Where E-E-A-T came from, and what each letter means
The history of Google E-E-A-T from the 2018 Medic update to the December 2022 addition of Experience, what Your Money or Your Life pages are, and what Google means by Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
Contents
A market street of four stalls. A rater with a clipboard walks past two stock stalls, with grey signs and blank panels, and each gets a quiet "no". The third stall has a hand-lettered sign reading "Pell's Mending", photos of its work, a credentials plaque and an open card. A lamp hangs over it with the tags E, E, A and T lit above it. A neighbour points at it, the rater ticks the board, and a queue of customers forms in front of it.
Where E-E-A-T Came From
Three steps: E-A-T in the Search Quality Rater Guidelines since 2015, a 176-page manual for human quality raters, raters evaluate results to help train Google's algorithms.
The original version - E-A-T, without the first "E" - has been in Google's Search Quality Rater Guidelines since at least 2015. These guidelines are the 176-page manual Google gives to its human quality raters, the people who evaluate search results to help train Google's algorithms.
For years, E-A-T quietly shaped how Google thought about content quality. Then two things happened that made it matter a lot more.
The Medic Update (August 2018)
On August 1, 2018, Google rolled out what the SEO industry called the "Medic Update." It hit health, medical, and financial websites hardest - sites where bad information could genuinely harm people. Marie Haynes, one of the most respected E-A-T researchers in the industry, documented that sites with weak author credentials and no demonstrated expertise were the ones that dropped.
The pattern was clear: Google was starting to enforce E-A-T principles algorithmically, especially for what it calls YMYL topics.
Four market stalls stand on the top rung of a four-shelf ladder under the label "Aug 2018". Two have a credential plaque on the back wall and stay put. The two without a plaque slide down three shelves to the bottom rung, rocking slightly as they go.
YMYL: Your Money or Your Life
YMYL is Google's classification for content that could affect someone's health, financial stability, safety, or well-being. Medical advice, legal guidance, financial planning, news - these are YMYL topics.
The bar for E-E-A-T is significantly higher on YMYL content. A blog post about hiking trails can be written by anyone who's hiked them. A blog post about whether you should take a specific medication? Google wants a licensed professional behind that one.
Two gates on a street. A low bar over "hiking trails" that a walker in boots hops over. A high bar over "which medication" that the same walker can't get over: they stop, hop short and walk away. A walker with a licence badge on the chest comes in from the right and clears the high bar.
For local businesses, this matters more than you might think. If you're a contractor giving advice about electrical safety, or a financial advisor writing about retirement planning, your content falls under YMYL. The standards apply.
The December 2022 Update: Experience Gets Added
On December 15, 2022, Google updated the Search Quality Rater Guidelines and added "Experience" as a new dimension. E-A-T became E-E-A-T. The guidelines grew by 9 pages, from 167 to 176.
The reasoning was straightforward: expertise comes from knowledge, but experience comes from doing. A nutritionist can have expertise in diet planning. A person who actually lost 50 pounds through diet changes has experience. Google decided both matter - and sometimes experience matters more than credentials.
Three tiles read E, A, T on a shelf. The tiles slide right, and a new E drops in at the front and settles, so the shelf reads E, E, A, T. A tag under the shelf counts from 167 pages to 176 pages. Beside it, a person holds up a certificate, labelled expertise. Next to them, a person's belt, loose at first, is drawn in close to the waist, labelled experience.
Google's blog post announcing the update said it directly: "There are some situations where really what you value most is content produced by someone who has first-hand, life experience on the topic at hand."
What Each Letter Actually Means
Four steps lighting in turn: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness.
Experience
This is about first-hand involvement. Did the person writing the content actually do the thing? Have they used the product, visited the location, performed the service?
Signals Google looks for:
- Original photos and videos (not stock images)
- Personal anecdotes and specific observations
- Details that only someone who's been there would know
- Content that reflects direct involvement, not just research
For a local business, this is almost unfair in your favor. You have the experience. You've fixed the pipes, served the food, rented the boats. The question is whether your website demonstrates that.
Two photos pinned to a board. A rater's magnifying lens passes over the first, a stock handshake with a diagonal "STOCK" watermark, and moves on. It stops on the second, a photo of a boat dock with a tide mark chalked on one post. A tick lands and the dock's frame lights up.
Expertise
Expertise is about depth of knowledge. For YMYL topics, formal credentials matter - degrees, certifications, licenses. For non-YMYL topics, practical knowledge and demonstrated skill count just as much.
Signals:
- Author credentials and bios
- Depth and accuracy of content
- Technical proficiency in the subject matter
- Content that goes beyond surface-level information
Two wells stand side by side on the street, each with a frame and pulley over it. A plumb line is lowered into each. The shallow well's weight hits a floor after a short drop. The deep well's line keeps paying out until it finds water, and a small name-and-bio tag hangs on the line above the weight.
Authoritativeness
This is reputation. Are other people citing you? Do industry sources link to your content? Are you mentioned in local media, trade publications, or professional directories?
Signals:
- Backlinks from relevant, trusted sites
- Mentions in press, media, or industry publications
- Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across the web
- Active Google Business Profile with reviews
For local businesses, authoritativeness is heavily tied to local presence. Google reviews, local directory listings, chamber of commerce memberships, local news mentions - these all build authority in Google's eyes.
A market street with a real stall in the middle and a grey stall at the far left that no one points to. A newspaper box, a directory board, a chamber plaque and a five-star review card each send a line to the middle stall in turn, and it lights as each arrives. A customer asks "who's good?", and a passer-by points at the lit stall.
Trustworthiness
The foundation of the whole framework. Google considers trust the most critical factor. A page that isn't trustworthy simply doesn't deserve to rank, regardless of how much experience or expertise it demonstrates.
Two shop doors on one street. A visitor walks up to the left door, which has a shut padlock, an address plate, an open card in the window and posted terms, and goes in. A second visitor walks up to the right door, where the padlock hangs open and broken, there is no plate, and the terms are covered over. That visitor stops, then backs away the way they came.
Signals:
- HTTPS (secure connection)
- Clear contact information and physical address
- Transparent business practices
- Accurate, honest content
- Positive reviews and reputation
- Privacy policies and terms of service