E-E-A-T
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, the qualities Google says its search systems try to reward in helpful, reliable pages. Google says trust matters most of the four. E-E-A-T isn't one single thing Google scores. Google's systems look at a mix of clues that point to it, and its human raters check how well results show it.
Source: Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, checked October 29, 2026
What E-E-A-T means for your business
Google's guide gives three questions to ask of any page: who made it, how and why. Is there a byline where you'd expect one, and does it lead to more about that person? Was the page made mainly to help people?
The extra E, for experience, came in Google's rater guidelines in December 2022, and Google's examples are content from someone who has really used the product or visited the place. For a local business, that's photos of real jobs and notes on what you found, written by the person who did the work.
Google says the same SEO basics apply to its AI features, AI Overviews and AI Mode included. So we'd treat E-E-A-T as a checklist for what a stranger needs before they trust you: real names, real work, accurate facts and a way to reach you. We'd read authority as what respected sites in your field say about you, which is the part you can't write yourself.
If your site is full of know-how but nothing shows who wrote it or what they've done, showing your expertise to Google and AI tools is where we'd start.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview cited Google's own guide alongside SEO tool blogs, YouTube and Instagram, and said Google doesn't score E-E-A-T directly. ChatGPT cited only Google's guide and said much the same.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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