E-E-A-T: Trust Signals

What is E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is the framework Google's Search Quality Evaluators use to assess the quality of a page and its creator. Originally "E-A-T" (added in 2014), the second "E" for Experience was added in December 2022.

E-E-A-T is not a direct algorithmic ranking signal — there is no "E-E-A-T score" — but the signals that demonstrate it (backlinks, authorship, structured data, citations) are deeply embedded in Google's ranking systems. In 2026, it also influences how AI systems evaluate content to cite in answers.

The four dimensions

Experience

Does the author have first-hand, real-world experience with the topic?

A product review written by someone who actually used the product vs. one scraped from a spec sheet
A travel guide written by someone who visited vs. an AI-generated overview
A medical article written by a practicing doctor

How to demonstrate it:

Include personal experience narratives: "When I implemented this for a client in 2025, I noticed..."
Show real examples, screenshots, results
Mention specific situations, dates, and outcomes

Expertise

Does the author have formal or demonstrated knowledge of the topic?

A security researcher writing about HTTPS vs. a general content writer
An SEO professional writing about technical SEO

How to demonstrate it:

Author bio with credentials, certifications, and experience
Links to other published work on the topic
In-depth, accurate, technically correct content
Cite authoritative sources

Authoritativeness

Is the site/author recognized as a credible source by others in the field?

External sites linking to your content
Being cited by reputable publications
Mentions in industry roundups and resource lists
Presence in knowledge bases (Wikipedia, Wikidata)

How to build it:

Earn quality backlinks from relevant, authoritative sites (see Backlinks & Link Authority)
Get featured or quoted in industry media
Build a consistent publication record on your niche topic
Create linkable assets (original research, tools, glossaries)

Trustworthiness

Is the content accurate, honest, and the site safe to use?

This is the most fundamental dimension — Google considers it the most important of the four.

How to demonstrate it:

HTTPS with a valid certificate (see HTTPS & Security)
Accurate, up-to-date information with clear publication and update dates
Transparent authorship — real names, bios, contact information
Clear editorial standards (corrections, disclosures)
Privacy policy and terms of service
No deceptive design patterns (hidden fees, dark patterns)

Why E-E-A-T matters for GEO

AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini are trained to surface content from trusted, authoritative sources. The trust signals that satisfy E-E-A-T are the same signals AI systems use to assess source credibility:

Backlinks = the web "vouching for" your content
Author credentials = expertise signal parsed from structured data and bio pages
Accurate, well-cited content = reliability signal for RAG pipelines
Brand presence (social profiles, mentions, Wikipedia) = entity recognition

Sites with strong E-E-A-T are more likely to appear in AI-generated answers and less likely to be filtered out as unreliable sources.

Implementing E-E-A-T technically

Author schema

Add Person JSON-LD for each author:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Person",
  "name": "Jane Smith",
  "url": "https://example.com/authors/jane-smith",
  "description": "Senior developer with 10 years of experience in web performance.",
  "sameAs": [
    "https://twitter.com/janesmith",
    "https://linkedin.com/in/janesmith",
    "https://github.com/janesmith"
  ],
  "knowsAbout": ["Web Performance", "GEO", "JavaScript"]
}

Organization schema

Demonstrate institutional trust with Organization markup:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Organization",
  "name": "Web4Agents",
  "url": "https://web4agents.org",
  "logo": "https://web4agents.org/logo.png",
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "ContactPoint",
    "contactType": "customer service",
    "email": "contact@web4agents.org"
  },
  "sameAs": [
    "https://twitter.com/web4agents",
    "https://linkedin.com/company/web4agents"
  ]
}

`sameAs` links for entity recognition

The sameAs property links your entity to its profiles on external platforms. This is critical for entity recognition by AI systems and knowledge graphs:

"sameAs": [
  "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q...",
  "https://twitter.com/yourbrand",
  "https://linkedin.com/company/yourbrand",
  "https://github.com/yourbrand"
]

Visible author bios

Every article should have a visible author byline and a link to a bio page. The bio page should include:

Full name and professional title
Photo
2–3 sentence bio with credentials
Links to social profiles and other published work
Schema.org Person markup

About page

A detailed /about page signals organizational trust. It should explain:

Who runs the site
Editorial standards and fact-checking policy
Corrections policy
Funding/business model (important for YMYL topics)

YMYL: Your Money or Your Life

Google applies especially strict E-E-A-T standards to YMYL content — topics where inaccurate information could harm a user's health, finances, safety, or wellbeing (medical advice, legal guidance, financial planning, etc.).

If your content touches YMYL topics:

All content should be created or reviewed by qualified professionals
Display credentials prominently
Include review dates and expert reviewer names
Cite primary sources (studies, official guidelines)

What is E-E-A-T?

The four dimensions

Experience

Expertise

Authoritativeness

Trustworthiness

Why E-E-A-T matters for GEO

Implementing E-E-A-T technically

Author schema

Organization schema

sameAs links for entity recognition

Visible author bios

About page

YMYL: Your Money or Your Life

Practical E-E-A-T checklist

`sameAs` links for entity recognition