What is E-E-A-T?
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust: the qualities Google's search quality raters use to judge whether a page and the people behind it can be trusted. Google says E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor.
Cited from the66th.com/glossary/e-e-a-t
How E-E-A-T works
Google uses people, called search quality raters, to check whether its results are helpful, and gives them written guidelines that ask them to weigh four qualities. The guidelines name trust as the most important: an untrustworthy page has low E-E-A-T however expert it seems. Raters build the judgment from what a site says about itself, what independent sources say about it, and what the page itself shows.
Google added experience, the first E, to the older E-A-T in December 2022, to credit content from someone who has used the product, visited the place or lived the situation.
| Quality | The question raters ask | What it looks like for a plumber in Calgary |
|---|---|---|
| Experience | Has the creator done this first-hand? | Photos and notes from frozen pipes the team repaired last winter |
| Expertise | Does the creator have the knowledge or skill the topic needs? | A guide written or reviewed by a licensed plumber, named on the page |
| Authoritativeness | Is the creator or site a go-to source for the topic? | Coverage in local news, or membership in a trade association |
| Trust | Is the page accurate, honest, safe and reliable? | Real reviews, a street address, a phone number and accurate claims |
Why Google cares about E-E-A-T
Google's guidance on creating helpful content says its automated systems look for a mix of factors that show experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust, that trust matters most, and that E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor. The same page says raters have no control over how pages rank and rater data is not used directly in ranking; Google uses it the way a restaurant uses feedback cards from diners.
The Search Quality Rater Guidelines say the same from the raters' side: no single rating can directly change how a page appears in Google Search. The helpful content guidance adds that Google's systems give more weight to content with strong E-E-A-T on topics that can affect people's health, money or safety, which Google calls Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) topics.
What it means for your business
E-E-A-T is a checklist for reading your own pages the way a careful buyer would: who wrote this, have they done the work, and can I believe it. It matters most for a business whose advice touches health, money or safety, such as a clinic, an accountant or a contractor. A page written to entertain needs less of it.
It shows up in the writing: a named author with a profile, details only someone who did the job would know, and sources a reader can check. That is the work of our SEO copywriting.
Common mistakes
- Treating E-E-A-T as a score to raise. Google says it is not a specific ranking factor; improve what the reader sees instead: who wrote the page, how they know, and where the facts come from.
- Publishing articles with no author. Google encourages accurate bylines where readers expect them, linked to more about the person.
- Summarizing what other sites already say. Add what only your team knows, such as photos from real jobs and lessons from work you did.
- Inventing credentials or reviews. Raters judge trust from what independent sources say about you, and an untrustworthy page has low E-E-A-T however expert it looks.
Related terms
Sources: Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, 5 October 2026; Google, Search Quality Rater Guidelines, 11 September 2025; Google Search Central Blog, Elizabeth Tucker, Our latest update to the quality rater guidelines: E-A-T gets an extra E for Experience, 15 December 2022.