E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T is a framework from Google for judging whether content deserves trust. Experience is first-hand involvement with the subject. Expertise is the knowledge or skill of whoever made it. Authoritativeness is whether the creator or site is a recognised go-to source for the topic. Trustworthiness is whether the page is accurate, honest and safe to rely on, and Google treats it as the one the others serve.

It is often described as a ranking factor, which Google says it is not. Google’s systems use many signals that tend to identify content with good E-E-A-T, and Google’s human quality raters use the framework to assess whether results are good, but their ratings do not feed rankings directly. Think of E-E-A-T as the standard the algorithms are trying to approximate, not a score a page is given.

The bar rises with the stakes. Google gives even more weight to strong E-E-A-T on topics that could affect people’s health, financial stability or safety. Business content about security, compliance or spending decisions carries similar consequences for the reader, so it is worth holding to the same bar.

It matters more now that AI writes so much. Content produced at volume without anyone accountable for it is exactly what the framework discounts. Google’s own guidance asks whether it is self-evident who wrote a page, how it was produced, and why it exists, and those three questions are a practical test for any AI-assisted page.

• Google says that while E-E-A-T itself isn’t a specific ranking factor, using a mix of factors that can identify content with good E-E-A-T is useful.Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, 15 Sept 2026
• Google says that of the four aspects, trust is most important; the others contribute to trust, but content doesn’t necessarily have to demonstrate all of them.Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, 15 Sept 2026
• Google says search quality raters give insight into whether its algorithms provide good results, and rater data is not used directly in its ranking algorithms.Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, 15 Sept 2026
• Google says its systems give even more weight to content that aligns with strong E-E-A-T for topics that could significantly impact the health, financial stability or safety of people.Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, 15 Sept 2026

1. 1

   Put a named, real author on every substantive page, linked to a profile that shows why they know the subject.

2. 2

   Show first-hand experience: your own screenshots, tests, data and decisions, not a rewording of what other sites say.

3. 3

   Source every claim a reader might act on, and date pages that contain facts which change, such as prices and features.

4. 4

   Say how the page was made, including where AI assisted and who checked it, in a sentence a reader can find.

5. 5

   Make trust easy to verify: clear company details, contact routes, editorial and correction policies, and corrections logged when you make them.

• Adding author boxes and credentials to thin content. Signals of expertise do not rescue a page that offers nothing first-hand.
• Treating E-E-A-T as a checklist to score. Google says it is not a ranking factor itself, so tactics that fake the signals miss the point the framework describes.
• Hiding AI involvement. Google asks whether how content was produced is clear to readers, and concealment undermines the trust the framework centres on.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

GEO is about being quoted in AI answers. E-E-A-T is Google’s description of trustworthy content. The evidence-rich, accountable pages E-E-A-T describes are also the pages generative engines tend to quote.

1. 1Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content read 15 Sept 2026