E-E-A-T
Also called: EEAT, E-A-T, experience expertise authoritativeness trustworthiness
Definition
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness: the qualities Google's search quality raters use to judge content. Google says trust matters most and that E-E-A-T is not itself a ranking factor.
E-E-A-T is shorthand from Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines. It started as E-A-T (expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness). On December 15, 2022, Google added a second E for experience: whether the content shows first-hand use of a product, a visit to a place, or lived experience of the topic.
How it works
The rater guidelines define each part:
- Experience: does the creator have first-hand or life experience? A review from someone who used the product beats one from someone who did not.
- Expertise: does the creator have the knowledge or skill the topic needs?
- Authoritativeness: is the creator or site known as a go-to source?
- Trust: is the page accurate, honest, safe and reliable?
The guidelines call trust the most important member of the family: an untrustworthy page has low E-E-A-T however expert it looks.
Two clarifications Google repeats. E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor; Google uses a mix of signals that tend to line up with it. And quality raters do not control rankings; their ratings help Google evaluate whether its systems are working. Google also weights E-E-A-T more heavily for "Your Money or Your Life" topics such as health and finance.
Why it matters for marketers
E-E-A-T is a useful self-check, not a checklist to game. It sits behind the same thinking as the helpful content update. Google's helpful content page frames it as "who, how and why": make clear who wrote it, explain how it was made, and make sure it was made primarily to help people. Fake author bios and invented credentials are treated as deception.
The experience E is the one most marketing content lacks. "Top 10 tools" lists written by people who never used the tools are exactly what it was added to filter.
How it plays out on Reddit
The experience signal helps explain why forum content gained ground in Google. Reddit threads are user-generated content full of first-hand accounts: "I ran this for 18 months, here's what broke." Google's May 2023 hidden gems announcement and its 2022 Discussions and forums feature both cite first-hand perspectives as the reason.
The rater guidelines also cover forums directly. An alias or username is an acceptable way to identify a forum poster. And a forum page full of "spammed" comments, unrelated posts meant to advertise a product or drop a link, should be rated Lowest. In other words, the same thing that makes a Reddit thread valuable (real experience) is what promotional spam destroys.
For a brand, the lesson is to reply like an expert with experience: specific numbers from your own use, honest limits of your product, disclosure of who you are when relevant. That reads well to Redditors and to every system that later quotes the thread.
Common mistakes
- Treating E-E-A-T as a score. There is no E-E-A-T metric to optimize.
- Faking authors. Google lists fabricated creator profiles as deceptive.
- Leaving out the experience. Generic advice anyone could write loses to a specific account of doing the thing.
Frequently asked questions
Is E-E-A-T a Google ranking factor?
Not directly. Google says E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor, but its systems use signals that help identify content with good E-E-A-T.
What does the extra E in E-E-A-T mean?
Experience. Google added it in December 2022 to capture first-hand or life experience with the topic.
Do Reddit posts have E-E-A-T?
Many do, through first-hand experience. Google's rater guidelines accept usernames as identification on forums, and rate pages full of spammed comments as lowest quality.