Picture two pages answering the same question with the same facts. A named physiotherapist signed the first. It links to a bio page, cites the guideline it's based on and shows when it was last reviewed, and it sits on a site with an address and a page saying who runs it. The second is "by admin", undated, with no contact page. Google can't read a qualification, but it can read the evidence, and so can the reader.
Making that evidence visible is the whole job. Below you'll see what each quality looks like on a page, what to add, and why AI assistants lean on the same signals.
What E-E-A-T is, and what it isn't
The terms come from Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines, a public document given to the people Google pays to evaluate search results. Raters don't rank pages. Their judgements are used to check whether changes to Google's systems make results better or worse, and the guidelines describe what a high-quality page looks like so those systems can be tuned towards it.
Google is direct about this in its guidance on creating helpful content. E-E-A-T itself isn't a specific ranking factor, but its systems use a mix of signals that can identify content showing these qualities. So you won't find an E-E-A-T tag to add. You work with signals, on the page and around the web, that together look like a trustworthy source. For the short definition, see E-E-A-T in the glossary.
Two details shape everything else. The guidelines say trust is the most important quality, and the others are ways of establishing it. The bar also rises with the stakes: the guidelines call topics that could affect someone's health, finances, safety or wellbeing "Your Money or Your Life" topics and hold them to a higher standard. A site giving tax advice needs more visible evidence than one reviewing headphones.
Experience is the newest piece. Google added it as the first E in December 2022, announcing the change on its Search Central blog, so first-hand use counts alongside formal expertise.
What each quality looks like on a page
Experience is proof you've done the thing. Use your own photos instead of stock images, and write the sentence only a person on site would write, like "we fitted this in a 1930s terrace and the problem was the joists". A page assembled from other pages has none of this.
Expertise is knowing the subject at the depth it demands, and saying who knows it. You need a byline naming a real person, linked to a bio that states what qualifies them. The content itself has to get the hard parts right instead of skating past them.
Authoritativeness is whether others treat you as a source. Look for links and mentions from sites in your field, quotes in other people's work, and listings alongside the credible businesses in your subject. Most of this is earned off the page, and the authority chapter covers how.
Trustworthiness is whether the page and the site are accurate and honest. Back claims with sources and show a true visible date. Add an about page, and a contact page with a real way to reach you. Where money changes hands, publish clear policies. Leave out anything that misleads, such as fake reviews, hidden advertising or an unsupported "best in the UK".
Google's helpful content guidance gives you a frame that covers all of it: who created the content, how, and why. If a page answers those questions honestly and visibly, it usually carries the signals it needs.
What to add, page by page and site-wide
Most sites can close the gap in an afternoon, because what's missing is structural rather than editorial.
- Give every article a byline naming a real person, linked to a bio page that states their relevant experience or qualifications in plain words. "Editorial team" and "admin" are the absence of a signal.
- Build an about page that says who the business is and why it's qualified, and a contact page with a real way to reach you.
- Cite sources for any claim a reader might doubt. Link to the primary source, not to a blog that cited it.
- Show a date on every article, plus a "reviewed" date where the subject changes. Keep both honest.
- Add first-hand evidence to your most important pages: your own photos or measurements, and a paragraph only someone who did the work could write.
- Mark up what's real with structured data. Organization markup carries your name, logo and contact details, and Article markup names the author. Google's structured data gallery lists both as rich result types, and a profile page for each author helps too. Even when no enhanced listing appears, the markup removes ambiguity about who is behind the page.
- Don't fake any of it. Google's review snippet guidelines treat a business rating itself on its own page as ineligible, and its spam policies cover fabricated reviews and deceptive content. A made-up credential becomes a trust signal in reverse the day someone checks it.
The same signals decide who AI assistants trust
AI assistants face the problem Google's raters face. They can't verify expertise, so they rely on what's visible. A page with a named author and cited sources is easier to cite with confidence than an anonymous one. An organisation whose name, address and description match everywhere they appear is also easier to recognise as an entity. Brand mentions and entity SEO takes the entity side further.
Frequently asked questions
What does E-E-A-T stand for?
It stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. The terms come from Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines, which the company's human raters use to judge search results. Experience was added as the first E in December 2022, so first-hand use now sits beside formal knowledge.
What are the E-E-A-T principles?
Experience is proof you've done the thing yourself. Expertise is real knowledge of the subject, attached to a named person. Authoritativeness is other sources treating you as a reference, and trust is accuracy and honesty across the page and the site. Trust matters most, and the other qualities are ways of earning it.
How can I increase my E-E-A-T score?
There's no score to raise, because Google doesn't assign one to your page. What you can do is make the evidence visible: bylines linked to real bios, cited primary sources, honest dates, an about page, a contact page and first-hand photos or measurements. Markup that names your author and organisation makes those signals easier for machines to read.
How do I learn SEO as a beginner?
Work through the Academy lessons in order, and apply each one to a real site as you go. This lesson is a good early test, since you can check your most important article against the list in an afternoon. Writing down what's missing teaches you more than reading about it.
What to take away
- E-E-A-T is what Google's quality raters are told to look for, and Google's systems are tuned towards it, but there's no tag for it, only visible evidence.
- Trust is the quality the others serve, and topics that affect health, money or safety are held to a higher bar.
- Experience and expertise live on the page: bylines, bios, first-hand evidence, sources and honest dates. Authority is earned off the page.
- Structured data and consistent business details make the signals machine-readable, and faking any of them costs more than leaving them out.
Next
Trust signals matter most where an AI assistant picks a handful of sources. Continue with How AI assistants choose what to cite.