E-E-A-T and AI: how to show experience and trust

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust. It is a concept from Google's guidelines for judging the quality of content. For AI visibility it matters just as much. AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude want to give reliable answers. So they prefer to mention a business that shows it knows what it is talking about and can be trusted.

What do the four letters mean?

• Experience. Have you done it or lived through it yourself? An installer who shows which heat pumps he fitted last year is showing experience.
• Expertise. Do you have the knowledge and skills? Think of qualifications, certifications and explanations that are accurate.
• Authoritativeness. Do others see you as a source? That shows in mentions, links and citations on other websites.
• Trust. Is your information correct, up to date and honest? Are you reachable and transparent? Google calls trust the most important of the four.

E-E-A-T is not a score you can look up somewhere. It is a way of looking at quality. Search engines and language models use many different signals that together form a picture.

Why E-E-A-T also counts for AI

When answering a question, an LLM chooses which information to use and which businesses to mention. With live search it fetches pages and weighs up which sources look most reliable. Pages with clear authors, concrete examples and confirmation from other sites come out stronger.

On top of that, AI assistants are careful about making mistakes on health, money or safety. On those topics they look even more closely at trust. If you are a dentist, a financial adviser or a municipality, E-E-A-T matters even more for you. Also read how ChatGPT chooses which businesses to recommend.

Showing experience on your website

Experience is the easiest to show, yet many businesses forget it. Tips:

1. Write about real projects. A painter in Amersfoort can describe per job what the problem was, what he did and what the result was. With photos.
2. Use your own words and details. Generic text that could be on any website says nothing. Specific details do: which materials, how long it took, what you would do differently.
3. Let customers speak. Reviews and short customer stories prove that you really do the work. See reviews and AI recommendations.
4. Say how long you have been doing it. The year you were founded and the number of completed projects (if you genuinely track it) are clear signals.

Building expertise and authority

You show expertise with content that is accurate and goes beyond the basics. Answer the questions customers actually ask. Add who wrote each article, with a short bio and relevant background. A museum, for example, can let its curator talk about a collection.

Authority mostly comes from outside. When trade magazines, local media, industry associations or directories write about you, AI sees that you are a recognised player. Those are often exactly the sources AI cites. Read more in mentions on other sites and local press and PR for AI.

Trust: getting the basics right

Trust is the foundation. Without it, experience and expertise do little. Check these points:

• A clear about page covering who you are, where you are based and how you work.
• Full contact details: address, phone number, email and company registration number.
• The same business details on your website, in your Google Business Profile and in directories. See consistent business details online.
• Up-to-date information: no old prices, outdated opening hours or services you no longer offer.
• Clear terms, a privacy statement and a secure website (https).
• Honesty: also say what you do not do. It makes you more credible.

Supporting E-E-A-T technically

You can help language models understand your signals with structured data. With schema.org you mark up who your organisation is (Organization or LocalBusiness), who wrote an article (Person, via author) and where else you can be found online (sameAs). That way AI links your website to your profiles elsewhere. You will find an example in structured data for LocalBusiness. The concept of entities helps here too.

Frequently asked questions

Is E-E-A-T a ranking factor?
Not as a single measurable factor. It is a framework for quality. The signals behind it, such as mentions, reviews and clear authors, do influence search results and AI answers.

Does every article need an author?
For substantive articles it is wise. A name with a short background makes clear who is responsible for the content.

How quickly will you see results?
It varies by topic and by model. Changes to your website can be picked up quickly through live search. Outside authority takes longer to build. Also read how long GEO takes.

See whether AI trusts you

Want to know whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude already mention you as a reliable choice? Take the free AI check. You get a report with opportunities and the sources the models use. Want to follow every week whether your improvements are working? You can with GEO tracking.