What is E-A-T and why is it important for SEO?

Content

E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — principles from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines. In 2025, it has evolved into E-E-A-T (adding “Experience”), which is central to ranking in both Google Search and AI-driven Overviews.

Why it matters:

With AI summarizing answers, Google only wants to feature sources with clear authority and credibility. Example: A medical blog written by a doctor (with credentials shown) is more likely to appear than anonymous content. How to improve E-E-A-T:

(1) Show expertise: Add author bios with credentials.

(2) Demonstrate experience: Case studies, first-hand reviews, screenshots.

(3) Build authority: Earn links/mentions from reputable sites.

(4) Increase trust: HTTPS, transparent policies, verified contact info.

(5) Use structured data (author, organization, reviews) for context.

Further Reading:

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2022/12/google-raters-guidelines-e-e-a-t https://learningseo.io