In 1996, she appeared on the cover of Vogue Italy three times in April, August and September. After signing with Elite Model Management, she then appeared on the covers of many fashion magazines, including Vogue, ELLE, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Harper's Bazaar, and Marie Claire. Benítez has also done advertising campaign work for Dolce & Gabbana, Macy's, Episode, I-N-C, J.Crew, Óscar de la Renta, Rena Lange, Nine West, Valentino, and Jones New York, and has modelled for Victoria's Secret. Benítez appeared in the 1999 Pirelli Calendar that featured "Women Through the Decades." She was photographed as a representative of the "groovy '70s."

She also appeared in Enrique Iglesias' music video "Love to See You Cry" in 2002. Benítez was also selected to be on the cover of the 2001 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She has appeared in the Swimsuit Edition five times since her debut in the magazine. In the 2004 issue, Sports Illustrated reported Benítez's story of nearly boarding the doomed TWA Flight 800–a Boeing 747 that exploded over the Atlantic soon after takeoff. She was crying on the phone to her husband and said, "I feel something is going to happen on the flight." Her husband told her not to worry, but she continued to cry. She changed her ticket and took off ten minutes after TWA Flight 800. "It made me appreciate so much that just being alive is a gift."