What is EEAT in blogging and SEO?
No, I have not mispelled ‘eat’ and eating has nothing to do with this acronym. The SEO term EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. It is basically the framework that all search engines use to evaluate the quality of your content, including reliability, credibility, and whether or not they’re going to rank your website. This is for content that will influence not only the search engines but also AI.
EEAT is not a direct ranking factor that you can simply click a button on or off. It is the basis for how you should build all of your content. It is used by Google and most modern AI-driven search platforms to decide which content is accurate, safe, and worth displaying to the Searcher. Let’s go through each of these so that you know how to structure your content and data so that you will show up more for search engines and in AI results.
Experience: People want to know that you have first-hand knowledge
And the AI generator wants to know it too. They will only produce information if they think your site has the experience and you’ve actually done or have experience with something that you’re writing about. They’re going to look for strong experience signals such as:
- Firsthand knowledge of a product or service
- Real examples or case studies
- Scenarios of working with the product or service
- Original photos or media about the product or service
- Personal outcomes and observations
AI and the search engines are not going to display generic summaries, Rewritten or regurgitated content, or no evidence of real-world involvement. This means you’ll want to put in quotes experience, and data from actual experience.
“For instance, this is me, telling you that we have worked in the SEO realm since 2004 and have made multiple pivots and updates over the years following Google algorithms and changes, I can actually and personally give you the authority that I know a little something about SEO.” – Tammy Emineth
Expertise: Demonstrated knowledge
This is more about depth and accuracy. AI and Google want to know if the content shows a strong understanding of the topic, the concepts are explained correctly, and the information is complete and nuanced. How can you do this in your content?
- Provide a detailed explanation of documents, work, series, service, or products
- Use correct terminology
- Clearly explain processes and Frameworks
- Have an accurate use of data
- Avoid oversimplification
Expertise is not necessarily developed by saying that you’re an expert, but by how well the topic is handled and responded to. Shallow or light content that doesn’t really touch the surface rarely performs well long-term.
Authority: Brand recognition beyond the website
How many people actually link to you? Authority is external validation. Backlinks are important. Do other websites reference your website? Is your branding or service or business known in your circles? Is the content aligned with the standards of your industry? These include, but are not necessarily limited to:
- Backlinks from relevant, trusted, high domain authority sites.
- Constant mentions across the internet
- Multiple citations that match an industry relevance
- Brand searches and recognition
- Consistent publishing history
I understand that authority has to grow over time. You’re not going to start a business and immediately have the authority and be well-known in your industry. However, it is built through consistent, high-quality content and output with a defined topic. Keep at it and it will be rewarded.
Trust: Transparency, reliability, and accuracy
Does your brand, service, or product provide trust? It is the foundation that holds everything together. Trust signals include up-to-date information, accurate details, clear authorship and transparent business information, clear contact details, secure website infrastructure for visitors, and honest disclosures.
Try and stay away from Anonymous content, any clickbait headlines, outdated information, inaccurate or incorrect details, or no way to actually verify who is behind the site… you know who we are! Tim and Tammy Emineth – an SEO team for over 2 decades!
Trust definitely is earned and is determined by whether the content is ranked consistently or not at all.
EEAT matters more than ever
“Now, experience, expertise, trust, and Authority matter more than ever. With the rise of AI-generated content that cannot accurately explain experience, we need this type of ranking to filter out low-quality content or mass-produced content, reduce misinformation, protect users from harmful advice or information, and favor real-life experiences and expertise over Anonymous, generic content.” – Tammy Emineth SEO Marketer
This is not just a checklist to go through but a system to maintain. It is built through publishing experience-driven content and being transparent over time. When you have a strong EEAT on site, you continually rank better, you survive a lot of algorithm updates and changes, you will appear in AI-generated overviews and responses, and you will build your long-term SEO traffic.