EEAT is Google's framework for assessing content quality, originally three letters (E-A-T) and expanded in 2022 to include Experience. It shows up in their Search Quality Rater Guidelines as the lens human reviewers apply when scoring pages.
The four letters:
- Experience — does the author have first-hand experience with the subject? A medical article from someone who's worked in the field outranks one from a content-mill writer.
- Expertise — does the author have demonstrable subject knowledge? Credentials, prior body of work, citation by other experts.
- Authoritativeness — is the publisher recognized as a leading source? Citations from established domains, brand recognition, "the place" for this kind of content.
- Trustworthiness — is the page accurate, transparent about sources, secure (HTTPS), and clear about who's behind it?
Why it matters for AEO
AI engines lean heavily on the same signals when picking which sources to cite. A page with a clear author byline (Person schema with credentials and prior writing) outperforms an anonymous corporate post on identical content. Citation comes from trust signals just as much as ranking does.
What b/cited does about it
Three places:
- Author bylines on blog posts carry Person schema (not Organization) — names a human, makes the experience+expertise claim
- Briefs suggest internal-link patterns that reinforce topical authority across the site
- Site readiness audit flags missing Author/Person schema as an AEO warn
The author-credibility half of EEAT is the cheapest lift available — set it once, every future page inherits the signal.