What Is E-E-A-T? Experience, Expertise and Trust for Local Business Websites

E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. It’s a framework from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines that describes what reliable, helpful content looks like. Google added the first E, for experience, in December 2022. And although it’s often called one, Google says E-E-A-T itself isn’t a specific ranking factor.

This guide explains where E-E-A-T comes from, what Google actually says about it, and the practical things a local business can do to show experience, expertise and trust on its website. It’s part of our SEO hub.

Where E-E-A-T Comes From

Google works with search quality raters. In its guide to creating helpful, reliable, people-first content, Google describes them as “people who give us insights on if our algorithms seem to be providing good results.” Raters follow a long document called the Search Quality Rater Guidelines, and E-E-A-T is one of its central ideas.

Raters don’t decide rankings. The same guide says “Search raters have no control over how pages rank” and “Rater data is not used directly in our ranking algorithms.” Their feedback helps Google check whether its systems seem to be working.

Experience was added in December 2022

For years the framework was E-A-T: expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. An earlier version of this article described it that way. On December 15, 2022, Google’s Search Central blog announced that E-A-T was getting an extra E for experience. The idea is that some content is most useful when it comes from someone who has actually done the thing. Google’s example contrasts help with a tax form, where you’d want an accounting expert, with reviews of tax software, where a forum discussion among people who have used different services may be what you need.

What Google Says About E-E-A-T and Ranking

This is where many SEO articles go wrong. Google’s helpful content guide says: “While E-E-A-T itself isn’t a specific ranking factor, using a mix of factors that can identify content with good E-E-A-T is useful.” The December 2022 post says the rater guidelines “don’t directly influence ranking.”

So there’s no E-E-A-T score to raise, and no E-E-A-T scan that tells you how Google rates your site. What Google describes instead is a goal its systems try to reward: content that is helpful, reliable and made for people. E-E-A-T is a useful way to check whether your pages meet that goal.

Trust matters most

Of the four parts, Google says “trust is most important.” Experience, expertise and authoritativeness feed into it. A page can be written by an expert and still fall short on trust if it’s inaccurate, misleading or hides who is behind it.

Higher stakes for YMYL topics

Google calls topics that could significantly affect people’s health, financial stability or safety, or the welfare or well-being of society, “Your Money or Your Life,” or YMYL. Google says its systems give even more weight to content that aligns with strong E-E-A-T on these topics. Many local businesses touch YMYL subjects, especially dental and medical practices, law firms and financial advisors. For those sites, accurate information and clear credentials matter even more.

Start With Helpful Content

The most direct way to show E-E-A-T is to publish pages that genuinely help the reader. Google’s guide includes a set of self-assessment questions, and one asks whether your content “clearly demonstrate[s] first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge.” That’s an advantage for a local business, because you do the work every day. Put that knowledge on the page:

• Explain how you actually do the job, step by step, rather than a generic description anyone could write
• Answer the questions customers ask you on the phone, in your own words
• Describe situations you see in your area, such as local codes, weather or conditions that affect the work
• Use your own photos of your work, team and premises instead of stock images
• Keep facts current, and update pages when regulations or services change

A simple test: read one of your pages and ask whether a customer could tell, from the page alone, that someone who does this work in your area wrote it. If the page could belong to any business in any city, it isn’t showing much experience. Rewrite it with the details only you would know, such as the questions you hear most, the mistakes you see customers make, and how you handle a job from the first call to the finish.

Our guide to SEO content goes deeper on writing people-first pages.

Show Who Is Behind the Content

Google suggests evaluating content in terms of “Who, How, and Why.” On the who, it says: “We strongly encourage adding accurate authorship information, such as bylines to content where readers might expect it.” It also suggests bylines lead to background about the author and the areas they write about.

Author information

For articles, add a byline with a real person’s name and a short bio: their role, how long they’ve done the work, and any relevant licenses or certifications. Link the byline to an author page. Google warns against “deceptive authorship information,” so never invent experts or credentials.

The about page

Your about page is where visitors go to check who you are. Include how long you’ve been in business, who runs it, where you’re located and what you specialize in. Name the people customers will deal with. If you hold licenses, insurance or professional memberships, say so and make them easy to verify.

How and why

Google’s guide also asks how content was produced and why. If you used automation or AI to help create content, Google suggests disclosing it where readers would reasonably expect that. On the why, Google says it should be that you’re “creating content primarily to help people,” not mainly to attract search engine visits.

Trust Signals for Local Businesses

Trust comes from details that let a visitor confirm you’re real and reliable. On a local business site, check these:

• Contact details: phone number, email or contact form, and address or service area, easy to find on every page
• Consistent business information: the same name, address and phone number on your site, your Google Business Profile and directories. Our guide to local citations and NAP explains why
• Reviews: real customer reviews, with your responses, especially on your Google Business Profile
• Licenses and credentials: license numbers, certifications and insurance where your trade requires them
• Clear policies: a privacy policy, terms, and warranty or return policies where they apply
• A secure site: HTTPS on every page, and forms that work
• Accurate claims: no promises you can’t keep, no fake reviews and no made-up statistics

These aren’t items Google ticks off a list. They’re what a careful customer looks for before calling you, and they line up with the qualities Google’s guidance describes. Being open about how you work matters with marketing partners too, which we cover in our guide to transparency in agency partnerships.

What E-E-A-T Is Not

• Not a score or a single ranking factor
• Not a checklist that guarantees rankings once it’s complete
• Not something a plugin or a scan can measure
• Not only about credentials, because experience from doing the work counts too

Technical issues are a separate matter. Broken pages, redirects and indexing errors matter for SEO in their own right, and our guide to technical SEO covers them, but they aren’t part of E-E-A-T. The same goes for links: earning them from real partners is covered in our guide to link building.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does E-E-A-T stand for?

Experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. It comes from Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines, and Google says trust is the most important of the four.

When was experience added to E-A-T?

Google announced the extra E for experience on its Search Central blog on December 15, 2022, as part of an update to the Search Quality Rater Guidelines.

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?

Not directly. Google says E-E-A-T itself isn’t a specific ranking factor and that rater data isn’t used directly in its ranking algorithms. Its systems use a mix of factors that can identify content with good E-E-A-T.

What are YMYL topics?

Your Money or Your Life topics are ones that could significantly affect people’s health, financial stability or safety, or the welfare or well-being of society. Google says its systems give even more weight to strong E-E-A-T on these topics.

How can a small business show E-E-A-T?

Write helpful pages that show first-hand experience, add accurate author information and a clear about page, keep contact details and business information consistent, and show real reviews and credentials.

Get Help Building a More Trustworthy Site

Local Blitz has worked with local businesses since 2009, from offices in San Diego, Encinitas and Indianapolis. We help you put your real experience on the page, tighten up author and about information, and fix the trust signals customers look for. We report on the calls, leads and rankings that follow, and plans are month-to-month. Book a free strategy call and we’ll review your site with you.