E-E-A-T is not a single ranking signal — it is a framework Google's human quality raters use to evaluate search results, which in turn informs algorithm updates. The framework applies especially strictly to "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) topics such as health, finance, and legal advice.
The four components
- Experience — has the author personally used or observed what they are writing about.
- Expertise — does the author have relevant knowledge or credentials.
- Authoritativeness — is the site or author recognised as a source in the field.
- Trustworthiness — is the content accurate, transparent, and safe.
Example
A medical page written by a named MD, published on a hospital domain, and reviewed by a second physician demonstrates all four E-E-A-T signals and is far more likely to rank on YMYL queries than an equivalent anonymous post.
How SEM Optimiser reports it
The E-E-A-T audit checks each page for author bylines, credentials, review dates, and citations to primary sources.
Related terms
- Topic Authority
Topic authority is a search engine's assessment of how comprehensively and expertly a site covers a subject area, influencing rankings across the whole topic.
- Entity SEO
Entity SEO is the practice of optimising a brand or website's presence in search engines' entity graphs so it is correctly identified and disambiguated across queries.
- Schema Markup
Schema markup is structured data written in the schema.org vocabulary that helps search engines understand a page and qualifies it for rich results.
- AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)
Answer Engine Optimisation is the practice of structuring content so it is selected and cited by answer-first engines including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google's AI Overviews.