "I left [job] to start a [business]; year one cost me [what]"]

Hi [Name],

I'm [name], [age if relevant], founder of [Company] in [city]. [Two sentences: what happened, and the moment that made it a story.]

The details readers would want: [the numbers: savings spent, revenue, customers, hours]. [What you learned, in one sentence.]

I can share documents for all of it, and I'm free for an interview [days].

Thanks,
[Name, phone]

News tips and reporters

1. Find the reporter: search site:businessinsider.com "your category", set Tools to the past year, and note the byline that keeps appearing.
2. Get their details: Business Insider's secure tips page says you can contact reporters through the details on their articles and author pages; many reporter bios also list Signal or WhatsApp.
3. Send the news briefly: news in the subject line, the facts in a few sentences (who, what, how much, why now), and who is available to talk. Offer it before it is public.
4. No reporter? Use [email protected].

Our media pitching playbook covers the structure line by line.

Contributed articles

Business Insider's writing page describes contributors as C-suite executives, former executives, professors, investors, venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, and says contributed articles must be original and exclusive to Business Insider. Pitch one specific argument or lesson backed by experience only you have, such as what you learned hiring your first ten people or pricing through a downturn. The page says it does not accept promotional or sponsored posts and that you should always disclose conflicts of interest.

What Business Insider will not do

• Its code of ethics says Business Insider "does not accept remuneration from the subjects of its news articles."
• Its writing guide says it does not accept promotional or sponsored posts.
• The Life section's guide says writers may not accept freebies.

Firms selling a "guaranteed" Business Insider feature held two of the top ten Google results for this question on 23 September 2026. We have not bought from them and do not judge what they deliver, but a placement that relies on someone taking money for editorial coverage runs against all three rules above.

Sponsored content

Business Insider's own pages give two answers. Its code of ethics says it does produce co-sponsored promotional content, clearly identified; the Life section's guide says Business Insider does not publish sponsored content. The likely reading is that sponsored content is a labelled advertising product kept out of editorial sections, but we could not confirm that from the pages. If you want paid visibility, use the advertising contact on Business Insider's contact page and treat what it sells as advertising.

Before you pitch

An editor considering your pitch will search for you. Mentions on the trade blogs and niche publications your customers read make you look like someone worth writing about, and they are much easier to get. That layer is what MentionAgent automates: finding the sites, pitching the person behind each one and handling the replies. In MentionAgent's records, 37% of human replies to those pitches were a yes or a negotiation, and 18% named a price; Business Insider will never do the second, which is one reason its coverage is worth the effort.

For other outlets, see TechCrunch, Forbes, Inc. and Entrepreneur, or the overview, how to get featured in the news. How to get mentioned by ChatGPT covers why press and niche mentions now feed AI answers too.

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