AI + E-E-A-T = Happy Google 🙂 | Solid Media

Help! Is AI going to take over my job?

As an SEO copywriter, I got a bit worried when I thought ChatGPT (AI) was going to take over my job. ChatGPT is a great tool to use to get started with writing, find inspiration, and get help with copy. But to keep Google happy, AI alone is not enough.

Google identifies and understands what is written by robots and what is written by humans. But to distinguish these two even further, Google added another E to E-A-T (a quality assurance framework) on December 15, 2022.

E-E-A-T stands for: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (or in Norwegian, erfaring, ekspertise, autoritativitet og pålitelighet).

According to Danny Sullivan, AI content is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it is important to remember that content should primarily be written for people – not bots and algorithms. This also became very clear in Google’s new algorithm update in the fall of 2022, Helpful Content Update.

What does this new Eén mean?

The new E stands for experience and will play an important role going forward. Google has long emphasized E-A-T and requires authenticity, high quality, and strong user experience in content. Going forward (perhaps partly out of concern that AI might take over the world), Google is putting even more weight on content quality and on who the author is. When Google evaluates experience as part of content quality, it does so by assessing how much hands-on experience the author has with the topic.

How to make AI content credible for Google?

In Christopher Hofman and Olivia Stokholm’s talk on “E-E-A-T & AI – Make your AI content trustworthy for Google”, it became clear that we simply have to add E-E-A-T into the mix to make AI content credible for Google.

But how do we get the best combination of AI and E-E-A-T, and earn ourselves a top ranking with a happy Google?

First and foremost – see AI as a tool, not a threat

ChatGPT is a great way to get started with writing. You also need to add E-E-A-T. So use ChatGPT as a tool to reach your goals faster! In the following points, imagine that you have used AI as a support tool to write a text. To make it credible for Google, you need to remember this:

1. Use an expert or everyday expert as the sender

Did you know that Google runs a background check on the author?

The author’s experience and expertise will play an increasingly important role going forward. Just as you run background checks on candidates for a position, Google checks how qualified the author is to speak and have an opinion on a given topic.

If you are not an expert in the field yourself, you can increase the credibility of your content by including quotes from an expert. You can also reference expertise by linking to relevant articles.

2. Illuminate the topic from every angle – make the article objective

Google values objectivity. In this context, objectivity means that the content primarily serves the needs of the consumer, not the sender.

An objective text is one that addresses the reader’s needs and provides all the necessary information about the case/product, both positive and negative. In this context, user tests, customer cases, and customer reviews are extremely valuable.

For example, objective information on a beauty salon’s website could be:

Which symptoms are common after treatment?
When should you call a doctor?
Before and after image
Customer reviews from people who have undergone the treatment
What experience/education do the practitioners have?

3. Remember YMYL!

If your website provides readers with advice to help them make important decisions, this can be categorized as YMYL (Your Money Your Life). This is content that can have a direct impact on the reader’s life, health, safety, or finances.

Google introduced YMYL to ensure content quality, with a particular focus on websites in health, finance, or similarly complex subject areas that provide advice and guidance.

YMYL now covers a broader area than before. In reality, this applies to all pages and everyone who publishes content online. When you sell products or services to consumers, accurate information is also critical. If you collect personal data or process payments online, you are also handling sensitive data.

That’s why E-E-A-T is not only relevant for SEO. It also matters for e-commerce, as a product recommendation from someone who has tested the product and compared it with competing products will achieve better rankings.