Google Confirms You Can’t Add EEAT to Your Web Pages
Google’s John Mueller provided an overview of EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) at the Search Central Live NYC event, explaining why it matters for some sites, and why SEOs cannot simply “add” it to a website.
EEAT’s Relationship with Quality Raters and YMYL Websites
John Mueller explained that EEAT is primarily used to help third-party quality raters assess the quality of search results. He made it clear that EEAT was not created as a ranking factor guide for SEOs. In fact, he explicitly stated that’s not how it works.
Notably, Mueller emphasized that EEAT plays a role algorithmically for websites covering topics related to health, finance, or other areas Google classifies as “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL).
According to my notes, which include some paraphrasing, he said:
“EEAT is one of the ways we assess page quality. It stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. We instruct third-party quality raters to consider these factors when evaluating pages. Additionally, we incorporate EEAT into our algorithms when assessing queries or topics where reliability is critical—what we call ‘Your Money or Your Life’ pages. In these cases, users need content they can trust.”
Three Key Takeaways About EEAT
John Mueller made three critical points about EEAT—points that some SEO experts have been emphasizing for years:
1. EEAT Is Not Something You Can Add to Web Pages
In his follow-up statements, Mueller dismissed the idea that SEOs can “add EEAT” to their pages like they would keywords or internal links. That’s not how EEAT works. If your SEO strategy involves “adding EEAT,” you’re approaching it incorrectly.
2. EEAT Cannot Be Directly Tested
Mueller reiterated that EEAT is not a checklist of elements an SEO can simply insert or test for. For example, creating an AI-generated bio, linking it to a fake LinkedIn profile, and calling it “EEAT” does not work. Trustworthiness, a key component of EEAT, is something that must be earned—often reflected in organic recommendations from real users.
3. The Specific EEAT Signals Are Unknown
While EEAT influences Google’s assessment of content quality, nobody outside of Google truly knows the exact signals it uses. This means there’s no definitive way to “optimize for EEAT” in the way SEOs optimize for traditional ranking factors.
Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-confirms-you-cant-add-eeat-to-your-web-pages/543177/
Google’s John Mueller provided an overview of EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) at the Search Central Live NYC event, explaining why it matters for some sites, and why SEOs cannot simply “add” it to a website.
EEAT’s Relationship with Quality Raters and YMYL Websites
John Mueller explained that EEAT is primarily used to help third-party quality raters assess the quality of search results. He made it clear that EEAT was not created as a ranking factor guide for SEOs. In fact, he explicitly stated that’s not how it works.
Notably, Mueller emphasized that EEAT plays a role algorithmically for websites covering topics related to health, finance, or other areas Google classifies as “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL).
According to my notes, which include some paraphrasing, he said:
“EEAT is one of the ways we assess page quality. It stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. We instruct third-party quality raters to consider these factors when evaluating pages. Additionally, we incorporate EEAT into our algorithms when assessing queries or topics where reliability is critical—what we call ‘Your Money or Your Life’ pages. In these cases, users need content they can trust.”
Three Key Takeaways About EEAT
John Mueller made three critical points about EEAT—points that some SEO experts have been emphasizing for years:
1. EEAT Is Not Something You Can Add to Web Pages
In his follow-up statements, Mueller dismissed the idea that SEOs can “add EEAT” to their pages like they would keywords or internal links. That’s not how EEAT works. If your SEO strategy involves “adding EEAT,” you’re approaching it incorrectly.
2. EEAT Cannot Be Directly Tested
Mueller reiterated that EEAT is not a checklist of elements an SEO can simply insert or test for. For example, creating an AI-generated bio, linking it to a fake LinkedIn profile, and calling it “EEAT” does not work. Trustworthiness, a key component of EEAT, is something that must be earned—often reflected in organic recommendations from real users.
3. The Specific EEAT Signals Are Unknown
While EEAT influences Google’s assessment of content quality, nobody outside of Google truly knows the exact signals it uses. This means there’s no definitive way to “optimize for EEAT” in the way SEOs optimize for traditional ranking factors.
Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-confirms-you-cant-add-eeat-to-your-web-pages/543177/
