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E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust, the quality criteria in the guidelines Google gives its raters. In SEO, Google E-E-A-T is not a direct ranking factor. Even so, it sums up what search systems try to reward. Here is what each letter asks for and how to show it in your content.
In short
- Google says E-E-A-T is not a specific ranking factor and that trust is the most important of the four aspects.
- Google’s roughly 16,000 external raters measure search quality, but no single rating changes a page’s position.
- On topics that affect health, money or safety, Google’s systems give even more weight to E-E-A-T.
- AI Overviews and AI Mode rely on Search quality systems. Outside Google, there are only correlation studies.
What does each letter of Google E-E-A-T mean?
Each letter is a question the Google rater asks about the page and about who created it. Experience means having lived the topic, and expertise means mastering the subject. Authoritativeness means being a go-to source. Finally, trust means the page is accurate, honest, safe and reliable.
| Letter | In English | What the rater looks for |
|---|---|---|
| E | Experience | First-hand experience with the topic |
| E | Expertise | Knowledge or skill in the subject |
| A | Authoritativeness | Being the go-to source on the topic |
| T | Trust | An accurate, honest, safe and reliable page |
These E-E-A-T definitions come from the search quality rater guidelines, whose latest version is from September 2025. After all, you trust a product review more when the writer used the product. The same goes for an electrician’s advice on home wiring. Meanwhile, the official government page is the authoritative source for passport renewal.
Why is trust at the center of E-E-A-T?
Because, in the guidelines, an untrustworthy page has low E-E-A-T no matter how experienced or expert it seems. The other three letters help assess trust. However, content doesn’t need to show all of them, according to Google.
Until December 2022, the acronym was E-A-T. That month, Google added the E for experience to its E-E-A-T guidelines. In Google’s example, someone filing a tax return wants content from an accountant. On the other hand, someone choosing tax software wants reviews from people who used each one.
Is Google E-E-A-T a ranking factor?
Not directly. Google says that E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor. Its systems combine many signals to identify content with good E-E-A-T. Meanwhile, human rater scores measure whether those systems work. In other words, no rater score moves a page up or down.
“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 (2026)
The raters are roughly 16,000 people hired by external vendors. The figure comes from a program overview that Google published in November 2023. About 1,000 are in Latin America, and the group speaks more than 80 languages.
According to the same overview, Google uses aggregated ratings to measure its systems. It also uses them as positive and negative examples to improve those systems. So, in practice, Google E-E-A-T works indirectly. For this reason, be wary of any SEO tool that promises to measure it.
Where do raters look for E-E-A-T signals?
In three places: what the site and its authors say about themselves, what other sources say about them and what the page itself shows. The guidelines tell raters to start with the About us page and the author profile. But a line like “I’m an expert!” isn’t enough without content, reputation or credentials that can be checked.
- What the site says about itself: the About us page and the profile of the writer, with details others can confirm.
- What others say: independent reviews, news stories, awards and recommendations from experts in the field.
- What the page shows: the content itself, plus comments and reviews, when there are any.
The guidelines also ask raters to watch for conflicts of interest. Thus, a review from someone who bought and used the product is worth more than praise from the maker or a paid influencer. On the other hand, a small site with little reputation on the web isn’t low quality for that reason alone.
In the E-E-A-T guidelines, authority isn’t the domain authority score from SEO tools. It means being known as a source on the topic, and that depends on what third parties publish about the brand. AI also cites these sources often, as shown in our guide to the sources AI cites most.
How do you show first-hand experience in an article?
Show what only someone who did the work would know: the test you ran, the number you measured, the photo you took and the mistake you made. In its content self-assessment, Google asks if the text shows first-hand experience, like that of someone who used the product or visited the place.
For product reviews, for example, Google suggests sharing how many products you tested, what the results were and how you ran the tests, with photos as proof. Google’s guide to generative AI search makes the same point. It compares a generic piece like “7 Tips for First-Time Homebuyers” with an account like “Why We Waived the Inspection & Saved Money”. According to the guide, anyone could have written the first one.
Which formats show Google E-E-A-T experience on a blog?
Four formats help show the first E of E-E-A-T:
- Your own data: a number from the company’s operations or from original research.
- Real cases: a case study with the problem, solution, result and period.
- Process: how you tested or applied what you recommend, with screenshots, photos or spreadsheets.
- Limits: what didn’t work and who the solution isn’t for.
A dental clinic, for example, can share which questions patients ask most before a treatment and how the team answers each one. Likewise, these formats support a plan for content marketing in the age of AI. Focusing the blog on the topics the company works in, in a topic cluster, also helps readers see what it knows.
Do author pages and bylines make a difference for Google E-E-A-T?
Yes, for readers and for raters. Google recommends an accurate byline where readers expect to know who wrote the content, with a link to more information about the author. Meanwhile, the rater guidelines give fake profiles the lowest rating, because they count as deception.
In a FAQ about AI-generated content, Google recommends a byline on any content where someone might think “Who wrote this?”. In Google News, bylines and author information are required.
For a product page, however, the guidelines treat the website itself as the content creator. Similarly, a team byline also works, because an organization can be the creator of a text.
What goes on an author page?
An author page explains why that person knows the topic. It includes name and role and experience with the subject. When the topic calls for it, it also lists education or a professional license, plus links to profiles, talks and articles.
In the guidelines, degrees, peer validation, expert co-authors and citations count as signs of a good reputation for the writer. What never works is making things up. AI-written texts signed by made-up “authors” with AI-generated photos should get the lowest rating.
How do you show trust: sources, proof, dates and an editorial policy?
Trust shows up in a text through four habits: a source for each figure, proof that can be checked, a true update date and a public editorial policy. For online sellers, contact details, customer service and payment and return policies also count. The guidelines treat them as extremely important.
- Sources: name where each number comes from and link to the original document. Google also asks whether content has factual errors that are easy to verify.
- Proof: an award with its year and organizer, a news story with a link and a certification with its number.
- Dates: show when the text came out and when it changed, but only change the date when the content truly changes.
- Editorial policy: say who writes, who reviews, how the team checks facts, how it fixes errors and where it uses AI.
These elements are part of the article structure that Google and AI cite.
Why publish an editorial policy?
Because it puts the “how” that Google asks for in one place. In its self-assessment, Google asks whether readers can tell that automation or AI was used. It also asks whether the site explains why it used it. Using AI in production doesn’t prevent good E-E-A-T, according to Google, as long as the content is helpful and original.
Google News offers a good model. To appear there, news sources must show clear dates and bylines and information about authors and the publisher. They must also show who is behind the content and contact information. It’s a useful checklist for a company blog, too.
What is YMYL and why does it call for more care?
YMYL stands for “Your Money or Your Life.” It covers topics that could affect people’s health, financial stability or safety, or the well-being of society. On these topics, Google’s systems give even more weight to content with good E-E-A-T. In addition, raters apply their highest standard.
In the September 2025 version, the guidelines updated their YMYL definitions. Today there are four types: health or safety, financial security, government, civics and society and, finally, other topics that could hurt people.
YMYL is a spectrum, however, and many topics fall outside it. The guidelines give a useful example for clinics. “When to go to the emergency room” is clear YMYL. By contrast, “How often to replace a toothbrush” may be YMYL, because it is a casual health topic.
Experience or expertise on YMYL topics?
It depends on the purpose of the page. In YMYL, the guidelines say a personal account can have high E-E-A-T, as long as it is trustworthy, safe and consistent with expert consensus. However, information and advice, like treatment options or how much to save for retirement, must come from experts. At a clinic, therefore, a patient’s story about recovery counts as experience. A treatment recommendation, though, calls for a named professional.
Do Google’s AI answers use the same E-E-A-T quality signals as Search?
Yes, according to Google itself. Its official guide says AI Overviews and AI Mode are rooted in Google’s core Search ranking and quality systems. So there is no separate Google E-E-A-T for AI. The same practices apply.
“The best practices for SEO continue to be relevant because our generative AI features on Google Search are rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems.”
Google Search Central (2026)
To become a source, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet. The same guide warns that seeking inauthentic mentions doesn’t help, because other systems block spam. From Google’s point of view, then, optimizing for AI search is still SEO, and Google E-E-A-T comes in the same way.
Do ChatGPT and other AI tools use E-E-A-T?
We can’t confirm that. Outside Google, we didn’t find published criteria for source quality as detailed as the E-E-A-T guidelines. What exists are correlation studies. Cited pages tend to show authorship and to come from well-rated sources, but that doesn’t prove cause.
Semrush compared 304,805 pages cited by ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Perplexity with 921,614 pages that only ranked on Google. For E-E-A-T signals, which measure authorship and credentials visible in the text, the difference between the two groups was 30.64%. Semrush sells SEO and AI tools, and the study shows association, not cause.
An academic study analyzed 366,000 citations from AI search models by OpenAI, Google and Perplexity, on a platform that compares answers. The citations were collected from March to May 2025, and only 9% went to news. Among news sources with a quality score, 89.7% to 96.2% came from outlets rated well by lists like NewsGuard’s.
Still, we found no independent study that isolates the effect of bylines or author pages on citations. So compare the sources AI uses with what your site shows to understand why AI cites your competitor. The writing tactics with the most evidence for citation are in our guide to what GEO is.
What we found when we analyzed 14 Portuguese-language pages on E-E-A-T
We analyzed the 14 Portuguese-language pages with accessible text among those that showed up in two searches on the topic. Ten say that E-E-A-T isn’t a direct ranking factor, but only three of the 14 link to the rater guidelines. Only one cites the current version, from September 2025. In addition, only three say that rater scores don’t change page positions.
Six treat AI answers as a place where E-E-A-T matters. Only one gives a number on this, and it credits an academic paper on GEO that doesn’t contain that figure.
Frequently asked questions
They are two versions of the same concept. E-A-T covered expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. In December 2022, Google added the E for experience to the rater guidelines. As a result, it began to value people who used the product, visited the place or lived the situation.
Yes. Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines say many small sites have little reputation information on the web and that this doesn’t indicate high or low quality. In that case, the content, the experience shown on the page and clarity about who runs the site matter even more.
Not as a separate system. According to Google’s guide to ranking systems, the helpful content system, announced in 2022, became part of the core ranking systems in March 2024. The self-assessment questions, including those about experience and trust, still apply.
It can. According to Google, using AI doesn’t give content any special advantage. If the content is helpful, original and meets aspects of E-E-A-T, it can perform well. On the other hand, made-up authors count as deception.
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Main sources
- Google, Search Quality Rater Guidelines, September version (2025).
- Google Search Central, creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (2026).
- Google Search Central, E-A-T gets an extra E for experience (2022).
- Google Search Central, guidance on AI-generated content and questions about bylines (2023).
- Google, overview of the search quality rater program (2023).
- Google Search Central, optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search (2026).
- Semrush, study on the text features linked to AI citation (2026).
- Kai-Cheng Yang, news source citing patterns in AI search systems (2025).
