If you are interested in SEO, you have certainly come across the term E-E-A-T – an abbreviation that causes a lot of emotions among SEO specialists.
What exactly is this concept, where does it come from, how to measure it and – above all – how to improve it so that the website can climb up in Google results?
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
This is a set of criteria that Google uses to assess the quality of websites – both in the context of automatic algorithms and manual verification by qualified evaluators.
Origin of E-E-A-T: from E-A-T to quadruple E
Implementing digital accessibility requires not only knowledge of regulations, but also an in-depth understanding of web technologies, UX and practice of working with real assistive tools.
This may interest you
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) vs SEO – what’s the difference?
March 2014
Google publishes the first public edition of the Search Quality Rater Guidelines. The concept of E-A-T appears: Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness as the key criteria for assessing websites.
August 2018
“Medic Update” – A massive algorithm update hits websites in the health, finance and law (YMYL) sector particularly hard. SEO specialists are massively beginning to analyze E-A-T as the cause of visibility declines.
December 2022
adding a second “E” – Google updates its guidelines to add Experience as a new, separate pillar. E-A-T becomes E-E-A-T. The change emphasizes the value of the author’s personal experience – regardless of his formal qualifications.
era of AI and E-E-A-T – The rapid development of generative AI makes E-E-A-T even more important. Google’s Helpful Content System places a strong emphasis on human authorship, originality and authenticity of content.
An important distinction
E-E-A-T is not a direct ranking signal – Google does not have a single “E-E-A-T metric” that directly increases or decreases positions. This is a set of quality criteria that underlie many algorithmic signals and are used by human raters to calibrate automated systems.
The four pillars of E-E-A-T - detailed discussion
Experience - Experience (new dimension, key innovation)
The addition of the second “E” is the most important change in the evolution of E-A-T. Experience refers to the author’s direct, personal experience with the topic discussed.
Google has realized that formal expert knowledge does not always translate into the most useful answer for the user.
A perfect example is a restaurant review. Someone with no culinary education who has personally eaten at the place will write a more valuable review than a professional critic who relies solely on the opinions of others. Similarly, a patient who has undergone a specific medical procedure can describe it from a perspective that a doctor usually does not consider.
Examples of experience valued by Google:
- Product review with your own purchase photo
- Description of the hiking trail with personal observations
- Report on the renovation process documented with photographs
- The history of the disease described from the patient's perspective
- Evaluating the software after using it daily for several months
In practice, this means that Google is increasingly effective at distinguishing content written by itself from those created purely “off the desk” – or generated by AI without real human input.
Experience signals may include: photos from your own collections, first-person mentions, specific details that are impossible to capture without personal contact with the subject.
Expertise - Expert knowledge
Expertise means that the author has a really deep understanding of the topic he or she is writing about.
Google distinguishes two types of expertise:
Formal expertise
confirmed by diplomas, certificates, professional licenses or many years of practice in a regulated industry. A doctor, lawyer, engineer, auditor – these are people with an automatically higher level of confidence in topics in their field.
Informal expertise (everyday expertise)
obtained through life experience, passion or many years of practice without formal qualifications. A food blogger with 15 years of cooking, a coin collector or an experienced gardener – all can be valuable experts in their niches.
Google evaluates expertise primarily at the level of the website content creator and author. That’s why a well-filled “About the author” page, a biography with specific information about competences, links to professional profiles (e.g. LinkedIn) and consistent writing only within your thematic niche are so important.
Authoritativeness - Authority
While expertise is an attribute of the author, authority is granted by the community – that is, by others.
It is a kind of “external reputation” that takes years to build and cannot be created overnight.
Key signals of authority are:
Backlinks from highly rated domains
citations from recognized industry websites, universities, government institutions and the media are the strongest signal of authority
Mentions in industry media
quotes, interviews, guest articles and analyzes published by recognizable media
Recognition in the community
speaker at conferences, active participant in industry forums, expert quoted in podcasts
User opinions and reviews
positive opinions on Google, Trustpilot, industry platforms
Industry awards and distinctions
certificates, awards from professional associations
Trustworthiness - Credibility (the most important pillar)
According to Google itself, Trustworthiness is the foundation of the entire E-E-A-T – the other three elements only make sense if the site is truly trustworthy.
A website may be run by a recognized expert with many years of experience, but if it lacks transparency, lacks information, or has critical errors, its E-E-A-T rating will be low.
Key aspects of credibility:
| Technical security | Reliable website | A website with low credibility |
|---|---|---|
| Aspect | SSL certificate (HTTPS) | HTTP, suspicious redirects |
| Owner information | Full contact details, address, Tax Identification Number | An anonymous site with no contact |
| Policies and regulations | Privacy policy, regulations | Missing or copied templates |
| Content freshness | Update dates, bug fixes | Outdated information without dates |
| External opinions | Positive reviews on independent platforms | Lots of negative reviews |
| Commercial intent | Clear separation of content from advertising | Hidden affiliate links |
YMYL - when E-E-A-T has special meaning
YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) is a category of websites where incorrect information may actually harm the user (financially, healthily or socially). Google applies much higher E-E-A-T standards in these areas.
The YMYL category includes, among others:
- Health and medicine
- Law and legal advice
- Personal finances and investments
- Security and data protection
- Raising children
- Food and nutrition
- Politics and religion
- Online shopping and insurance
If your site falls into the YMYL category, a low E-E-A-T can be a direct cause of poor visibility – even if all technical aspects of SEO are optimized.
For YMYL websites, the following are crucial: biographies of authors with confirmation of qualifications, medical or legal reviews of articles, links to scientific research and official guidelines, and full transparency regarding the ownership and financing of the website.
Are you looking for SEO and positioning experts?
How does Google evaluate E-E-A-T in practice?
The role of Quality Raters
Google employs thousands of people in Search Quality Raters – specially trained raters who manually analyze search results.
Their work does not directly impact the rankings of individual sites – instead, it is used to calibrate and validate algorithms. In other words: evaluators confirm whether the algorithm correctly identifies high- and low-quality pages.
Quality Raters evaluate a website on several levels, assigning it a Page Quality Rating on a scale from “Failing” to “Highest”. The key criteria are E-E-A-T and whether the site is YMYL or non-YMYL.
How do algorithms reflect E-E-A-T?
PageRank and link profile
Backlinks from valuable sources and thematically related domains are still one of the strongest signals of authority. However, it is not about quantity, but about the quality and naturalness of the link profile.
Entity Recognition and Knowledge Graph
Google recognizes authors and brands as entities in its knowledge base. The more coherent, dispersed information about a given person or brand on the Internet, the stronger its “entity” – which translates into a better understanding of its authority.
Helpful Content System
Introduced in 2022, the system assesses whether content is created for people or search engines. Pages with low E-E-A-T and mass-generated content receive a “devaluation” of visibility across the domain.
User Signals (UX Signals)
Time spent on the website, bounce rate, returns to results – Google analyzes user behavior as an indirect indicator of the quality and credibility of content.
Brand mentions and mentions
Google monitors whether a brand or author is mentioned online (even without a backlink). The so-called brand mentions are an increasingly important signal of authority – especially since the era of natural language understanding thanks to BERT and MUM models.
How to improve your website's E-E-A-T? A practical guide
Building Experience
Write product reviews after actually using them
provide specific observations that are not in the manufacturer’s specifications
Describe processes and solutions to problems you have faced yourself
case studies from real projects are more valuable than theory
Add original photos and videos from your own collections
don’t just use stocks
With content created by AI
always add a layer of editing by an expert with real-world experience
Strengthening Expertise
Create detailed “About the Author” pages with a description of competencies, professional history, links to social media and professional profile
Implement Schema.org structured data – especially Person, Organization, Article types – so that Google can associate the author with the content
Publish guest articles on recognized industry portals – build an expert footprint beyond your own domain
Specialize in topics – be the best in a narrow niche instead of average at everything (topical authority)
Building Authoritativeness
Invest in digital PR
get mentions and citations in industry media, news portals and authoritative blogs
Create content that naturally attracts links
original research, industry reports, statistical data, infographics
Build presence on external platforms
LinkedIn, YouTube, podcasting, participation in conferences, webinars
Actively manage feedback
collect positive reviews and respond constructively to negative ones
Strengthening Trustworthiness
Make sure you have full contact information – registered office address, telephone number, e-mail, company registration details
Make sure that the privacy policy and regulations are current, clear and compliant with the GDPR
Clearly label sponsored content, affiliate links and advertising materials
Update older articles regularly and mark the dates of last revision – especially important for YMYL content
Take care of technical security – SSL certificate, Core Web Vitals, no malware
We have completed hundreds of websites
The most common mistakes that lower E-E-A-T
| Error | Why is E-E-A-T harmful? |
|---|---|
| Content without an author or with an anonymous “Editor” | Google cannot associate the content with an expert entity |
| Writing about everything – no specialization | Impossible to build topical authority |
| Copying content or paraphrasing AI without adding value | Lack of Experience and Originality – penalized by the Helpful Content System |
| Outdated information without updates | Low credibility – especially destructive for YMYL websites |
| No links to sources or research | Claims without foundation lower Expertise and Trustworthiness |
| Aggressive advertising and clickbait in headlines | A signal of low editorial standards |
| Negative feedback with no response | They lower the brand’s authority and indicate a lack of commitment |
E-E-A-T in the era of generative AI
2023 brought an explosion of AI-generated content. And here a key question arises: how does Google approach AI content in the context of E-E-A-T?
Google’s official position
Google does not penalize content for the mere fact of being generated by AI. Penalizes low-quality content – regardless of the tool used to create it.
The key question is
Is the content helpful, original and created with the user in mind?
In practice, AI is a valuable tool when an expert controls, verifies and enriches its output – not when it replaces the expert entirely. An article written by a doctor with AI support will have a higher E-E-A-T than an article generated by AI and published without any expert validation.
Comprehensive E-E-A-T checklist
Experience – Experience
- Articles contain original photos or videos from your own resources
- The content describes the author's personal experiences with the topic
- Product reviews are written after actually using them
- Case studies and examples are based on real projects
Expertise – Expert knowledge
- Each article is clearly marked with its author's name and surname
- The "About the Author" page contains detailed qualifications and experience
- Schema.org structured data (Person, Article) is implemented
- The website specializes in a specific thematic niche
- Articles contain links to credible sources and research
- YMYL content is verified by a certified professional
Authoritativeness – Authority
- The website has a natural link profile from authoritative domains
- The brand/author is mentioned in the industry media
- The author publishes guest articles on external websites
- The brand has active profiles on social media
- The site or author has positive reviews on independent platforms
- The author/company has an entry in Google Knowledge Panel or Wikipedia
Trustworthiness – Reliability
- The website uses HTTPS (valid SSL certificate)
- Full contact details visible (address, telephone, e-mail)
- The GDPR-compliant privacy policy is available
- The regulations of the website or store are current
- Affiliate links and sponsored content are clearly marked
- Articles have a visible publication and update date
- The website does not contain aggressive advertisements that obscure the content
- The company is registered and verifiable in public registers
- Core Web Vitals sites are in the green zone
Summary: E-E-A-T as a strategy, not a tactic
E-E-A-T isn’t just another technical SEO trick you can implement in a week.
This is a long-term strategy for building reputation and trust – both in the eyes of users and Google. Sites that genuinely invest in quality, transparency and expert knowledge are naturally rewarded by the algorithms.
Three key takeaways:
First of all
E-E-A-T is more important than ever – especially with the avalanche of AI content. The more generic, nameless content floods the Internet, the more Google values the author’s authenticity and experience.
Secondly
Trustworthiness is the foundation – without basic credibility, the other three pillars will not bring the expected results. Start with the technical side, contact details and transparency before focusing on building authority.
Thirdly
E-E-A-T is an investment in the brand, not only in SEO. A website that really provides value to users, supported by the author’s reputation and operational transparency, will win in the long term – regardless of subsequent Google algorithm updates.
Instead of asking
“how to improve E-E-A-T?”
Ask –
“how to create the best possible resource on a given topic, written by the most competent author, for a specific reader?”
The answer to this question automatically leads to a high E-E-A-T.
Get to know the SEO offer for your company and use the potential of your website
Authors
Get in touch and let’s see how we can help you!
Join the ranks of our satisfied customers.
