Why Press Releases Get Rejected in India: Every Reason and Fix

Press releases in India get rejected for a small, predictable set of reasons: there is no actual news, the copy reads like an advertisement, the claims cannot be proved, the release exists to carry links, or the basics (dateline, contact, boilerplate) are missing. Portals reject on quality and policy, wires reject on risk, and journalists reject on relevance, so a release has to clear three different filters. This guide covers every reason, shows a before-and-after fix for each, and ends with a checklist you can run in five minutes before you submit.

Already have a draft? Paste it into our free press release checker for an instant score and a list of fixes.

Three gatekeepers, three different reasons to say no

An Indian announcement passes through up to three gatekeepers, each looking for something different. Knowing which one turned you down tells you what to fix.

Gatekeeper	What they are protecting	What rejection looks like	Typical fix
Press release portal or distribution site	The quality of its own pages and its standing with search engines	An email from the review desk, often with a reason; sometimes a refund	Rewrite copy, cut links, add facts and contact details
Wire or syndication partner	Legal and regulatory exposure, and the trust of the newsrooms it feeds	The release is held, sent back for changes, or dropped from syndication	Remove risky claims, confirm disclosure order, verify the issuer
Journalist or editor (PTI, ANI, IANS, ET, Mint, regional dailies)	Their readers’ time and their own credibility	Silence. Almost nobody replies to say no	Better targeting, a local angle, a spokesperson, a data point

The first two decide whether the release appears in public; the third decides whether anyone cares.

Portal and review-desk rejections

We review every release submitted to Concierge Press Wire before it goes live, and the same eight problems account for nearly all of the ones we send back. Other reputable portals look for much the same things, because a site full of thin, promotional releases loses readers and search visibility. Here are the eight, followed by four more that apply across the Indian market.

1. There is no news in it

This is the most frequent reason by a clear margin. “Our company exists”, “we offer excellent service” and “we have refreshed our website” are not announcements, because nothing happened on a particular day. A reviewer’s test is simple: could someone who has never heard of you read the headline and tell a friend what changed, and when?

Things that do count as news: a product or service launch, a funding round, an acquisition, a named partnership or MoU, a senior appointment, a licence or certification, an award from a recognised body, a new city or plant, a CSR programme with measurable scope, or original data you are publishing for the first time.

Before: “Shree Balaji Interiors is a trusted name in modular kitchens, known for quality and customer satisfaction.”

After: “Shree Balaji Interiors will open its first Ahmedabad showroom on 12 October, adding 40 jobs and extending its modular kitchen installation service to Gandhinagar.”

(Illustrative company.)

2. It is an advertisement dressed as a press release

Second-person copy (“you will love”), calls to action (“book your free demo today”), price lists, discount codes and phrases like “our passionate team” signal marketing, and a reviewer sees them in the first paragraph. A press release is written in the third person throughout, except inside quotation marks. It reports what happened; it does not ask the reader to do anything.

Before: “Looking for the best coaching in Kota? Join VidyaPath Academy today and get 20% off your first month!”

After: “VidyaPath Academy has added a weekend JEE batch at its Kota centre after enrolments for its weekday programme reached capacity in August.”

(Illustrative company.)

If you are unsure whether you need a release or a sponsored feature, our comparison of a press release versus a paid article explains which format suits promotional content.

3. Claims with nothing behind them

“Leading”, “India’s No. 1”, “world-class”, “revolutionary” and “best-in-class” appear in so many submissions that they now signal the opposite of what the writer intends: that there was no fact strong enough to state plainly. The same goes for unsourced market-size figures.

There is an Indian regulatory angle here too. The Advertising Standards Council of India’s code says that claims relating to matters of objectively ascertainable fact should be capable of substantiation. A release is not an advertisement, but a portal or wire that publishes an unsupported “No. 1” claim shares the embarrassment when a competitor complains, so reviewers strike them out.

Before: “India’s leading organic fertiliser brand has revolutionised farming.”

After: “The company says its organic fertiliser is now used on about 18,000 acres across Maharashtra and Karnataka, based on its own dealer sales data for FY2025-26.”

(Illustrative figures.)

Rule of thumb: delete every adjective you could not defend if a journalist rang and asked “says who?” Internal data is fine as long as you say it is yours and how it was measured.

4. It was written to carry a link

Reviewers spot this immediately: a thin announcement wrapped around three or four keyword-rich anchors (“best CA firm in Pune”, “cheap packers and movers Delhi”) pointing at commercial pages, sometimes on unrelated sites. Google’s own spam policies list “links with optimized anchor text in articles, guest posts, or press releases distributed on other sites” as an example of link spam, so no serious portal will publish them.

One link to your website is normal. A second is fine if it supports a specific fact, such as a report or a product page mentioned in the text. Anchor text should read like your company or product name, not a search query. Links to betting, adult or unrelated commercial sites are refused outright.

Before: “…providing the best digital marketing services in Jaipur and affordable SEO packages for small business website design…” (three anchors)

After: “More information is available at Rangoli Digital’s website.” (one branded anchor)

(Illustrative company.)

5. Unedited AI output

Using an AI tool to produce a first draft is not the problem. Submitting that draft untouched is. Unedited output has a texture reviewers recognise at a glance: paragraphs of identical length, openers such as “In an era of rapid digital transformation”, confident sentences with no names, dates or numbers in them, and a final paragraph that repeats the first. Google also describes mass-produced AI pages that add nothing for readers as scaled content abuse, which makes portals cautious.

Before: “In an era of rapid digital transformation, XYZ Solutions continues to empower businesses with innovative, cutting-edge solutions that drive growth.”

After: “XYZ Solutions has moved 62 Coimbatore textile units from paper job cards to its tablet-based tracking app since April, cutting the average order-status query from a phone call to a text message.”

(Illustrative company and figures.)

The fix is to put your real numbers, dates and names into the draft and delete every sentence that still reads fine without them.

6. The quote says nothing

“We are delighted to announce this milestone in our journey” will never be quoted by a reporter, and it wastes one of the five or six paragraphs a release has. A usable quote contains a decision, a number, a reason or an admission, in words a person would actually say out loud.

Before: “We are extremely excited and proud to partner with ABC Logistics. This is a great step forward,” said the CEO.

After: “We were turning down orders from Guwahati because our delivery times there were eight days. With a warehouse in the region, we expect that to fall to three,” said the company’s founder.

7. Missing the basics

Mechanical, easy to avoid and still very common:

• No dateline. The city and date belong at the start of the first paragraph, for example “Pune, 29 September 2026 –”.
• No boilerplate. Three or four factual sentences on what the company does, where it operates and since when. See our worked press release samples for Indian businesses for the standard layout.
• No named media contact, or only a generic inbox nobody checks.
• No usable image, or a logo on white where a photograph of the product, plant or people was needed.
• Wrong length. Under about 300 words usually means the detail is missing; over about 800 usually means padding.

8. It has already been published somewhere else

Pasting identical text into dozens of sites was once routine. Today it produces a trail of duplicate pages that add nothing, and review desks check. Publishing the release on your own blog first has the same effect: the portal becomes the copy, not the original.

If you want the release on your own site too, which is sensible, publish it there after distribution and link to the distributed version.

9. It falls into a restricted category

Most portals and wires in India publish their own lists of content they refuse or accept only with proof. Common examples: guaranteed investment returns or trading tips, crypto token sales, cure or treatment claims for medical conditions, online betting and gaming promotions, weight-loss “results”, and anything involving firearms or tobacco. If your business operates in one of these areas, expect to provide supporting documents (a registration number, a licence, a trial reference) and keep claims strictly factual.

10. The issuer cannot be verified

A release from “a leading startup” with a Gmail address, no working website and a phone number that does not match the company name will be held. Use a company-domain email, list a real spokesperson, and make sure the website and social profiles referenced actually exist.

11. Legal risk: other people’s names and logos

Naming a customer, a government department, an IIT or a large brand as a partner without their written approval is a fast route to rejection, and to a takedown request later. The same applies to attacking a named competitor. If a third party appears in your release, keep their confirmation email on file; for partnerships specifically, our guide on announcing an MoU or partnership in India covers the approvals to collect.

12. Language and formatting problems

Headlines in capital letters, emoji, a mix of Hindi and English within the same sentence, machine-translated regional text, and fonts pasted from a Word file all get flagged. If your audience reads Hindi, Marathi, Tamil or Gujarati, write a proper version in that language rather than translating line by line; our guide to press releases in Hindi and regional languages explains how.

Wire and syndication rejections

When a release travels beyond a single portal, through a syndication network or agency feed, the gatekeeper cares less about style and more about liability. Three issues come up repeatedly.

Price-sensitive news ahead of the stock exchange

If your company is listed on BSE or NSE, material information has to be disclosed to the exchanges under Regulation 30 of the SEBI Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements Regulations. For decisions taken at a board meeting, the outer limit is generally 30 minutes after the meeting closes. A careful wire will not carry results, a fundraise or an acquisition from a listed company until the exchange filing is public, and a release that beats the filing can create a real compliance problem for the company. Sequence it as filing first, press release second, and confirm the current timelines with your company secretary.

Embargo confusion

“Embargoed till 10 am” with no date, no time zone, or a release scheduled on the portal for a different time than the embargo line says. Fix the embargo line to “Embargoed until 10:00 IST, Tuesday 6 October 2026” and make sure the scheduled publish time matches.

Headline that promises more than the body delivers

“Company X to create 10,000 jobs” when the body says “up to 10,000 jobs over the next decade, subject to approvals” will be sent back. Headlines must be supportable by the first paragraph.

Journalist rejections: published but ignored

A release can clear every review desk and still produce no coverage. Newsroom rejection is usually silent, which is why it is so hard to diagnose. From the Indian newsroom side, these are the patterns that sink a release.

• Wrong beat. Sending a fintech funding release to a lifestyle reporter, or to a general newsdesk address, is the fastest route to the bin. Relevance to the journalist’s coverage area matters more than anything else in the email.
• No reason for their readers to care. A Rajkot manufacturer’s expansion is a story for Gujarat business pages and trade titles, not for a national political desk. Pick the audience first, then the outlet.
• Bad timing. Union Budget day (usually 1 February), quarterly results season, election counting days and the Diwali week crowd out small business news. Early in the week and before noon tends to work better than Friday evening.
• No spokesperson. If a reporter wants a two-minute call and nobody picks up, they move on.
• Heavy attachments and drive links. A 12 MB PDF, or a Google Drive folder that needs access permission, is rarely opened. Paste the text into the email body.
• Mass BCC emails. Reporters can tell when 400 people received the same message. A two-line personal note referring to their recent work helps more than any headline trick.

For outreach that fixes these problems, see our practical guide on how to get media coverage in India.

All rejection reasons at a glance

Reason	Who rejects	One-line fix
No news	Portal, journalist	State what happened, where and when in the headline
Advertising tone	Portal, journalist	Third person, no calls to action, no prices or offers
Unproven superlatives	Portal, wire	Replace adjectives with a sourced number
Link stuffing	Portal	One branded link, two at most
Unedited AI text	Portal, journalist	Add names, dates, figures; cut generic sentences
Empty quote	Portal, journalist	Quote a decision, reason or number
Missing basics	Portal	Dateline, boilerplate, named contact, real photo
Already published	Portal	Distribute first, republish on your site after
Restricted category	Portal, wire	Provide licences; keep claims factual
Unverifiable issuer	Portal, wire	Company email, working website, real spokesperson
Third-party names without consent	Portal, wire	Get written approval before naming partners
Formatting and language	Portal	Sentence case, plain text, proper regional versions
Ahead of exchange filing	Wire	File with BSE/NSE first
Wrong beat or timing	Journalist	Target by coverage area; avoid crowded news days

A worked example: one release, rewritten

Here is a typical rejected submission and the version that passed, based on an illustrative Surat company. Notice that the fix is mostly deletion plus three facts.

Rejected version

SURAT’S BEST SAREE MANUFACTURER LAUNCHES AMAZING NEW COLLECTION!!!

Are you looking for the finest sarees in India? Look no further! Kesar Silk Mills, the leading and most trusted saree brand, is thrilled to announce its revolutionary festive collection. Our passionate team has worked tirelessly to bring you world-class designs. Visit our best saree online shopping page and use code FESTIVE20 today!

“We are very excited,” said the owner.

Accepted version

Kesar Silk Mills Launches 120-Design Festive Range Woven on Its New Jacquard Looms

Surat, 29 September 2026 – Kesar Silk Mills, a Surat-based saree manufacturer, has launched a 120-design festive range, the first produced on the eight electronic jacquard looms it installed at its Sachin GIDC unit in July. The range will be sold through 300 retailers in Gujarat and Maharashtra and on the company’s website from 1 October.

“The new looms let us change a pattern in an hour instead of two days, so for the first time we could produce small runs of 50 sarees per design,” said Hetal Desai, director, Kesar Silk Mills.

(Illustrative company, people and figures.)

What changed: the headline states the event; capital letters and exclamation marks are gone; the second person, discount code and keyword anchor are removed; every claim is now a number a reader could check; the quote explains a decision. For more launch-specific structure, read our guide to writing a product launch press release.

Pre-submission checklist

Run this before every submission. Items 1 to 6 are the quick check; the rest cover wire and newsroom filters.

1. Does the headline say what happened, in plain words?
2. Does the first paragraph work as a complete story on its own (who, what, where, when, why)?
3. Is there at least one number a reader could verify?
4. Would a real person say the quote out loud?
5. Are there two links or fewer, with branded anchor text?
6. Is there a named contact with a monitored inbox and phone number?
7. Is it written in the third person, with no offers, prices or calls to action?
8. Have you removed every superlative you cannot source?
9. Does it have a dateline, a boilerplate and a real photograph with a caption?
10. Is it between roughly 300 and 800 words?
11. Is this the first place the text will appear?
12. Do you have written consent from every partner, client or institution named?
13. If you are listed, has the exchange filing gone out?
14. If embargoed, does the embargo line state date, time and IST, matching the scheduled time?
15. Do you know which journalists and outlets you will send it to, and why each one would care?

Fifteen yeses and a reputable portal will almost certainly publish it. If you are submitting for the first time, our step-by-step guide on how to submit a press release online walks through the form fields.

What to do after a rejection

Read the reason, if one is given, and fix that specific issue rather than rewriting from scratch. Resubmit to the same service rather than switching to an unreviewed site full of spam. If no reason is given, run the checklist above; nine times out of ten the answer is in the first five items. If a newsroom ignored you, send one short follow-up after a few days with something new, not the same release again.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most common reason press releases get rejected?

The absence of actual news. A release that describes the company or praises its service, without a specific event on a specific date, gives an editor nothing to publish.

Can I use AI to write my press release?

Yes, as a drafting aid. What gets rejected is unedited output: evenly sized paragraphs, generic openers and sentences with no names, dates or figures. Add real facts and cut anything that reads the same without them.

How many links can a press release include?

One link to your website is standard, and a second is acceptable if it supports a specific fact in the text. Several keyword-rich anchors pointing at commercial pages mark the release as link spam under Google’s policies, and reputable portals refuse it.

Do free submissions get reviewed as strictly as paid ones?

On reputable portals, yes. The editorial standard is usually the same; what paid plans change is speed, link type, images and how long the page stays live. Our guide to free press release distribution explains those differences.

Can I publish the same release on my own website?

Yes, but after distribution, not before. Publishing it first makes the portal version a duplicate and can get the submission refused as already published. Post it on your site afterwards and link to the distributed copy.

Why did my release publish but get no media coverage?

Publication and coverage are separate decisions. Journalists pick stories that fit their beat and their readers, usually from a personal email rather than a portal. Send it to a short list of reporters who cover your sector or city, with a local angle and an available spokesperson.

Does a listed company need to file with the exchange before issuing a release?

For material information, yes. SEBI’s LODR rules require disclosure to the stock exchanges within set time limits, and the exchange filing should go out first. Confirm the exact sequence for your announcement with your company secretary.

Before you hit submit

Every reason on this list is fixable, and most fixes take less time than waiting for a second review. If your release clears the checklist, it is ready. You can submit it to Concierge Press Wire; if our editors turn down a paid submission for a guidelines issue, you are told exactly why, so you can correct it rather than guess.