Can You Create a Wikipedia Page for Your Company?
Wikipedia has served internet users for over 20 years as the go-to digital encyclopedia. The website has become ubiquitous, an essential resource for information about individuals, companies, TV shows, and so much more.
When searching for a specific person or organization, a Wikipedia article will rank within the top three search results on Google. In fact, there’s a 99% chance that if there is a Wikipedia article for what you’re searching for, it will appear on the first page of Google’s results.
As you can see below, even for somebody as high profile as Bill Gates, his Wikipedia article is the number one ranked article on Google when searching his name.
For business owners, If your company does not have a Wikipedia page, it might be tempting to make an account on the site and create your own article. Before attempting this, there are a few questions that come to mind such as: Can you actually create an article for your own business? And, are employees allowed to make an article if they have a clear conflict of interest? Let’s dive into what we recommend.
Can You Create a Wikipedia Page for Your Business?
Individuals are allowed to create Wikipedia pages if they follow the correct procedures. However, you should be aware of Wikipedia’s guidelines when it comes to putting information into the article. Most importantly, you should completely avoid advertorial and promotional content.
This is because Wikipedia is an open-source, community-driven encyclopedia. It’s a non-biased resource and due to the nature of the website and its clear goals, biased content is in direct violation of its guidelines and will ultimately be removed.
On Wikipedia, it is strongly discouraged for users to edit or create an article for a business you are involved with or are the owner of as it’s essentially impossible to be objective about the content of the page.
However, there is a way to publish a page, by following the site's guidelines and Wikimedia Foundation Terms of Use.
How To Create a Wikipedia Article Following the Guidelines
If you have a Conflict of Interest (COI) and you intend to create a page, you absolutely must follow the Wikimedia Foundation Terms of Use and Wikipedia conflict of interest disclosure guidelines and be transparent that you are working for the company to seek creation of the article.
Users with a COI should disclose specifically what company, entity, or individual they are working with in accordance with Wikipedia’s guidelines.
If they do not, it is highly likely that the new page will be flagged, or just completely taken down.
A Wikipedia user with a clearly disclosed COI can draft an article and submit it for review through a process known as Articles for Creation (or AfC). Articles for Creation is a peer review process, and is Wikipedia’s preferred method for creating new articles, especially when there is a conflict of interest.
During AfC, a non-COI editor will evaluate the article submitted to determine if it meets notability standards, includes reliable sources, and has correct references. This process may take a while since there is typically a queue of hundreds of proposed articles at a time that editors sift through.
If you create an article avoiding the Articles for Creation process, you could jeopardize the status of the page, ultimately putting it at risk of deletion. Creating a page without disclosing your Conflict of Interest is in violation of Wikipedia’s guidelines.
Ultimately, the most important steps you can take when editing or creating a Wikipedia page are to stay in line with Wikimedia Foundation disclosure requirements and the Wikipedia COI guidelines and work alongside Wikipedia editors while disclosing your interests and employer.
