For more than a decade, not a lot has changed in the fundamentals of speaking to Google’s algorithm. The 2014 roll out of the site’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines brought with it the introduction of E-A-T; ever since almost all content indexed by Google has been ranked as it relates to expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. But recently, something changed.
The rise and continuing advancement of AI and LLMs transformed the way we interact with the internet, making information and content creation more accessible than ever. As the way we seek out and create media changes, so too does how we define useful, valuable content.
In 2022, Google welcomed the era of AI with a new metric, experience, an addition to E-A-T intended to help creators make good use of new technologies. That addition helps to explain the role of E-E-A-T in AI-driven search rankings.
E-E-A-T is an acronym coined by Google to explain the factors its algorithm considers when ranking indexed web content. Understanding what the engine means by E-E-A-T and how to speak to these factors in digital content is the key to ranking well for relevant search terms.
It’s important to see E-E-A-T as a framework rather than a standalone metric. In other words, every step Google’s bots and algorithms take to rank content is performed with these factors in mind, examining various key metrics to define the value of content to search engine users.
E-E-A-T stands for:
Content that meets all of these criteria is awarded by Google with a higher position in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for relevant terms. Google says the reasoning behind this is to boost the visibility of helpful information and dissuade the creation of low-quality content.
It’s no coincidence that Google’s E-E-A-T update was announced in the same year that Chat GPT was first introduced to the public. The links between the strengthening of E-E-A-T and the rise of AI-generated content are clear, Google has said as much themselves, but content creators often mistake the introduction of the extra E as an outright attack on AI as a whole.
The truth is a bit more nuanced. Google wants to facilitate a great search experience for its users, that means hindering low-effort content and promoting high-quality content. AI, when used incorrectly, can produce large amounts of derivative content, but when used to optimize workflows and enhance well-researched posts AI can be the key to meeting E-E-A-T criteria.
Google isn’t attacking AI; it’s encouraging people to use it correctly. Let’s expand on this idea.
In 2024, Google added AI overviews into its results pages, an innovative service designed to generate quick answers to queries backed by high-quality sources. Adding an AI tool to your own platform isn’t something a company trying to eliminate AI would do. This gives credence to the idea that Google sees the value in AI-driven search, provided AI tools are used wisely.
Similarly to Google’s traditional featured snippets. Content containing well-sourced, well-written information and answers to popular questions in clear, simple language is highly-likely to be referenced in AI overviews. In other words, using AI to optimize content with E-E-A-T in mind can be an effective SEO technique.
Another indication that Google and its competitors see the value in AI-driven search can be seen in the rise of native AI search engines. While Google is still (by far) the most commonly used search engine, holding an 83% market share of search, AI-driven search tools native to services like Chat GPT are growing wildly, indicating that the way people search is changing.
Chat GPT alone saw its search traffic rise by 950% between 2022-2023, facilitating as many as 200 million active monthly users as of 2024. This type of growth isn’t something a site like Google overlooks, further solidifying the importance of AI to the future of search as a whole.
Finally, search engines like Google are well-aware of the rise of AI-powered content creation and SEO tools. Thought leaders and business owners of all sizes can leverage solutions like RivalFlow AI to build more efficient workflows and optimize content for their target audience, levelling the field in terms of SEO to build a more competitive, value-oriented search market.
Data published in 2023 reveals 84% of marketers see the value in aligning web content with search intent using AI tools, with 74% believing AI will be essential to raising SERP rankings in the coming years. The takeaway? The adoption of AI for SEO is rising, as is the popularity of AI-driven search, meaning we need to learn how to apply E-E-A-T principles to AI content.
Learning how to apply E-E-A-T to AI content, alongside understanding the role of E-E-A-T in AI-driven search, is likely to be critical to achieving great SERPs positions for years to come.
The key is to continue writing from a human perspective, including valuable insights, unique experiences and well-sourced research in posts, while also utilizing AI tools to help optimize content and save time. Below is some guidance for meeting E-E-A-T standards in AI search.
The main purpose behind E-E-A-T is to make helpful content more accessible to web users, both in traditional and AI-driven search. The most effective way to speak to this purpose is to include real experiences written by credible professionals in all the content you post online.
Google’s algorithm views the following factors as signs of authority, expertise and trust:
While many of the same SEO practices that speak to traditional ranking factors also benefit AI search, there are some unique quirks to consider. Primarily, in order to rank your website on ChatGPT and other AI search tools, you need to leverage the benefits of brand mentions.
AI-driven search considers brands that are mentioned more often online to be more valuable as an answer to search queries. So, when a user asks what’s the best smartphone? or show me the best nearby restaurant AI algorithms usually return the most popular relevant answer.
To optimize your brand for AI search, try to get mentioned in organic comments, reviews and listicles posted on trustworthy sites. To optimize your content for AI search, add well-sourced research, professional credentials and ensure your posts follow a simple well-defined format.
The last important tip to meet E-E-A-T standards in AI-driven search is simply to ensure your writing is clear and easy-to-read. AI algorithms view conversational text as highly-valuable to web users as well as find content with clearly-labelled headings far easier to scan and index.
This is where AI content creation tools can be helpful, providing outlines, bullet points, and headings that human writers can fill with unique and useful information. Short paragraphs, simple answers and well-researched explanations all address the core principles of E-E-A-T.
The role of E-E-A-T in AI-driven search is simple, to raise the visibility of helpful content and disincentivize the creation of low-quality content. Google and other popular search engines see the value in AI as a tool to improve user experiences, provided creators use it correctly.
AI-driven search rankings consider helpful, credible and unique content as highly-valuable to web users, meaning content creators should focus on demonstrating authoritativeness, trust and expertise in everything they write. Using AI tools to speed things up and fine-tune writing to be clear and easy-to-read can help site owners of all sizes rank well in AI-driven search.
