E-E-A-T

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. The concept comes from the guidelines Google uses for its quality raters, people who evaluate search results to help Google improve its systems. So it isn't a technical setting or a score you can read off somewhere, but a framework for judging whether content is helpful and credible.

Google says that E-E-A-T itself isn't a direct ranking factor. Its systems do look for signals indicating that content is reliable, and E-E-A-T aligns well with those. Especially for topics that can have a major impact on someone's health, finances or safety, the so-called YMYL topics, trustworthiness carries a lot of weight.

What do the four letters mean?

• Experience: does the creator have first-hand experience of the topic? An installer writing about their own projects demonstrates this.
• Expertise: does the creator have the necessary knowledge or training?
• Authoritativeness: is the creator or website recognised by others as a go-to source in the field?
• Trustworthiness: is the content accurate, honest and transparent? Google calls this the most important element.

How do you demonstrate E-E-A-T on your website?

1. Make it clear who is behind your business, with a detailed About us page, contact details and company registration number.
2. Name the authors of in-depth articles, with a short note on their background.
3. Show real experience: your own photos, concrete projects, case studies and practical examples.
4. Work on your reputation through reviews, mentions in trade media and relevant backlinks.
5. Keep information up to date and accurate, and refer to official sources where useful.

E-E-A-T and AI search engines

AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity have to choose which sources to use for their answers. Exactly how they do that isn't public, but it stands to reason that they prefer sources that come across as clear, consistent and credible. A business that appears in several places online with the same details and a good reputation is easier for such a system to recognise as a trustworthy entity. So E-E-A-T isn't only relevant for Google, but also for your chance of appearing as a citation in AI answers.

An example: an accountancy firm in Manchester

An accountancy firm in Manchester publishes articles on tax topics. At first they were online without an author or date. Now every article states the name of the chartered accountant who wrote it, the date of the last update and concrete examples from practice, without revealing any client details. The About us page shows the team, their qualifications and the office location. The contact details and company registration number are clearly displayed too. That's how the firm makes its expertise and trustworthiness visible to visitors and search systems.

Help with building trust

You don't build E-E-A-T with a single change, but by consistently showing who you are and what you can do. Want to look at where your site could be stronger together with a specialist? Get in touch with a visibility expert who will take a close look at your content and reputation.