Wikipedia Expert Josh Greene on How Brands Can Use the Platform to Support GEO and Online Reputation
Many companies and brands are eager to appear on Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia that can amplify visibility and, for some, carry a sense of prestige.
But a common question is how to get a Wikipedia page.
And as artificial intelligence reshapes communications strategies, with generative engine optimization (GEO) at the forefront, people also want to know: Are Wikipedia pages reliable sources for the large language models used by AI search tools and chatbots?
Josh Greene, who has more than 20 years of digital marketing experience, has addressed many of those questions throughout his career as search and communications have evolved.
Specifically, he has focused on helping brands and organizations navigate Wikipedia, online visibility and reputation management.
One thing is certain, Greene said: media coverage from “reputable news outlets, industry publications, books, and other independent sources” helps people gain a Wikipedia presence.
Amid the AI era, Greene noted that Wikipedia is “one of the most trusted and frequently referenced sources” for AI tools.
Press releases are another effective source AI systems may use or cite. They can support GEO strategies by publishing structured, factual information that may show up in AI-generated answers. Social media is also a source of information for AI tools.
At the same time, Lane Becker, president of Wikimedia LLC, told IBM Think that “Wikipedia content is so valuable” and is “used in every LLM.”
In fact, an analysis of 680 million citations from August 2024 through June 2025 found that within ChatGPT’s top 10 most-cited sources, Wikipedia accounts for nearly half (47.9%) of citations, according to a report from Profound.
That’s what makes Greene’s work at The Mather Group, an agency he founded about a decade ago, relevant to organizations looking to establish a Wikipedia presence to increase online visibility. He serves as CEO of the digital marketing agency.
In an exclusive interview with EIN Presswire, Greene said a major misconception is that because Wikipedia allows anyone to edit most articles, it is an unreliable source.
However, the online platform has safeguards designed to help maintain the accuracy of information published on Wikipedia.
Every edit is publicly logged, articles are monitored by experienced editors, and changes that violate Wikipedia’s guidelines can be challenged or reversed, according to Greene. And many high-profile pages have additional protections that restrict who can edit them.
Those safeguards, he said, help ensure articles are backed by reliable information rather than unsupported claims.
“What makes Wikipedia relatively trustworthy isn’t that every edit is perfect, it’s that content is expected to be supported by reliable, independent sources,” Greene said. “Editors are required to cite those sources, and unsupported or promotional content is often removed.”
“Like any information source, Wikipedia isn’t infallible, and important facts should still be verified,” Greene said. “But the combination of transparent editing, community review, and source-based standards is why Wikipedia has become one of the most widely used reference resources in the world.”
Today, Greene frequently speaks at industry events and conferences, including the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and other PR summits.
In the interview, Greene answers a range of questions about Wikipedia and discusses important Wikipedia tools PR practitioners should learn more about.
Q: Tell us about your career and how you got started.
A: I’ve spent more than 20 years working in digital strategy and online reputation management. Before founding The Mather Group in 2015, I managed online programs for major brands including Discovery Channel and Time Warner Cable, where I developed a deep understanding of digital marketing, search, and brand visibility.
I started The Mather Group to help organizations cut through the noise and take control of their online presence. Today, we work with Fortune 1000 companies, leading nonprofits, and other organizations to improve and protect their reputations through SEO, AI optimization, search reputation management, and Wikipedia strategy.
Throughout my career, I’ve been passionate about helping brands tell their stories accurately online and adapt to the changing digital landscape. That passion continues to drive both my work with clients and my efforts to educate marketing and communications professionals through industry conferences and speaking engagements.
Q: Is Wikipedia a trusted source that AI tools pull from when generating AI search results?
A: Wikipedia is one of the most trusted and frequently referenced sources used by many AI systems when generating answers and search results.
While every AI platform uses a different combination of training data, search indexes, and real-time sources, Wikipedia’s structured information, extensive citations, and broad topic coverage make it a valuable resource. In addition to being used directly, Wikipedia’s content is often connected to Wikidata, which serves as a structured knowledge graph that helps AI systems understand entities such as people, companies, products, and organizations.
That said, AI tools don’t rely on Wikipedia alone. They also pull information from news outlets, company websites, databases, academic sources, and other trusted web content. However, because Wikipedia is often one of the first places journalists, search engines, and AI systems look to understand a topic, Wikipedia can influence how an organization is represented across the broader digital ecosystem.
That’s why organizations should pay attention to their Wikipedia presence because it can play an important role in shaping how both people and AI systems understand their brand.
Q: Is there anything you’ve learned about Wikipedia over the years that will surprise most PR and marketing professionals when they hear it?
A: One thing that surprises many PR and marketing professionals is that Wikipedia isn’t really about what a company says about itself, it’s about what independent, reliable sources say about that company.
Many organizations assume they can create or update a Wikipedia article using information from their website, press releases, or marketing materials. In reality, Wikipedia places much more weight on third-party coverage from reputable news outlets, industry publications, books, and other independent sources.
Another surprise, although many people are now becoming aware of it, is just how influential Wikipedia has become beyond the encyclopedia itself. Wikipedia and its related data sources, such as Wikidata, are used by search engines, voice assistants, knowledge panels, and many AI tools to help understand and verify information about people, companies, and organizations.
As a result, Wikipedia has evolved from being simply a reference website into a foundational layer of the internet’s information ecosystem. For PR and marketing professionals, that means the quality and accuracy of information can have an impact far beyond Wikipedia itself.
Q: Tell us more about the three Wikipedia tools PR professionals should know about.
A: There are three Wikipedia tools that can provide valuable insight into how an article is performing and how actively it’s being managed by the community.
Page Information – Provides a snapshot of an article’s technical details, including page watchers, protection status, edit history, categories, and connected Wikidata information. This helps PR professionals understand how closely a page is monitored and whether there are any editing restrictions.
Revision History Statistics – Shows the editorial activity behind an article, including total edits, number of contributors, key authors, and redirects. This helps identify how active an article is.
Page View Analysis – Tracks how many people are viewing an article over time, with options to analyze trends and download data. This is useful for measuring visibility and public interest.
Together, these tools can help PR professionals understand a Wikipedia article before making or requesting changes.
Q: For journalists who reference or pull information from online platforms in their reporting, is Wikipedia considered a credible source?
A: Wikipedia can be a useful starting point for journalists, but it generally isn’t considered a source that should be cited directly in professional reporting.
Most journalists use Wikipedia as a research tool to quickly understand a topic, and, perhaps most importantly, find the sources cited within an article. The real value often lies in the references, which can lead reporters to the original articles, books, studies, and other reliable sources that support the information.
That said, many journalists do reference Wikipedia during their research process because it provides a broad overview of a subject and is often updated quickly. For well-maintained articles, the information can be quite accurate. However, because Wikipedia can be edited by anyone, reporters are expected to verify information through independent sources before including it in their coverage.
In practice, Wikipedia is often a starting point for research, not the final source of record. The most credible reporting still relies on primary sources and independently verified information.
Q: One criticism of Wikipedia is that supposedly anyone can edit its pages. Is that true? If so, what safeguards are in place to help ensure the information on the platform is accurate?
A: It’s true that most Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone. However, the idea that “anyone can edit” doesn’t mean that anyone can permanently publish whatever they want.
Wikipedia has a number of safeguards designed to maintain accuracy and quality. Every edit is publicly recorded, making it easy for editors to review changes and compare revisions over time. Thousands of volunteer editors actively monitor articles, and many pages are watched closely by experienced contributors who can quickly identify and remove problematic edits.
Wikipedia also has strict content policies. Information is expected to be supported by reliable, independent sources, and material that is unsourced, promotional, or biased can be challenged or removed. For high-profile or frequently edited articles, Wikipedia may apply page protections that limit editing to more established users.
Perhaps most importantly, Wikipedia’s transparency sets it apart from many other online platforms. Readers can review an article’s edit history, see discussions among editors, and examine the sources used to support the content. While no system is perfect, these layers help make Wikipedia one of the most trusted collaborative information resources on the internet.