E-E-A-T – Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness – remains a core component of Google’s search quality rating guidelines heading into 2026, but its evaluation is increasingly automated and integrated with systems like the Helpful Content Update and the Search Generative Experience (SGE). It’s no longer a direct ranking *factor* but a principle informing how Google assesses overall content quality and relevance.
As of December 2025, Google’s systems analyse content based on signals indicating these qualities. For Australian businesses, this means Google’s algorithms now heavily consider factors like author credentials (verified through schema markup), the presence of factual accuracy checks (supported by tools like Google Fact Check Explorer, available in Australia), and website security (HTTPS compliance is standard). The Helpful Content System, continually refined, identifies content primarily created for search engines rather than users. In 2026, Google’s SGE will further leverage E-E-A-T by prioritising information from sources deemed highly trustworthy when generating AI-powered overviews. Platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs currently offer tools to audit E-E-A-T signals, measuring factors like backlinks from authoritative Australian domains (.au) and content freshness. These tools don’t *improve* E-E-A-T, but they report on the signals Google is likely assessing.
Ultimately, E-E-A-T functions as a framework for Google to determine if content is valuable, reliable, and created with the user’s intent in mind, influencing visibility within search results and AI-generated summaries.
