Glossary
What is E-E-A-T?
In depth
E-A-T appeared in Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines in 2014, and in December 2022 "Experience" was added — becoming E-E-A-T. Philosophy: high-quality content is characterised by tangible knowledge, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
4 components: (1) **Experience** (2022+) — first-hand knowledge. A digital product review is authentic only if the author actually used it. (2) **Expertise** — formal credentials, education, professional title. Doctors writing health content, accountants writing finance content. (3) **Authoritativeness** — recognition by the industry. Citations, awards, peer references. (4) **Trustworthiness** — accuracy, transparency, secure infrastructure (HTTPS, privacy policy, contact info, business registration).
Google Quality Rater Guidelines (220-page document, public): raters human-evaluate 100K+ search results on every change. E-E-A-T rated on 4 dimensions. Ratings — Lowest, Low, Medium, High, Highest. Highest = expert author + topic relevance + accurate + transparent + secure.
YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) categories: health, finance, legal, safety. Higher E-E-A-T standard. Author bio + credentials critical.
Website implementation checklist: (1) **About page** — story, founders, history, mission. (2) **Contact page** — phone, email, physical address. (3) **Author bios per article** — full name, role, credentials, sameAs LinkedIn. (4) **Date stamps** — publishedAt + dateModified. (5) **References / citations** — outbound links to authoritative sources. (6) **Reviews / testimonials** — real client names, photos. (7) **Awards / partner logos** — Vercel Partner, Shopify Partner, Clutch top-rated. (8) **Privacy + terms + security** — HTTPS, GDPR-compliant, business registration visible.
AI engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini) rely on E-E-A-T signals for content citation. Author bio + sameAs + outbound citations + structured data → 60-90 day citation timeline.
Examples
- 1Author byline pattern: Photo + Full name + Role + 2-line bio + LinkedIn link per article
- 2YMYL example: medical clinic site needs MD-credentialed author + AGD certification visible
- 3Trust block: 100+ projects · 50+ clients · 5+ years · Lighthouse 100 averaged
- 4Date stamp: <time dateTime="2026-04-26">26 April 2026</time> + automatic ArticleSchema dateModified
- 5Citation pattern: outbound link to W3Techs / Sucuri / Google Search Central / MDN web docs
Related terms
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is optimising a website to rank higher in Google and other search engines. It covers th…
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is optimising content for AI search systems (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overvie…
Schema Markup / JSON-LD
Schema Markup (JSON-LD) is a structured data format that helps search engines understand what is on a page. It powers ri…
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Frequently asked questions
Is E-E-A-T a direct ranking factor?▾
No — Google official: E-E-A-T is a framework for raters, not an algorithm signal. But effects are significant — high E-E-A-T pages see 25-40%+ traffic after Helpful Content Updates.
How do AI engines see E-E-A-T?▾
Author bio + sameAs (LinkedIn, GitHub) → entity recognition + Wikidata lookup. Outbound citations → factual verification. Date stamps → freshness scoring. Without these AI engines skip your content.
YMYL non-YMYL difference?▾
YMYL (health, finance, legal, safety) — credentials mandatory, factual accuracy life-or-death. Non-YMYL (entertainment, hobbies) — author voice + experience sufficient. Web design = non-YMYL category.
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