E-E-A-T comes from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, the handbook used by thousands of people Google hires to rate the quality of search results. It was E-A-T until December 2022, when Google added the extra E for Experience.
- Experience: has the creator actually used the product, visited the place or done the job?
- Expertise: do they have the knowledge or skill the topic needs?
- Authoritativeness: is the creator or site a recognized go-to source for this topic?
- Trustworthiness: is the page accurate, honest and safe? Google calls trust the most important part.
Is it a ranking factor?
Not directly. There’s no E-E-A-T score in Google’s algorithm, and raters’ scores don’t change rankings for individual sites. Raters’ feedback is used to judge whether Google’s systems are working. But those systems are built to reward the same qualities, using many signals that line up with E-E-A-T. So in practice, improving these qualities tends to line up with what Google rewards, particularly after core updates.
Why it matters
The bar is higher for YMYL topics, those that can affect health, money or safety. A dental practice writing about gum disease treatment is firmly in that category. Brightside Dental’s article on “early signs of gum disease” is far more convincing when it’s written or reviewed by a named dentist with credentials, includes the practice’s own photos and case notes, and links to the dentist’s bio page.
How to show E-E-A-T on your site
Experience
- Use your own photos and real examples: “Last month we replaced a 15-year-old tank in a Round Rock garage…”
- Write from first-hand knowledge, not rewritten from other articles
Expertise
- Name authors and reviewers, with short bios and relevant qualifications
- Go deeper than generic advice
Authoritativeness
- Earn mentions and links from respected local and industry sources
- Keep your business details consistent across the web
Trust
- Make contact details, address and ownership easy to find
- Publish clear policies (privacy, returns, pricing)
- Show genuine online reviews
- Keep facts current and cite sources
Common mistakes
- Adding fake author bios or stock-photo “experts”
- Treating E-E-A-T as a checklist of badges instead of genuine credibility
- Hiding who runs the business
- Publishing AI-written health or finance advice with no expert review
RankThat’s Site Audit includes trust checks such as missing author names, missing dates and missing trust pages (about, contact, privacy), and on WordPress its AI fixes can draft trust pages for you to review.