E-E-A-T
Google's framework for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — used to assess content and source quality.
Definition
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is the framework Google's Search Quality Evaluators use to assess the quality of a page and its creator. Originally "E-A-T" (2014), the second "E" for Experience was added in December 2022.
E-E-A-T is not a direct ranking score, but the signals that demonstrate it (backlinks, authorship, structured data, citations) feed into Google's systems. In 2026, similar trust signals influence how AI systems choose which content to cite.
Relevance to GEO
AI systems surface content from trusted, authoritative sources. Strong E-E-A-T signals (author bylines, Schema.org Person/Organization, citations, clear dates) improve the chance of being cited in AI-generated answers.