What we have learned building public credibility

Three questions come up in almost every conversation we have, and the honest answers are not the ones the industry usually gives. Can you buy a Wikipedia page? No, and understanding why changes what you should spend money on. How do you get a Google knowledge panel? There is no form, so the work is entirely upstream. Why does ChatGPT name someone else in your field? Usually because there is more retrievable, corroborated material about them than about you.

These notes answer those questions in full, including the limits. Wikipedia notability is decided by volunteer editors against a documented standard, knowledge panels are generated by Google rather than submitted to it, and AI answer engines cite what they can retrieve and verify. None of that can be bought, which is precisely why knowing how it works is worth more than a sales page.