Glossary
E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is Google's quality framework used by human raters to evaluate page quality. It guides — but does not directly score — search rankings.
E-E-A-T was originally E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) when introduced in Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines in 2014. The second 'E' (Experience) was added in 2022 to reward content from creators with real, hands-on experience with the topic.
E-E-A-T isn't a single ranking signal — Google has stated this explicitly. It's a framework the company's human quality raters use to score search results during algorithm-training exercises. Pages that score well on E-E-A-T tend to rank well; pages that score poorly tend to drop in rankings after subsequent core updates.
The four pillars: (1) Experience — first-hand familiarity with the topic (you've actually used the product you're reviewing, you've actually run the marathon you're writing about). (2) Expertise — formal or demonstrated subject-matter expertise. (3) Authoritativeness — being a recognized source of information in your field. (4) Trustworthiness — accurate, safe, transparent content that users can rely on.
How to demonstrate E-E-A-T: bylines with real author names and credentials (Person schema, photos, links to their published work); transparent business identity (real address, real team, real history on /about); external proof points (press mentions, awards, certifications); accurate, well-sourced content with outbound links to authoritative sources; visible site policies (privacy, terms, accessibility, security); user-facing transparency about sponsored content, affiliate links, and AI-generated content.
E-E-A-T matters disproportionately in 'Your Money or Your Life' (YMYL) topics — health, finance, legal, safety — where bad information has high downside. Sites covering YMYL topics need much stronger E-E-A-T signals to rank than sites covering recipes or entertainment.
Example
Two pages target the same query 'best probiotics for IBS'. Page A is written under a generic byline 'Wellness Team', has no medical citations, and the site has no /about page. Page B is written by a registered dietitian (with their credentials, photo, and LinkedIn linked), cites 6 peer-reviewed studies, and the site has a clear About page with real practitioner bios. Page B ranks; Page A doesn't, even with identical word count and keyword usage.