How to get published on USA Today with a press release (2026 guide)

A page on usatoday.com is the most requested single placement we sell, and for a simple reason: it indexes fast, it ranks for the brand's own name within days, and "as featured in USA Today" is a line customers understand. It is also the placement with the strictest editorial screen, which is why most first drafts bounce. This guide explains how the section works, what gets rejected, and how to write a release that clears it on the first try.

What you are actually buying

USA Today runs a press-release section on its main domain. Releases are submitted through distribution partners, reviewed by an editorial screen, and published with a "Press Release" label. The page sits on usatoday.com, is indexed by Google, and carries the domain's authority (DA 92). Links in the body are nofollow. Our USA Today press release page shows the turnaround and, with a free account, the current price; ask us for a recent live sample.

Two things it is not: it is not a news story written by a USA Today reporter, and it is not a place for a sales page with a headline. Releases that read as advertising are the ones that get sent back.

What the editorial screen rejects

Across hundreds of submissions, the same five problems account for almost every rejection:

• Promotional descriptors in the headline — "Revolutionary", "Best-Selling", "#1". State the news, not the adjective.
• No named spokesperson. Every release needs a substantive quote attributed to a real person with a job title.
• Missing boilerplate. An "About [Company]" paragraph with the founding year and a one-sentence mission.
• Media contact without a person. A name, a title and a working email, formatted as a link.
• Health or financial claims. Cure, treatment and guaranteed-result language is rejected outright; comparisons implying competitors hide something are treated as promotional.

The full list is in our editorial guidelines. We check every draft against it before submission, so the rejection round happens with us, not with the outlet.

The structure that passes

The releases that clear screening first time share one shape. Use it as a template:

• Headline that names the company and the news: a launch, an availability announcement, a published label or spec, a partnership.
• Dateline and lead: "CITY, State, Month Day, Year — [Company] today announced…" with the one fact that makes it news.
• Two or three short sections describing the product or announcement factually: what it is, what it contains or does, where it is available.
• One quote from a named spokesperson that adds context rather than praise.
• Availability with a link to the official site, plus the disclaimers your category requires.
• About the company and a media contact block.

Keep it between 600 and 1,300 words. Longer releases are not rejected for length, but every extra paragraph is another chance to trip a screener rule.

Making it rank for your brand

Put the brand name in the headline and in most section headings, and write the headline the way people search: "[Brand] Reviews: [Company] Announces…" is a pattern that ranks for "[brand] reviews" searches without reading as an advertisement. Match the questions buyers ask in the body — what it is, what it contains, where it is sold, what the guarantee is — and the page becomes the answer Google shows for those queries.

Regulated categories

Supplements, CBD and financial products get extra scrutiny. For supplements the rules are specific enough that we wrote them up separately: see supplement press release distribution. Crypto is not accepted on USA Today at all; the directory shows which outlets take them.

Cost and timing

Market prices for a USA Today press release run from about $100 to $400 depending on the seller and whether writing is included; our cost benchmarks break that down. Turnaround is three to five business days after the final draft is approved. If you would rather not write it yourself, the writing add-on produces a draft to these rules, and you approve it before anything is submitted.

Checklist before you submit

• Headline states news, no promotional adjectives
• Dateline, lead sentence with company and announcement
• Named spokesperson with a job title and a substantive quote
• About paragraph with founding year and mission
• Media contact: name, title, email as a link
• Links only to the official domain
• Category disclaimers included; no cure, treatment or guaranteed-result claims

When all seven are true, the release is ready. Add USA Today to an order, upload the draft, and the live URL lands in your dashboard within the week.