Where to Submit an Op-Ed in 2026: Which of the 30 Most-Cited Publications Take Outside Opinion
Which publications accept op-ed submissions, checked against the 30 publications AI engines cite most in the Machine Relations Index: who takes outside opinion free, who charges, and who takes none.
Only 4 of the 10 publications AI engines cite most invite outside writers without a fee, and the most cited of all, Forbes, sells its route in as a paid membership. We checked each of the 30 most-cited editorial publications in the Machine Relations Index against its own submission pages. For 26 of them we have a dated read of what the outlet says about outside opinion; for four we have none yet. Of those 26, 11 invite unsolicited outside opinion or expert articles without a fee, one sells access, 3 are invitation or application only, and 11 have no public route or have closed it.
The Index records which domains AI engines cite in their answers to its monitored questions. In the release of November 7, 2026 (175 collection days, 37,140 monitored answer runs), the table below ranks the 30 publications cited in the most runs. Each row adds what that publication's own pages say about outside opinion, as read between October 6 and October 12, 2026.
Key Takeaways
- Cited most does not mean open. Among the 10 most-cited publications, 4 invite outside writers free (TechRadar, TechTarget, The New York Times, People Managing People), Forbes is paid, 2 are invitation or application only, and 3 show no route.
- Forbes sells the door. Forbes Councils is a fee-based, vetted membership, and the Forbes pages we read show no open application to its regular contributor network.
- The open doors are mostly trade and business titles. TechRadar Pro, TechTarget, People Managing People, Business Insider, Fortune, The Wall Street Journal and U.S. News all invite outside writers. Axios, TechCrunch, PCMag, Healthline and NerdWallet do not.
- A byline is not a citation. The Index records the cited domain, not whether the cited page was an opinion piece, a staff story or a press release, so none of this says an op-ed is what engines cited.
- Exclusivity is the common cost. The Times, the Journal, USA Today, Business Insider and TechRadar Pro each ask that a piece be exclusive to them.
The 30 most-cited publications and their outside-opinion routes
"Open" means the outlet's own page invites unsolicited outside opinion or expert articles and states no fee. It does not mean the outlet will accept a piece; none of these pages publishes an acceptance rate. Rank is the Index's rank among classified editorial publications. Runs citing it are out of the monitored answer runs in the window, and one run can cite several publications, so the counts are not additive.
| Rank | Publication | Runs citing it | Engines (of 6) | Outside-opinion route | What its own pages say |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Forbes | 1,254 | 6 | Paid membership | Forbes Councils is a fee-based, vetted membership. No official page found that invites applications to the regular contributor network. Guide. |
| 2 | TechRadar | 1,028 | 6 | Open | TechRadar Pro Perspectives takes contributed analysis and opinion from industry experts; exclusive to TechRadar Pro. |
| 3 | Yahoo News | 698 | 5 | Invitation or application only | Yahoo Creators is for established lifestyle writers. No news op-ed route found. |
| 4 | Healthline | 582 | 6 | None found | States no route for pitching stories or contributing articles. |
| 5 | NerdWallet | 508 | 6 | None found | Publishes no op-ed, guest-post or contributor process. |
| 6 | TechTarget | 426 | 6 | Open | "Write for us" invites outside experts: opinion, tips, how-to and technical articles. |
| 7 | The New York Times | 385 | 3 | Open | Guest essays; exclusive to the Times and fact-checked. Guide. |
| 8 | CNBC | 320 | 6 | Invitation or application only | Its Help page says guest writers are invited and unsolicited materials are not accepted; a "Join the Conversation" form lets market professionals request an invitation. Guide. |
| 9 | Tom's Guide | 320 | 4 | None found | One freelance-pitch address; no opinion route found. |
| 10 | People Managing People | 297 | 6 | Open | Open call for opinionated articles from Director-level and above leaders, by form. |
| 11 | PCMag | 286 | 4 | None found | States it does not accept unsolicited content submissions. |
| 12 | WebMD | 233 | 6 | None found | News-tip and press contacts only. |
| 13 | Good Housekeeping | 217 | 3 | Not yet checked | No access check on file. |
| 14 | Kiplinger | 215 | 5 | Invitation or application only | Adviser Intel is a curated network; no open submission process. |
| 15 | Business Insider | 213 | 5 | Open | Takes pitches from outside contributors; exclusive; no promotional posts. |
| 16 | CNET | 208 | 4 | None found | No op-ed or guest-contributor path found. |
| 17 | Expert Insights | 203 | 6 | Not yet checked | No access check on file. |
| 18 | Axios | 180 | 6 | None found | No opinion section. |
| 19 | TechCrunch | 177 | 5 | Closed | Contact page says it does not accept pitches or guest post submissions. Guide. |
| 20 | TechRepublic | 173 | 6 | None found | No open contributor program; its only write-for-us page is an archive. |
| 21 | EverydayHealth.com | 165 | 4 | Not yet checked | No access check on file. |
| 22 | U.S. News & World Report | 165 | 4 | Open | Ideas & Opinions invites outside commentary; length and response policy not stated. |
| 23 | Fortune | 161 | 5 | Open | Commentary: pitch the commentary editor in under 500 words. The only guidance found is dated 2021. Guide. |
| 24 | IT Pro | 153 | 4 | None found | No open contributor program or byline application. |
| 25 | Tech Insider | 152 | 6 | Open | Open write-for-us for credentialed practitioners, with a high bar for original data. |
| 26 | Consumer Reports | 149 | 5 | Not yet checked | No access check on file. |
| 27 | The Wall Street Journal | 136 | 5 | Open | Exclusive to the Journal; a short, jargon-free argument about an issue in the news. Guide. |
| 28 | AIMultiple | 133 | 5 | None found | Research is written by its own staff. |
| 29 | Fierce Healthcare | 126 | 6 | Open | Industry Voices guest column; current guidelines not found, contact may be out of date. |
| 30 | SelectSoftware Reviews | 119 | 6 | Open | HR and HR-tech experts pitch through the editorial team. |
Source: the Machine Relations Index release of November 7, 2026, published by Machine Relations Research, a Bramwell company. AuthorityTech is a related party. Routes come from each outlet's own pages, linked from its publication profile and checked between October 6 and October 12, 2026; a page can change after that date. Four publications in the top 30 (Good Housekeeping, Expert Insights, EverydayHealth.com and Consumer Reports) have no access check on file yet, and the classification (open, paid, invitation, none found, closed) is our reading of each outlet's wording.
What the table says about where an op-ed can reach AI answers
The engines cite many outlets that cannot be pitched. Healthline, NerdWallet, Tom's Guide, PCMag, WebMD, CNET, Axios, TechRepublic, IT Pro and AIMultiple together fill 10 of the top 30 places and show no outside-opinion route on their own pages. TechCrunch, at 19, states on its contact page that it does not accept pitches or guest post submissions. For these outlets the way in is a reporter's story, a product review or a list, not an essay.
The open outlets sit mostly in business, technology and workplace categories. TechRadar Pro Perspectives, TechTarget, People Managing People, Business Insider, Tech Insider and SelectSoftware Reviews take contributed articles from practitioners. The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, U.S. News and The New York Times run opinion sections that accept outside voices. Check the category before you write: the publication profiles show which question shapes and industries each outlet is cited on, and they are narrower than the totals above.
The New York Times is open and narrow. On the same release, 351 of the Times's 385 citing runs came from Perplexity, and ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini never cited it. Our guest essay guide has the form, the length and the fact-check rules.
Two entries rest on thin guidance. Fortune's only pitching guidance on its own pages is an article dated April 15, 2021, and Fierce Healthcare's Industry Voices instructions come from a 2019 editor's post with no current guidelines page. Treat both as open in principle and confirm the contact before you write.
How to choose where to send an op-ed
- Start with the question you want to be named on. An outlet's rank here is a total across every category the Index monitors. Open that outlet's profile and read the categories and question shapes where it is cited, then choose the outlet that is both open and cited on your buyers' questions.
- Match the route to the goal. A guest essay in the Times or the Journal buys credibility and reach with readers. A contributed article in TechRadar Pro, TechTarget or People Managing People appears in a trade title; read its profile for the question shapes it is cited on. Neither is a promise of a citation.
- Send to one outlet at a time. The Times, the Journal, USA Today, Business Insider and TechRadar Pro each ask for exclusivity. A simultaneous submission can disqualify the piece.
- Write the argument, not the product. The outlets that publish outside opinion say they want a defensible position with evidence. A company announcement is not a subject.
- Price a paid door as a purchase. Forbes Councils and similar memberships are fee-based and vetted. They can be worth buying; they are not the same thing as an editor accepting your essay.
- Measure the page, not the placement. After publication, record whether an engine cites the exact URL on your buyers' questions, separately from whether it cites the host.
What this does not show
The Index counts runs that cite a domain; it does not record which page on the domain was cited, why an engine cited it, or whether a placement changed the citation. The access reads are dated and are not acceptance rates. The four unchecked publications could be open or closed. And 30 publications are a slice: the Index classifies 1,358 editorial publications, and the long tail is where most outlets sit.
How AuthorityTech approaches this
AuthorityTech is The World's First Machine Relations Agency. For an op-ed or byline goal, the work is to find the argument an opinion editor would publish, choose the outlet by route and by what engines cite for your category, and check afterwards what the engines repeat. No agency can make an editor accept a piece or make an engine cite it.
See how AuthorityTech scopes earned media and Machine Relations measurement →
FAQ
Which publications accept op-ed submissions?
Among the 30 publications AI engines cite most, the pages we read invite unsolicited outside opinion or expert articles at TechRadar Pro, TechTarget, The New York Times, People Managing People, Business Insider, U.S. News, Fortune, Tech Insider, The Wall Street Journal, Fierce Healthcare and SelectSoftware Reviews. USA Today, TIME and NBC News also run op-ed sections, but they rank outside the top 30 on this release.
Does Forbes accept op-eds?
Not through any open route we found. The Forbes pages we read describe Forbes Councils, a fee-based and vetted membership whose posts appear on Forbes.com as Council posts, and show no open application to the regular contributor network. Read the live pages before you pay for anything.
Do op-eds get cited by AI engines?
The Index shows which domains engines cite, not which pages, so it cannot say. A placement in an outlet engines cite is not evidence that the placement caused a citation, and nothing in the Index tests that.
Should I send the same op-ed to several outlets?
No. The Times, the Journal, USA Today, Business Insider and TechRadar Pro each ask for an exclusive piece, and a simultaneous submission can disqualify it.
Is the Index independent of AuthorityTech?
No. The Machine Relations Index is published by Machine Relations Research, a Bramwell company, and AuthorityTech is a related party.