YESEO: What People are Saying

Ryan Restivo at the Online Journalism Awards in Atlanta, GARyan Restivo works to tell the story of YESEO, the free Slack app he built through the Reynolds Journalism Institute fellowship.

He has appeared at conferences, gives virtual, in-person talks and trainings for newsrooms. YESEO has been installed by over 500 workspaces, being available in the Slack App Directory since June 2023 and has aided nearly 13,000 stories from its users since launch in March 2023.

Ryan has been quoted in articles, appeared on podcasts and in newsletters, all of which can be seen at YESEO.app/press.

“Ryan has built a free, easy to use, Slack based tool for newsrooms and journalists (that functions in over 11 languages!) to help them with their SEO. We are excited to continue to support Ryan to implement this tool in newsrooms across the country and see YESEO grow and benefit as many newsrooms as possible.”Kat Duncan - Reynolds Journalism Institute Director of Innovation


“Ryan has done an awesome job asking for and responding to feedback about YESEO. He offered to do a virtual training for our whole newsroom, which we jumped on and was very successful. We've spent a lot of time as an organization talking about writing better headlines but our small audience team isn't always able to help with the headlines on every single story. Reporters and editors were excited to have a tool to help them write better headlines themselves. Now they don't have to wait for an audience team member to get back to them and the audience team can help with the tricker situations and other tasks.”Kyle Hansen - Managing Editor, Audience and Multimedia at The Salt Lake Tribune

“I had the opportunity to collaborate with Ryan when YESEO accepted into the Online News Association's 2023 Start-Up Alley, a competitive program that introduces new ventures to the digital media community. He was also a fantastic addition to an AI tools showcase, where he shared YESEO's thoughtful solution to a challenge journalists face in their busy day-to-day work. I can't wait to see how this start-up continues to grow and look forward to my next opportunity to work with Ryan!”Hanaa Rifey, Head of Strategic Partnerships at the Online News Association

“I'm always looking for guest speakers for the LMA Digital Club, and when I heard about Ryan Restivo's YESEO app, I knew it would be a great topic for club members, most of whom are mid to senior-level leaders and family-owned newspapers and small broadcast groups. SEO has been one of the most important topics for the group, and Ryan provided an excellent overview of the tool. The demo Ryan provided was helpful in showing people exactly how to use it! I think some of them were trying it while on the call! Ryan cares deeply about journalism and understands the grueling pace newsrooms operate in. This tool (still amazingly free) is a great resource that all newsrooms should take advantage of!”Penny Riordan, Director of Business Strategy & Partnerships at the Local Media Association

YESEO is a 2024 Online Journalism Awards finalist for Excellence in AI Innovation

YESEO a 2024 finalist in OJA Excellence in AI Innovation

“It's been a pleasure working with Ryan Restivo. His knowledge and perspective on AI in journalism have been invaluable to me in my own work regarding the use of AI for local news. Ryan is generous with his time and always willing to provide feedback on my work. His input and expertise have helped to enrich my own understanding and implementation of AI tools and technology in the field. His ability to explain complex concepts in a clear and accessible manner is refreshing, and he is very easy to work with.”Joe Amditis, Assistant Director for Products and Events at the Center for Cooperative Media

“Ryan Restivo, as a speaker at the 2023 MobileMe&You Conference, showcased the YESEO app developed during his Reynolds Journalism Institute fellowship. His presentation highlighted how the free tool leverages technology to support local journalism and how what he learned from the industry on SEO best practices is reflected in the tool. He is a pleasant, organized, comfortable and easy speaker who presents practical tools and solutions to his audience. I look forward to working with him again.”Gary Kebbel, Journalism Professor Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Founder of the MobileMe&You Conference