• by Laurie Sullivan , March 27, 2026

Wikipedia has remained one of the main sources of information in AI and traditional search queries, but updates to its editing policy for the English version surfaced on Friday that make it clear all site moderators cannot use large language models (LLMs) to generate content for the site.

Although this may create immediate hurdles for advertisers and marketers relying on automated tools to increase online traffic to websites and foot traffic to stores, it could have a long-term positive impact on marketers prioritizing quality.

SEO marketers focused on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) could find this ban beneficial, because it prevents what Wikipedia calls "model collapse," where AI engines train on AI-generated Wikipedia content, ensuring that the "knowledge graphs" powering Google’s AI Overviews and other chatbots remain grounded in human-verified facts.

According to Wikipedia's updated editing policy, the only reasons someone can use AI-generated copy are to generate translated text for the English version of the site and in basic copyedits. All other uses are prohibited. 

Other versions are also banned using AI for certain writings. The German version banned part of AI in February 2026.

The board passed the policy after closing on March 20, a Request for Comment (RfC) with 44 votes in favor and two opposed.

The Wikipedia Foundation released a statement in October 2025 on an approximate 8% decline of human pageviews on Wikipedia, compared with the same period in 2024. The company attributed the decline to the impact of generative AI and social media, and how people seek information, especially with search engines providing answers directly to searchers, often based on Wikipedia content.

Wikipedia has debated on whether to allow AI content on its site since getting pushback last year from editors prompted the platform to remove the feature.

Earlier this year, the nonprofit announced new business deals with AI companies Amazon, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Mistral AI, and Perplexity after signing a licensing deal in 2022 with Google.

Previous deals with AI companies also include Nomic, Pleias, ProRata, and Reef Media. All these organizations use Wikimedia Enterprise to integrate human-governed knowledge into their platforms.

In November 2025, BrightEdge’s data showed Wikipedia’s data was cited in Google AI Overview searches 1.9% of the time, ahead of Facebook data at about 1.2% of the time.

Broken into categories for what BrightEdge calls “high-volume informational queries,” Wikipedia was cited 52% of the time.