Correcting an article that already exists
Editing your own page is the fastest way to make it worse. The route that works is the one almost nobody uses: a sourced edit request on the talk page, with the conflict declared.
Can you edit your own Wikipedia page?
Wikipedia strongly discourages editing an article about yourself or your company, and paid editors must publicly disclose the relationship under the terms of use. The accepted route is an edit request posted on the article’s talk page, using the request template, stating the conflict of interest and citing reliable sources for each change. Independent editors then review and apply it. Clear factual corrections are usually accepted; removing sourced criticism is not.
Editing your own article without disclosure is the single most common way companies end up worse off. It is detected, it is logged publicly and permanently, it frequently becomes its own paragraph in the article, and it has produced news coverage for companies far larger than yours.
Changes that get accepted
- A plainly wrong fact with a reliable source correcting it — a date, a name, a figure
- Outdated information where something verifiable has changed
- A dead citation replaced with a working one
- Undue weight, where a minor episode dominates the article
- A clear violation of the biographies of living people policy
- Structural fixes — ordering, headings, categories
How an edit request case runs
- 1
Audit the article
Each statement checked against its citation. Most complaints turn out to be either accurate-but-unflattering or a genuine sourcing failure, and those need completely different handling.
- 2
Separate the winnable from the not
We will tell you plainly which of your objections are factual errors and which are you disliking a true statement.
- 3
Draft the request
Specific proposed wording, each change with a reliable source, on the talk page using the edit request template.
- 4
Disclose
The paid relationship declared on the account and in the request. Not optional, and not negotiable.
- 5
Engage with reviewers
Politely, on the talk page, answering questions. Pressure fails here more reliably than anywhere else on the internet.
- 6
Proof
The article diff showing the change applied.
The specifics
- Direct editing
- Strongly discouraged, and disclosure is mandatory for paid editors
- The route
- A talk page edit request, with sources
- Typical timeline
- 1 to 8 weeks, depending on how active the article is
- Usually accepted
- Sourced factual corrections
- Usually refused
- Removal of accurate, well-sourced criticism
- Counts as delivered
- The change is live in the article, evidenced by the diff
What we will not claim
- We will not remove accurate, well-sourced criticism. It is a policy violation, it will be reverted, and the attempt is logged publicly against you.
- We will not edit anonymously or without disclosure, whatever the fee.
- Independent editors decide. A perfectly drafted request can still be declined.
- Nobody owns a Wikipedia article, including the subject of it.
Questions
Terms on this page
Last reviewed . Platform policies change; we re-check every page quarterly.