Last updated · reviewed by the Essentras editorial team
Wikipedia guide for article subjects
How to fix a Wikipedia page about you or your company
To fix a Wikipedia article about you or your company, disclose your connection, then post a specific edit request with the {{Edit COI}} template on the article's talk page, citing independent sources. You may fix only obvious errors yourself. Unsourced contentious claims about living people come out immediately; accurate, well-sourced criticism stays, whoever asks.
Rules quoted from Wikipedia's policies and help pages, each with its last edit date
What you will do
- Find the channel Wikipedia names for your problem, in 2 questions.
- Write an edit request volunteers can act on, with 7 copy-ready texts.
- Know what you may fix yourself and what you must ask others to change.
- Use the living-persons rules, the BLP noticeboard, oversight and the volunteer email team when a request is not enough.
- See what Wikipedia will not remove, and why paying someone cannot change that.
Start here in 1 click
2 questions. The answer names the channel Wikipedia itself points you to, what it costs ($0 every time), how long it takes as Wikipedia states it, and what it will not do.
Answer both questions to see your route.
Every answer, in a table
| If | Route | Cost | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Someone offered to fix the article for a fee | Do not pay. Report the offer. | $0 | Now |
| The article shows private information | Remove it, then ask for oversight | $0 | No time is published; a small vetted team decides |
| The article is defamatory or raises another legal problem | Email the Volunteer Response Team | $0 | A volunteer replies by email; Wikipedia asks for patience |
| A negative claim about you has no source or a weak one | Remove that claim, then explain on the talk page | $0 | Immediately: the policy says without waiting for discussion |
| A negative claim about the company has no source or a weak one | Request removal on the talk page | $0 | A day to several months, by Wikipedia’s own estimate |
| The coverage is accurate and sourced, but unwelcome | Propose balance with sources, not removal | $0 | A day to several months |
| You want your biography deleted | Ask for a deletion discussion | $0 | A deletion discussion lasts at least 7 full days |
| You want the company article deleted | Deletion depends on notability, not on your request | $0 | A deletion discussion lasts at least 7 full days |
| A plain fact about you is wrong or out of date | Fix it yourself, then note it on the talk page | $0 | Minutes |
| A fact about the company is wrong or out of date | Post an edit request | $0 | A day to several months; COI requests often take longer |
What you may fix
What you may fix yourself, and what you must request
Wikipedia asks people connected to an article not to edit it, with a short list of exceptions. Disclose your connection before you touch anything, even an exception, and explain every change on the talk page.
You may fix these yourself
- Spam, nonsense and unambiguous vandalism.
- Unambiguous violations of the living-persons policy, such as an unsourced accusation.
- Spelling, grammar, markup and broken links.
- Obviously mistaken facts about yourself, such as a date, your current employer or your place of birth, citing a reliable source.
- Private information you strongly do not want shared, especially if you are not famous: contact details, birth date, religion or sexual orientation. Then request oversight.
- Your own earlier conflict of interest edits.
- Independent, reliable sources another editor asked for, though Wikipedia prefers that you post them on the talk page.
You must request these on the talk page
- Anything another editor objects to. Once anyone objects, it is no longer an uncontroversial edit.
- Removing or rewording sourced negative material.
- New information, achievements, products, awards or a rewrite.
- Anything where the facts are disputed or could be read 2 ways.
- Images that may be controversial or promotional.
Never do these
- Edit war. If someone reverts you, stop and discuss on the talk page.
- Post legal threats on Wikipedia. Accounts that do are blocked until the threat is withdrawn.
- Use AI tools to write your edits or your request.
- Use a shared or company-named account, or have someone post your text for you without disclosure.
- Hide payment. Paid editors who cannot or will not disclose are prohibited from editing.
Edit requests
How to write an edit request that volunteers act on
An edit request asks a volunteer to spend their time reviewing your change. Wikipedia’s own advice is to keep it short, neutral, sourced and limited to 1 change.
1. Disclose your connection
On your user page, before you post. If you are paid in any way, use {{Paid}} with your employer and client; otherwise a short statement or {{UserboxCOI}} naming the article.
2. Open the article’s talk page
Click "Talk" at the top of the article, read the recent discussion so you do not repeat a settled request, then click "Add topic" or "New section".
3. Use the wizard or the template
The Edit Request Wizard builds the request for you. Manually, put {{Edit COI}} on the first line, not indented. New editors can use {{Edit COI|N}}, and major rewrites {{Edit COI|R}}.
4. Say exactly what to change
Wikipedia’s test is SUNS: specific, uncontroversial, necessary and sensible. Write "Change X to Y", "Insert X after Y" or "Remove X", and quote the current text word for word.
5. Cite independent, reliable sources
Link a source for every addition. For a removal, explain why the text is wrong or poorly sourced and cite any conflicting sources. Edits based only on personal knowledge are not accepted.
6. Ask for 1 change at a time
Split clear fixes from anything contentious so the easy parts are not held up, and flag any removal of negative text openly.
7. Write it yourself
Use your own words. Wikipedia says not to use AI chatbots for any part of a request, and reviewers have a decline code for requests that look AI-generated.
8. Sign, then wait
End with ~~~~ and publish. Do not post reminders. If a reviewer asks for more information, add {{Edit COI}} again when you reply. No answer after 6 months: treat it as declined.
Why requests get declined, in the reviewers’ own codes
| Code | What the reviewer means | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| ADV | Some or all of the changes read as promotional | Plain facts in neutral words; no adjectives that praise. |
| V | Not supported by neutral, independent, reliable sources | Cite media, books or scholarly work, not your own website. |
| O | Good changes, but omissions may unbalance the article | Keep the context sources give, criticism included. |
| R | Asks to remove well-cited content | Propose balance from other sources, or show the source does not support the text. |
| D | Discuss with the editors working on the article first | Open a talk page discussion before the request. |
| S | Not specific enough | Quote the current text and give the exact replacement. |
| T | Would not improve the article | Explain what readers gain from the change. |
| C | No consensus was reached | Accept it, or seek wider input through dispute resolution. |
| LLM | The change appears AI-generated | Write the request yourself. |
Copy-ready
7 copy-ready texts for requests, reports and emails
Replace everything in [brackets]. The first 4 are wikitext for English Wikipedia talk pages and noticeboards; the last 3 are emails. Write the details in your own words.
Edit request: correct a factual error
A date, title, number or other plain fact is wrong.
== Correction: [what is wrong, in a few words] ==
{{Edit COI}}
I am [name], [role] at [company], so I have a conflict of interest (disclosed on my user page).
Please change:
"[exact current text]"
to:
"[exact corrected text]"
Source: [title, outlet, date, URL of an independent source]
Reason: [1 sentence on why the current text is wrong]
~~~~Edit request: update outdated information
A role, location or other fact has changed and an independent source reports it.
== Update: [for example, new chief executive] ==
{{Edit COI}}
I work for [company] (disclosed on my user page).
In the section "[section name]", please replace:
"[current text]"
with:
"[updated text]"
Independent source: [outlet, date, URL]
This is a single change; I will post any other suggestions separately.
~~~~Edit request: remove an unsourced claim about a person
A contentious claim about a living person has no source, or its source does not support it.
== Unsourced claim in the "[section name]" section ==
{{Edit COI}}
I am [name], the subject of this article (disclosed on my user page).
The sentence "[exact sentence]" is [unsourced / cited only to [source], which does not support it]. Under WP:BLP, contentious material about a living person that is unsourced or poorly sourced should be removed.
Please remove it. If a reliable source does exist, I ask that the wording follow that source exactly.
~~~~Report to the BLP noticeboard
A living-persons problem the talk page did not resolve. Link a diff; never paste the defamatory text.
== [[Article title]] == [1 or 2 sentences: the problem and the policy it raises, for example unsourced contentious material (WP:BLPREMOVE) or undue weight (WP:UNDUE).] Diff showing the problem: [link to the diff] Talk page discussion: [link]. I raised it there on [date]; it is unresolved. Disclosure: I am [the subject / connected to the subject as ...]. ~~~~
Email to the Volunteer Response Team
Legal or serious problems. Put "Legal concern" in the subject only for legal issues.
To: [email protected] Subject: Legal concern: [article title] Hello, I am [name], [the subject of / authorized to represent the subject of] this English Wikipedia article: [exact article URL] The problem: [the exact sentence or sentences, and why each is false or harmful] Sources: [what reliable sources say, with links, or that none support it] What I am asking for: [removal of the specific sentence / a correction / a review] I have [not edited the article / raised it on the talk page on (date): (link)]. [Name] [Contact details]
Oversight request for private information
An address, phone number, birth date or similar detail must also leave the page history.
To: [email protected] Subject: Suppression request: [article title] Hello, Please review the following for suppression: [full URL of the page, and of each edit (diff) that contains the information] What should be suppressed: [for example, my home address or my date of birth] Why: it is non-public personal information about a real person. I have already removed it from the current version, with a neutral edit summary. [Name]
Deletion request for a relatively unknown person
You are not a public figure and do not want a biography. The community still decides.
To: [email protected] Subject: Request to nominate my biography for deletion: [article title] Hello, I am [name], the subject of [exact article URL]. I am not a public official and I do not wish to be the subject of a Wikipedia biography. Under WP:BLPREQUESTDELETE, I ask a member of the Volunteer Response Team to nominate the article for deletion on my behalf. Points editors may weigh: [I am only minimally notable / I am known for 1 event / the article has caused real-world harm: a brief, specific description]. I understand that the community decides, and that I may still be mentioned in other articles. [Name]
Living-persons rules
The living-persons policy (WP:BLP), and how it protects you
BLP is a policy, not a guideline, and it applies to every Wikipedia page, talk pages included. It is the strongest tool a person has, but it protects accuracy and privacy, not reputation.
Sources first
All quotations and anything challenged or likely to be challenged need an inline citation to a reliable, published source.
Remove, do not tag
Contentious material that is unsourced or poorly sourced, whether negative, positive or neutral, is removed immediately, without waiting for discussion.
No synthesis
An original interpretation of a source, or a combination of sources implying something none of them says, is removed the same way.
Self-published sources
Not used for claims about a person, except material the person published about themselves, with caution.
Privacy
No postal addresses, emails or phone numbers. Full birth dates appear only when widely published; if the subject complains, the article should give just the year.
Public figures
A noteworthy, relevant and well-documented allegation belongs in the article even if the subject dislikes it, and the subject’s denial is reported too.
Relatively unknown people
Editors must show restraint and include only material relevant to the person’s notability, from high-quality secondary sources.
Kindness
"Editors should make every effort to act with kindness toward the subjects of biographical material when the subjects arrive to express concern."
Companies are different: the policy "does not normally apply" to companies and other legal persons, although a harmful statement about a very small group can come close to a BLP problem. Statements about named people inside a company article, such as founders, are covered.
Escalation
When a talk page request is not enough: the right channel for each problem
Wikipedia names several channels. Each handles a different problem, and using the wrong one mostly costs you time. Start on the article’s talk page unless the problem is private information or a legal issue.
| Channel | Use it for | How | What to expect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article talk page with {{Edit COI}} | Any change you may not make yourself | Add topic, or the Edit Request Wizard | A day to several months; no answer after 6 months counts as declined |
| {{help me}} or {{adminhelp}} on your own talk page | Questions about the process; {{adminhelp}} attracts an administrator | Edit your user talk page | A volunteer answers there |
| BLP noticeboard (WP:BLPN) | Living-persons problems the talk page did not resolve | Create a report and link a diff; never paste defamatory text | Uninvolved editors review; sections older than 7 days are archived |
| Neutral point of view noticeboard | An article you believe editors are slanting | Post specifics with sources | Another opinion, not a ruling |
| Conflict of interest noticeboard | Evidence that an editor is tied to a rival or an opposing party | Follow the board’s instructions; post no private information | Editors assess the conflict |
| Oversight team | Private personal information or libel that must also leave the page history | Email [email protected], or the form on Wikipedia | A small vetted team decides; no time is published |
| Volunteer Response Team ([email protected]) | Legal or serious concerns, and deletion requests from relatively unknown subjects | Email the article URL and the details; "Legal concern" in the subject for legal issues | A volunteer replies by email; Wikipedia says it will not telephone you |
| {{Db-attack}} tag | A page that is nothing but unsourced attacks | Add the tag at the top of the page | An administrator deletes it if they agree |
| Wikimedia Foundation | Living-persons concerns that editors and administrators did not resolve | The Foundation’s contact page | The last step, after the community routes |
What cannot go
What you cannot remove, and what nobody can sell you
Wikipedia is open about this. These requests fail whoever makes them, and no paid helper can change the outcome.
Accurate, well-sourced criticism
"If it's uncomplimentary but accurate and backed up by reliable sources, there is nothing you can do about it." You can propose balance from other sources.
A mention in another article
If you are named in an article about something else, "Editors won't remove the reference just because you don't like it."
An article that is merely bad
Calling an article bad, inaccurate, biased or badly written "isn't reason enough for it to be deleted". Wikipedia prefers to fix it.
Control of the article
Editors will not give the subject exclusive editorial control, and neither the subject nor a paid editor owns the article.
Properly sourced controversy
Removing sourced, verifiable, neutrally worded controversial information "is very rarely done", unless the sources are unreliable or the living-persons policy is breached.
Paid protection or deletion
Offers to protect an article or rescue it from deletion for money are scams, and offers to use special privileges are fraudulent, Wikipedia says.
Legal threats on Wikipedia backfire: posting one gets the account blocked until it is withdrawn. Send genuine legal concerns to [email protected] instead.
How long
How long fixes take, and what to do while you wait
Volunteers do the work, so Wikipedia states its timings loosely. The table puts its own words next to the only queue it publishes.
| Route | What Wikipedia states | Snapshot, 19 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Edit request ({{Edit COI}}) | "Anywhere from a day to several months", especially for COI requests. No answer after 6 months: treat it as declined. | 1,069 COI requests open; median wait so far 24 days; 447 (42%) open for over 30 days; oldest 135 days |
| Living-persons problems | "Treated very seriously and with a very high priority. If the matter is obvious, it will usually be fixed immediately or very quickly." | No queue is published |
| BLP noticeboard | Sections older than 7 days are archived. | Not measured |
| Volunteer Response Team | A volunteer answers; be patient and check your junk mail. No phone calls. | No time is published |
| Oversight | A small, vetted team reviews each request; no time is published. | Not measured |
- Queue figures: Wikipedia’s category of open COI edit requests (1,069) and its bot-maintained table (1,065 rows), read 19 Oct 2026 at 02:35 UTC. Ages are of requests still open, not the time requests take to be answered.
- Do not post reminders. Wikipedia says they are unnecessary, and they do not move a request up.
- While you wait, improve the request itself: a clearer quote, a better source or a split into smaller requests.
Companies vs people
An article about you vs an article about your company
The same process applies to both, but the rules behind it differ. The biggest difference: the living-persons policy covers people, not companies.
| Question | An article about you | An article about your company |
|---|---|---|
| Strongest policy on your side | WP:BLP: unsourced contentious claims come out immediately | Verifiability and neutral point of view; BLP does not normally apply |
| Who posts requests | You, after disclosing | An employee or agency, disclosing employer and client; paid staff are paid editors |
| Private information | Remove it and request oversight | Company contact details are not private; personal details of staff are |
| Asking for deletion | Possible if you are relatively unknown (WP:BLPREQUESTDELETE) | Only on notability grounds, through a deletion discussion |
| Negative coverage | Stays if noteworthy and well documented; denials are reported | Stays if reliably sourced and given due weight |
| Photos | You may contribute a photo under a free license | Logos follow separate rules; overly promotional images may be deleted |
Optional help
If you want help, and cheaper starts
Essentras’s Wikipedia team can propose corrections to an existing article the compliant way: disclosing the paid relationship, posting requested edits on the talk page and letting independent editors decide, as our service page describes. Our catalog has no fixed price for this; ask for a quote. Volunteers still decide every request. Ask the Wikipedia team.
Optional. You can follow every step on this page without buying anything.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can I edit my own Wikipedia page?▾
Only for obvious problems: vandalism, spam, clear errors of fact such as a wrong date or employer, unsourced contentious claims about you, and private information. Disclose your connection first and explain on the talk page. Everything else goes through an edit request.
How do I request an edit to a Wikipedia article?▾
Disclose your connection, open the article's talk page and add a new section that starts with {{Edit COI}}, or use the Edit Request Wizard. Quote the exact text to change, give the replacement, cite an independent source, sign with 4 tildes and wait.
How long does a Wikipedia edit request take?▾
Wikipedia says anywhere from a day to several months, especially for conflict of interest requests, and to treat a request with no answer after 6 months as declined. On 19 Oct 2026, 1,069 such requests were open.
How do I remove false information about my company from Wikipedia?▾
Post an {{Edit COI}} request on the talk page showing why the statement is wrong, with an independent source. If the claim is especially libelous and unsourced, Wikipedia’s FAQ says it may be removed with a note on the talk page; for a legal concern, email [email protected].
Can I remove negative information from Wikipedia?▾
Only if it is unsourced, poorly sourced or breaks the living-persons policy. Accurate, reliably sourced criticism stays. You can propose balance with other sources, or ask the neutral point of view noticeboard about undue weight.
Can I get my Wikipedia article deleted?▾
A relatively unknown person can nominate their biography for deletion, or ask the Volunteer Response Team to, and editors should seriously consider it unless the person clearly passes the general notability guideline or is an official. Companies cannot have an article deleted just because they dislike it.
Who do I contact at Wikipedia about a legal problem?▾
Email [email protected] with "Legal concern" in the subject line, the exact article URL and what is wrong. A volunteer answers. Never post legal threats on Wikipedia itself: accounts that do are blocked.
Can I pay someone to fix my Wikipedia page?▾
A paid editor may post disclosed edit requests for you, but has no more authority than any volunteer and cannot promise an outcome. Wikipedia says unsolicited offers of paid services, including protecting or rescuing an article, are scams.
How do I change the photo on my Wikipedia page?▾
Contribute a photo you own, or one the copyright holder releases, under a free license such as CC BY-SA, then suggest it on the talk page. Press photos released only for a Wikipedia article cannot be used.
Next steps
- 01
Name the problem
Use the finder at the top: factual error, unsourced claim, private information, legal issue or deletion.
- 02
Disclose your connection
On your user page, before any edit or request.
- 03
Fix only what you may fix
Obvious errors and unsourced claims about you, each explained on the talk page.
- 04
Request the rest
1 specific {{Edit COI}} request per change, with an independent source.
- 05
Escalate only when needed
The BLP noticeboard, oversight or [email protected], matched to the problem.
Not sure which channel fits?
2 questions point you to the channel Wikipedia itself names for your problem, with its cost and timing.
Use the channel finder No article yet? How companies get oneChecked on . Every rule, price and figure on this page comes from the official pages listed below, read on that date, or from the Essentras price list. Rules change: if a page below disagrees with this guide, the page wins.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Biographies of living persons, WP:BLP (last edited 6 Oct 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Conflict of interest, WP:COI (last edited 16 Sep 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Edit requests (last edited 7 Oct 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Template:Edit COI and its documentation (last edited 9 Aug 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Simple conflict of interest edit request (last edited 12 Oct 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Edit Request Wizard (last edited 29 Apr 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Biographies of living persons/Noticeboard (header last edited 26 Sep 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: FAQ/Article subjects (last edited 6 Sep 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Contact us/Article subjects (last edited 8 Apr 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Volunteer Response Team (last edited 13 Jul 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Requests for oversight (last edited 29 Dec 2024), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Autobiography, problems in an article about you (last edited 13 Oct 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Deletion policy (last edited 3 Oct 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: COI edit request table, maintained by AnomieBOT (updated 19 Oct 2026, 02:35 UTC)
- Wikipedia API: open conflict of interest edit requests, read 19 Oct 2026
- Wikipedia: Scam warning, WP:SCAM (last edited 1 Oct 2026), read 19 Oct 2026
Essentras sells paid Wikipedia work and reputation services and is not affiliated with Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation. Paid editors have no more authority than volunteers. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation. General information, not legal advice: for a legal problem, contact the Wikimedia volunteers named above or a lawyer.
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