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Glossary

What is E-E-A-T?

Also known as EEAT, E-A-T, experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness

Definition

E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. It is the set of qualities Google's search quality raters use to judge content, and Google says trust is the most important of the four.

Key points

  • E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness.
  • Google says it is not a ranking factor on its own, but its systems look for signals that match it.
  • Named authors, real credentials and clear business facts help both Google and AI engines trust a source.

What does it mean in practice?

Two pages give advice on choosing a mortgage broker. One is unsigned and generic. The other is written by a named adviser with years in the job, links to her regulated profile, cites its sources and shows when it was last reviewed. The second shows far stronger E-E-A-T.

Google sets out the idea in its guidance on helpful content. It says trust matters most, and that the other three feed into it. It also says E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor on its own, but strong E-E-A-T gets more weight on topics that affect health, money or safety. Google added the first E, for experience, in December 2022.

AI engines also have to decide which sources to rely on. Named authors, real credentials, first-hand detail, clear business facts and good reviews all make a source easier to trust. The signals that help in Google tend to help a page get cited in AI answers too.

Practical steps include author pages with Person schema, clear about and contact pages, and citing primary sources. Page optimisation in Axiom GEO scores pages on structured data, headings, meta, content and freshness. Our guide to E-E-A-T for AI search covers the rest.

These terms connect to E-E-A-T.

  • Entity, how engines recognise your business and your authors.
  • Schema markup, a way to state authors and business facts clearly.
  • Citation, which trusted pages are more likely to earn.
  • Hallucination, the kind of error trusted sources help reduce.

Common questions

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?

Not directly. Google says E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor. Its systems use a mix of signals that tend to line up with good E-E-A-T, and they give those signals more weight on topics that affect health, money or safety.

How do I show E-E-A-T on my website?

A good place to start is named authors with real bios, clear about and contact pages, and first-hand detail that shows you have done the work. Citing sources, showing when content was reviewed and keeping business facts consistent across the web all add to trust.
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Related reading

Guide

E-E-A-T for AI search

What E-E-A-T means for AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity, based on Google's guidance and the Search Quality Rater Guidelines, with practical steps.

Page optimisation for AI search

Page optimisation for AI search scores each page on the signals AI engines and Google weigh, with a pass or fail check, a fix list and missing schema.

Glossary

Entity

A plain definition of an entity in SEO and AI search, how engines tell similar names apart, and how to make your business clear.

Glossary

Schema markup

A plain definition of schema markup, how it describes a page to machines in plain terms, and what it can and cannot do for AI search results.

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AI crawler

A plain definition of AI crawlers such as GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot, what each type does, and why blocking one can cost you visibility.

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AI Mode

A plain definition of Google AI Mode, how it uses query fan-out, and how to see your AI Mode impressions in Search Console.

What is E-E-A-T? Meaning and examples | Axiom GEO