How to Get Your Business Featured on CNN

You want your brand on CNN, and you have probably already discovered the problem: half the internet claims to sell it, and most of what they are selling does not exist. This page is the complete, honest answer. It explains what a business can actually buy on CNN, what the finished piece looks like, who CNN approves and who it turns away, how a campaign runs step by step, what decides the price, and how to tell a real CNN offer from a fake one before you pay anyone anything. If your product qualifies, the booking route runs through us, and the email that starts it is at the end. If your product does not qualify, this page tells you that too, plainly, before you spend time or money chasing it.

The short answer: what you can actually buy on CNN

A business can buy a sponsored article on CNN. The real product is a sponsored article in CNN Underscored, CNN's commerce section, booked through CNN's own commerce operation. We handle that booking for the brands we work with, which is why this page can describe the product in the detail it does.

One boundary matters more than everything else on this page, so it goes first: CNN news coverage is not for sale. Not at any price, not through any agency, not through us. What is for sale is a clearly labelled sponsored article in the commerce section, written by CNN's commerce team, carrying a disclosure that names your brand as the sponsor. Anyone who blurs that line for you is setting you up, and the scam section below shows you exactly how those offers are built.

So the honest answer to "can I get featured on CNN" is: yes, in one specific format, if your business qualifies, through a defined booking process. The rest of this page is that format, that process, and those qualifications, with nothing held back.

Picture the finished piece: your brand on a CNN page

Start with what you end up owning. A dedicated article page on CNN, about your product, written in CNN Underscored's own style. During its launch, CNN promotes the article across its digital properties, and the first audience arrives. After the promotion ends, the page does not come down. It stays live on CNN, indefinitely, a permanent page with your brand's name in its headline and its sponsorship line.

Now picture what brands actually do with that page. They send the link to the retail buyer who is deciding whether to stock them. They put it in the investor deck, where "As Featured On CNN" does in one line what three slides of traction claims cannot. They add the CNN name to their site's press row and their product packaging, where it quietly answers the question every new customer asks before buying: is this brand real? A CNN page is not bought for a weekend of clicks. It is bought because the name settles doubt, permanently, everywhere the link is shown.

Why the CNN name carries the weight it does

CNN is one of the most visited news sites in the world. In our outlet directory, CNN records 289.2 million monthly visits and a Domain Authority of 95. We state those figures because they are the directory's, and because they are enough. You will find seller pages claiming CNN traffic figures far beyond any directory's data, sometimes double. Inflated numbers are a sales technique, not a fact, and a seller who inflates the easy numbers will inflate the hard ones too.

The deeper reason the name works is habit. CNN is where a huge share of the English speaking world checks what is happening, and its commerce section, Underscored, is where its audience goes to decide what to buy. A sponsored article there borrows both: the authority of the news name and the buying intent of the shopping audience. That combination is why this format exists, and why it is priced as a premium product rather than a commodity post.

What a CNN sponsored article actually looks like

This is the anatomy no competitor publishes, because most of them have never seen the real product.

The article is 500 to 600 words, published in CNN Underscored in a dedicated sponsored template. CNN's commerce writers write it, from your brand's talking points. You do not submit a finished article and you do not write it yourself. You supply the facts, the claims you can stand behind, and the product details; CNN's team turns that into the article, and you review and approve the draft before anything runs.

The disclosure sits at the top of the page, in the open: "Sponsored by [your brand]. When you make a purchase, CNN receives commission. CNN news staff is not involved." Every reader knows it is a paid piece, and CNN states its own independence in the same breath. That transparency is the product's foundation.

Links inside the article are nofollow and run through CNN's affiliate tracking setup. There is no dofollow editorial link in this product, for anyone, at any level. The article is not placed in CNN's news navigation and does not appear as news coverage. It is found through the promotion that launches it, through its direct link, and through search, where CNN pages are indexed and surface on brand and product searches.

What the format will not contain is also fixed: no first person product reviews, no "best" claims, no comparisons against your competitors. CNN's commerce team writes a sponsored feature about your product, in their format, under their rules.

Before you pay anyone: how to tell a real CNN offer from a fake one

Because CNN is the name every brand wants, it is also the name every scammer rents. Run these three tests on any CNN offer, including ours.

The domain test. Real CNN is cnn.com. Offers that deliver your article on lookalike domains with CNN in the name are delivering nothing. If the sample link they show you is not on cnn.com, the conversation is over.

The product test. CNN does not sell dofollow guest posts. Its own commerce media kit describes the sponsored article product set out above: commerce team writers, talking points, a sponsorship disclosure, affiliate tracked nofollow links. Any offer of a "dofollow guest post on CNN" is describing a product that does not exist, no matter how professional the pitch sounds.

The metrics test. Check the numbers a seller quotes against published directory data. Our directory records CNN at 289.2 million monthly visits and Domain Authority 95. A seller claiming figures wildly above that is telling you, in advance, how carefully they treat the truth.

A real route survives all three tests and answers detailed questions about format, eligibility and process without going vague. That is the standard this page holds itself to, and it is the standard to hold every other seller to.

Who CNN approves, and who it turns away

Eligibility comes before selling, because CNN's is strict and there is no route around it.

CNN approves: physical products sold online, and online tools or apps that anyone in the United States can use. A financial tool, a home product, a piece of consumer technology, a wellness product that is not in an excluded category: these are the shapes of brands that run in this format. The advertiser also needs to be set up as a CNN affiliate partner, and to carry an adequate public facing reputation. CNN is protecting its own name, and it checks.

CNN does not approve: local services. Doctors, law firms, clinics and other private practices are not approved for this format, however good the business is. The format is built for products and tools a national audience can buy or use, not for a practice that serves one city.

Excluded categories include CBD, supplements, sexual wellness and tobacco, among the categories CNN does not take in sponsored commerce content.

If your business falls on the wrong side of this section, we will tell you so and point you to what fits instead. Our guide to which news outlets accept sponsored content covers the routes that remain open, and for many service businesses a major market news outlet like PIX11 is the right stage. Taking money for a booking CNN would refuse helps nobody, least of all the brand.

How a CNN campaign runs, step by step

Step 1: Email us. Write to uzairasad@pressfeature.org with your product, your website, and where you sell it. We check your product against CNN's eligibility rules first, before anything is quoted. If it does not qualify, you get a plain no, the reason, and the outlets that would fit.

Step 2: Your individual quote. If you qualify, you receive your quote by email. What decides it is covered in the next section; there is no public price, for reasons that section explains.

Step 3: Talking points. You supply the talking points: the product facts, the claims you can prove, the details that matter. CNN's commerce team writes the article from them.

Step 4: Draft approval. You review the draft CNN produces and approve it before anything runs. Nothing goes live in your brand's name without your sign off.

Step 5: Scheduled launch. Campaigns launch on scheduled start dates, typically around two weeks out once the draft is approved. Your exact date is confirmed with your booking.

Step 6: The promotion flight. CNN promotes the article across its digital properties, and the launch audience arrives: readers who meet your brand on a CNN page, in CNN's own environment.

Step 7: The page stays. The flight ends; the article does not. Your CNN page remains live indefinitely, as a permanent link, a permanent proof asset, and a page searchers can still find on your brand and product names.

Your protection, stated before you pay anything: payment is in full in advance, and if the campaign does not go live, you receive a full refund, in writing.

What decides the price of a CNN article

You will not find a price for a CNN article on this page, and after this section you will understand why that absence is a good sign. The price of a CNN campaign is set per campaign, by the promotion level and flight that launch the article, by the scheduled timing, and by the campaign's structure, which can include an affiliate component alongside the placement fee, as CNN's commerce model allows. Two campaigns in the same month can legitimately carry different figures because they are not the same campaign.

Now the warning that saves brands real money: any page that publishes a cheap, fixed price for a CNN post is not describing CNN's product. Section five showed you the tests. A fixed bargain price fails the product test on its face, because the real product is a scheduled campaign with a writing team, an approval step and a promotion flight, not a post dropped onto a site for a flat fee.

Your quote works like this: eligibility first, then an individual figure by email, tied to your campaign's actual structure and dates. Our guide to how much a sponsored article costs explains the factor model behind quotes like this in full. What we promise here is narrower and stronger: a straight answer, and a plain no if CNN will not take your product.

What a CNN article will not do

CNN's own media kit states that campaign performance is not guaranteed, and we repeat that here rather than dressing it up. A CNN sponsored article will not make you news. It carries no newsroom endorsement, it is not a product review, and it will not carry "best" claims or competitor comparisons. It will not deliver a promised traffic number; most of its audience arrives during the promotion flight, and afterwards the page works the way a permanent asset works, as credibility and a live link, not as a tap you leave running.

What it does is the thing brands actually keep: a real CNN page about their product, written by CNN's commerce team, approved by them, live for good. In a market full of invented CNN offers, the real product's limits are not a weakness. They are how you know it is real.

How to start

If your product qualifies, the route from here is short. Email uzairasad@pressfeature.org with your product, your website, and where you sell it. We run the eligibility check first and come back with your individual quote, or a plain no with the reason and the outlets that fit instead. No form, no retainer, no obligation at the enquiry stage. Our services page covers the wider picture of what we arrange, but the CNN route itself begins with that one email.

Frequently asked questions

Can a small business really buy an article on CNN?

Yes, through the CNN Underscored sponsored article route, if the business qualifies. What is for sale is a clearly labelled commerce article written by CNN's commerce team. CNN news coverage is never for sale.

How much does a sponsored article on CNN cost?

There is no honest public price. The figure is set per campaign by the promotion flight, the timing and the campaign structure, and pages quoting a cheap fixed price are not selling CNN's real product. Your quote comes by email after a quick eligibility check.

Is it a CNN news article?

No. It is a disclosed sponsored article in CNN Underscored, and CNN's own disclosure on the page states that its news staff is not involved. That clarity is part of the product's legitimacy.

Who writes the article, and do I get to approve it?

CNN's commerce writers write it from your talking points, and you review and approve the draft before it runs.

Will I get a dofollow link from CNN?

No. Links in this product are nofollow and affiliate tracked. Any seller promising you a dofollow CNN guest post is describing a product CNN does not sell.

How long does the article stay on CNN?

Indefinitely. The promotion flight is time limited, but the article page itself stays live after the flight ends.

How long until my article goes live?

Campaigns launch on scheduled start dates, typically around two weeks out once your draft is approved. The exact date is confirmed with your booking.

Which businesses does CNN not approve?

Local services such as doctors, law firms and clinics are not approved for this format, and categories including CBD, supplements, sexual wellness and tobacco are excluded. Eligible brands are products sold online and online tools or apps, with a solid public reputation.

Disclosure: PressFeature arranges sponsored article bookings on CNN for qualifying brands, and this page is our own marketing content, published to explain the product and its limits honestly. Figures cited are from our public outlet directory. Published November 2026. Last reviewed: November 2026.