What is an Articles for Deletion nomination on Wikipedia?

Articles for Deletion (AfD) is the formal process by which the Wikipedia community decides whether an article should continue to exist. It is a structured discussion, not a vote, and it moves through a fixed sequence of stages.

How an AfD unfolds

1. Nomination with a rationale. Any editor can nominate an article for deletion by citing a specific deletion rationale, commonly failure to meet notability, lack of reliable sources, promotional content that cannot be repaired, or duplication of an existing article.
2. ~7-day discussion. The nomination opens a discussion that normally runs for at least seven days. During this window any editor can argue keep, delete, merge, or redirect, supported by policy citations and reliable sources.
3. An uninvolved administrator reads consensus. At the end of the period, an administrator who has not participated in the discussion assesses it for consensus. The outcome is determined by the quality of policy-based arguments, not by a simple count of votes.
4. Outcome. Based on that consensus, the article is then kept, merged into another article, redirected, or deleted.

Why it matters for a company or executive

For a company or executive whose article is at AfD, the process is high-stakes. The right response is to participate substantively through editors who can speak to the article’s compliance with policy, addressing each concern with the strongest independent secondary sources, not to flood the discussion with new accounts, which experienced editors readily recognize.