A Wikipedia article about a company or person is accepted only if the subject is notable, meaning it has received significant coverage in reliable, published sources that are independent of it. Articles must be neutral and fully referenced, and anyone paid to edit must disclose it under the Wikimedia Foundation’s Terms of Use. Paid or connected editors are expected to submit drafts for independent review rather than publish directly. A page can be declined or deleted at any stage, so the honest first step is checking whether independent coverage already exists.
What notability means on Wikipedia
The general notability guideline asks for significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the subject. Each part matters:
- Significant coverage: articles that discuss the subject in depth, not passing mentions, listings or quotes.
- Reliable: publications with editorial oversight and a reputation for accuracy, such as established newspapers, magazines, books and academic journals.
- Independent: not written, paid for or supplied by the subject. Press releases, sponsored articles, interviews based mainly on the subject’s own words and company websites usually do not count.
Companies face a stricter guideline for organisations, and people are assessed under the guideline for biographies. Funding announcements, awards from minor bodies and routine coverage rarely establish notability on their own.
Neutral point of view
An encyclopedia article summarises what independent sources say, including criticism, controversies and setbacks where these are covered. It cannot read like a brochure. Superlatives, mission statements, product lists and unsourced achievements are removed by editors. If you would not be comfortable with a neutral summary of all your coverage, an article may not serve your goals.
Conflict of interest and paid editing
- Disclosure is mandatory: the Terms of Use require anyone editing for pay to disclose their employer, client and affiliation, on their user page, the article talk page or in edit summaries.
- Connected people: founders, employees and agencies have a conflict of interest and are strongly discouraged from editing the article directly.
- The proper route: submit a draft through Articles for Creation for review by volunteer editors, and request later changes on the article’s talk page.
Undisclosed paid editing breaches the Terms of Use. Accounts involved can be blocked, and articles they created are often deleted.
How the review process works
- Notability check: gather the independent coverage and judge honestly whether it meets the guideline.
- Draft: write a short, neutral article where every claim is supported by a cited reliable publication.
- Disclosure: the editor declares any paid relationship before submitting.
- Submission: the draft enters the Articles for Creation queue, where waiting times vary and can be long.
- Outcome: a reviewer accepts it, or declines it with reasons. Declined drafts can be improved and resubmitted if better coverage exists.
After an article is published
Nobody owns an encyclopedia article, including its subject. Any editor can change it, add negative but well-sourced information or nominate it for deletion. Clearly promotional pages can be removed quickly under speedy deletion criteria, while others may be discussed at Articles for Deletion. To correct an error, post on the talk page with a reliable reference and a clear explanation, and let independent editors make the change.
Wikidata, knowledge panels and AI answers
Wikidata is a separate structured database run by the same foundation. It has its own notability rules and can hold basic facts with references. Search engines and AI assistants often draw on these projects when describing people and companies, which is why accuracy matters even where a full article is not possible.
Alternatives when a page is not yet possible
- Earn genuine coverage through newsworthy announcements, research and expert commentary.
- Publish a detailed, factual About page with Organization or Person structured data.
- Keep company and founder profiles consistent across trusted platforms.
- Revisit notability once independent, in-depth coverage has built up.
Warning signs when hiring help
- Promises that a page will be published or will stay up.
- Offers to edit without disclosure or through many anonymous accounts.
- Plans to create coverage on low-quality or paid sites just to cite it.
Related reading: Google knowledge panel support, reputation management and all PR and press release services.