Technical SEOPublished02.05.2026

Google E‑E‑A‑T

A set of criteria from Google‘s Search Quality Rater Guidelines: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness.

In brief

E‑E‑A‑T (formerly E‑A‑T) are quality evaluation principles used by Google‘s human raters. They are not direct algorithmic ranking factors but serve as a guideline for creating helpful, trustworthy content, especially in YMYL niches.

What is Google E‑E‑A‑T

E‑E‑A‑T is not an algorithm but a set of criteria described in Google‘s Search Quality Rater Guidelines. Human raters use these criteria to evaluate search quality during experiments. While they are not direct ranking factors, Google uses hundreds of signals that correlate with E‑E‑A‑T.

Breakdown of components

  • Experience: Does the author have first‑hand experience with the product or service?
  • Expertise: Does the author have formal education or recognised knowledge in the field?
  • Authoritativeness: Do other industry leaders link to or mention the site?
  • Trustworthiness: Can the site be trusted? Includes HTTPS, contact info, return policies, absence of deceptive practices.

Why E‑E‑A‑T is critical for YMYL

YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) covers topics that can impact health, finances, or safety. Google holds such sites to a higher E‑E‑A‑T standard. For example, medical advice should come from a licensed physician, and financial advice from a certified expert.

Low E‑E‑A‑T in a YMYL niche can lead to manual actions or automatic ranking drops, even if the site is technically perfect.

How to improve your site‘s E‑E‑A‑T

  • Detailed About and Contact pages with real address and phone number
  • Author bios stating their qualifications
  • Display certificates, licences, awards
  • Collect and show genuine customer reviews
  • Use HTTPS and protect user data
FAQ

Common questions

There is no direct 'E‑E‑A‑T' factor in the algorithm. However, Google uses many signals (links, citations, domain history, author activity) that together form an assessment close to what raters call E‑E‑A‑T.
There is no separate 'E‑E‑A‑T update'. The guidelines are refined gradually, and trust signals are updated continuously.
Less critical, but still important. Even a humour site should convince users it‘s not a scam. Basic trust (Trust) is always necessary.
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