How to get featured in Business Insider: pitching, contributor pieces, essays, lists, BI Studios and a feature arranged through Blue Leopard Media

The short answer

To get featured in Business Insider, you either earn coverage or pay for a labelled feature. Earning it means pitching a story to a reporter who covers your field, proposing a contributor piece or a first-person essay, or being nominated for one of its lists. None of that costs anything, and none of it is guaranteed. Paying means a branded content campaign with BI Studios, which is built for large advertisers, or a sponsored feature arranged through an agency such as Blue Leopard Media.

Our business publicity service is where Business Insider features sit: tell us what you want to announce and we come back with a written quote. If a fixed price matters more than the name of the outlet, features on the publications in our standard packages start at $249 and go live within 24 hours of your approval.

First, know which kind of Business Insider page you mean

Business Insider began in 2007 as Silicon Alley Insider and took its current name two years later, according to its About page, which also says it is a subsidiary of the German publisher Axel Springer SE. Wikipedia notes that the brand was called Insider from February 2021 to November 2023 and that it won its first Pulitzer Prize in 2022. It publishes international editions, including Germany and Austria, Spain, Japan, Poland and Taiwan, and runs Markets Insider, a markets data site.

"Featured in Business Insider" can therefore describe very different pages:

• A staff story. A Business Insider reporter chose to write about you or quote you.
• A contributor piece or first-person essay. You wrote it, or told it, and an editor accepted and edited it. It is editorial, but it is your voice.
• A list. Editors and reporters chose you from nominations and their own reporting.
• Sponsored content. A company paid for it, and Business Insider's code of ethics says sponsored content must always be clearly identified. The example we checked, a hiring series made with a jobs platform, ran on a separate sponsored-content address (sc.businessinsider.com).
• A press release on Markets Insider. Wire-distributed releases appear in its news feed with the wire service named in the dateline. They are announcements, not features.
• An international edition. A separate publication with its own editors and audience.

Wikipedia's editors also draw distinctions. Its list of perennial sources records no consensus on Business Insider's overall reliability, rates its culture coverage as generally reliable, and treats content disclosed as AI-generated as generally unreliable. Decide which kind of page you are after before you spend time or money.

Route 1: pitch a Business Insider reporter

This route costs nothing and carries the lowest odds. Business Insider covers business, technology and innovation as its centre of gravity, with sections from strategy and finance to careers, small business, AI and startups. Reporters cover beats, so the question is not "how do I get into Business Insider?" but "what do I know or have that a reporter on this beat needs this month?"

Find the right person

Search the site for your topic and read the last ten stories by each reporter who covers it. Business Insider says many reporters put their contact details at the bottom of their stories or on their author pages, and it publishes a general newsroom address for tips, newstips@businessinsider.com. A targeted email to the right reporter usually beats a general inbox, but for real news the tips address exists for that purpose.

What journalists say they want

Muck Rack's State of Journalism 2026 surveyed nearly 1,100 journalists. As summarised by the University of Minnesota's communications team:

• 86% said at least some of their work began with a PR pitch.
• 43% said it was rare to get pitches relevant to their beat.
• They valued clear relevance to their beat (70%), access to the right people for interview (58%), original data or research (40%) and high-resolution images (37%).
• 62% preferred a one-to-one email, 69% preferred pitches under 200 words, and 78% preferred them before noon.

Business Insider's coverage leans on data, money and careers, so lead with a number nobody else has, a trend you can prove, or a person with a story and the documents to back it. Write under 200 words, send it to one reporter, follow up once, and offer it first. Business Insider's ethics code also forbids its journalists from offering payment or coverage in exchange for access, so a pitch should stand on the story alone.

Route 2: write a contributor piece

Business Insider's "Writing for Business Insider" page says there are two main ways in from outside: as a contributor or as a freelance writer. Contributors are described as often high-profile experts and thought leaders: C-suite executives, former executives, professors, investors, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, attorneys, consultants and authors. It wants submissions with unique, thoughtful analysis, engaging commentary and authoritative advice.

The rules are clear and worth taking literally:

• Contributor articles must be original and exclusive to Business Insider.
• It does not accept promotional or sponsored contributor posts, and you should always disclose any conflicts of interest.
• Writers sign a contract when an assignment is accepted, and should expect editing and fact-checking, including requests for documents, records, screenshots or emails to verify facts.
• It may ask for a headshot, a bio and proof of your credentials, and it makes all final decisions on headlines.

The same page names the editor to contact for contributor pieces, including business leaders and experts "looking to place an article". Pitch one argument that fits a section you read regularly, show why you are qualified to make it, and leave your product out. It is a platform for your ideas rather than a story about your company.

Route 3: pitch a first-person essay or an as-told-to story

Business Insider publishes a large number of first-person stories about work, careers, money and life. Its writing guide says it welcomes pitches told either as a personal essay or in as-told-to style, along with reported profiles, trend stories and visual features. It looks for candour, detail, advice, regrets and lessons learned about work, career, ambition, burnout, productivity, money and more. It points freelancers who write about lifestyle, travel, parenting or health to a separate guide.

For a founder, the strongest essays are about a decision, not a company: the pivot you resisted, the hire you got wrong, what you learned walking away from a market. In an as-told-to piece, you are interviewed and the story is written in your voice. Business Insider says freelance rates vary and are agreed with the editor, and that all pitches must be exclusive.

Use a Business Insider-style headline in your subject line, as the guide suggests, and be ready to prove what you say. Expect the editor to want documents for anything about money, employment or identity.

Route 4: get nominated for a list

Business Insider runs recurring lists, such as its Rising Stars series, and asks the public for nominations through forms published on the site. Each call sets its own criteria and deadline. The current one shows how they work:

• Rising Stars of Robotics (inaugural list). Nominations by a form until Friday 23 October 2026. Candidates can be based anywhere and do not need to be young, but should be emerging rather than established. Self-nominations are welcome. Reporters and editors review nominations alongside their own reporting, considering originality, individual contribution, real-world impact, influence and career trajectory. Business Insider says it cannot guarantee feedback on individual nominations.

The call mentions no fee. If you fit a list's criteria, a specific nomination with numbers and evidence of impact costs only your time, so nominate directly.

Route 5: branded content with BI Studios

BI Studios is Business Insider's branded content studio. Its advertising site describes branded documentary series, interactive experiences and multimedia campaigns for large advertisers, including a "custom thought leadership" programme for a global technology company. It is sold by Business Insider's commercial team, alongside display, video, newsletter and editorial sponsorship packages.

There is no public rate card. Treat it as an advertising budget: the case studies on its site are multi-format campaigns for global brands. Business Insider's code of ethics says its journalists must keep editorial independence when working with advertisers and that sponsored content must always be clearly identified in line with regulatory guidelines. It suits a brand that wants a campaign rather than a single article. Advertising enquiries go through the contact details on its contact page.

Getting featured through Blue Leopard Media

Business Insider is one of the leading outlets on the list of publications we work with. Our site's note for those outlets is short: "Priced per outlet." So a feature on Business Insider is quoted per outlet, and the price and terms are confirmed in writing before you pay.

What you get

• A feature about you or your company, written for you by our editorial team from your brief.
• Your approval of every word before anything goes live.
• A labelled, sponsored feature. Every feature published through Blue Leopard Media is sponsored content and labelled as such on the page. It is not staff news coverage, and it does not claim to be.
• A written quote first, setting out the format, the price, the turnaround and what is included for Business Insider, so you know exactly what you are buying before you pay.

Timing and the money-back assurance

Our fixed-price packages carry two promises: the feature is live within 24 hours of your approval of the final draft (business days), and if it is not, you get a full refund for that feature. Our homepage note for the leading outlets says they are priced per outlet and that the 24-hour promise does not extend to them, so for Business Insider the turnaround and terms are the ones in your written quote. Read them before you pay, and ask us anything that is unclear.

The fixed-price alternative

If a fixed price and a known date matter more than the outlet's name, our standard packages are the alternative. Start is $249 for one feature on one publication, with your official cover. Build authority is $499 for three features on three publications. Dominate your presence is $999 for eight features on eight publications. Each goes live within 24 hours of your approval, with the money-back assurance.

What your written quote should tell you

Whoever you buy a feature from, get these answers in writing before you pay. Ours come in the quote:

• The exact domain and section the feature will appear in.
• The format, and the label it will carry on the page, such as a sponsorship notice.
• Whether links are marked rel="sponsored" or rel="nofollow". Google's spam policies say paid articles with links that pass ranking credit break its rules unless the links are marked this way.
• The turnaround, and what happens if the feature is not published or is later removed.

Then describe the feature accurately when you share it. The FTC's guide to native advertising says an ad "shouldn't suggest or imply" that it is anything other than an ad. A sponsored feature described as a sponsored feature is still credible, and it keeps you on the right side of the rules.

The routes into Business Insider compared

How the options compare, if the aim is an article on Business Insider that people find when they search your company or your name:

Business Insider details are from its code of ethics, writing guides, advertising policies, contact page and BI Studios site. Blue Leopard Media terms are from our pricing page and refund policy.

If you have news or data, find the two or three reporters who cover your field and pitch them properly. If you have an original argument or a lesson, propose a contributor piece or an essay, and watch for list nominations that fit you. Our guide to getting featured in Entrepreneur covers the same choices for another outlet, and getting featured in a magazine compares every option. If you want a feature on Business Insider arranged for you, ask us for a quote and we will confirm the price, format and turnaround in writing. If a fixed price matters more, see PR pricing for features from $249, live within 24 hours of your approval, or contact us below.