Mohsen Avid on E-E-A-T: Why Google Now Rewards Real Expertise Over Anonymous Content

The CEO of Kholaseh Agency explains how Google’s quality framework is reshaping SEO, brand authority, and the future of digital content

In today’s search landscape, publishing more content is no longer enough. As artificial intelligence tools make it possible to generate large volumes of articles within minutes, Google has placed far greater emphasis on one critical question: Who is behind the content, and why should users trust them?

This is where E-E-A-T has become one of the most important concepts in modern SEO. The framework, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness, is now widely considered a central part of how Google evaluates the quality and reliability of online content.

Mohsen Avid, CEO of Kholaseh Digital Marketing Agency, believes this shift marks a major turning point for brands, publishers, and SEO professionals.

“Google is no longer evaluating content only by looking at keywords, backlinks, or technical structure,” Avid explains. “The search engine is increasingly trying to understand whether the content comes from a credible source, whether the author has real experience, and whether the brand behind the page can actually be trusted.”

Why Author Identity Has Become a Core SEO Signal

For years, many websites relied on large-scale content production without paying much attention to author identity, editorial standards, or brand credibility. According to Avid, that approach is becoming increasingly ineffective.

“The internet is now filled with content that looks polished on the surface but has no clear author, no real experience, and no accountable source behind it,” he says. “When content can be produced so quickly, Google needs stronger signals to separate useful information from generic noise.”

Avid compares the situation to entering a massive library with millions of books and no visible author names. In such an environment, readers naturally look for signs of credibility: the author’s background, the publisher’s reputation, previous work, references, and public recognition.

“Google is doing something similar at algorithmic scale,” he adds. “It looks for digital evidence of credibility. Has this person written about the topic before? Is the brand known in this field? Are other trusted sources mentioning them? Is the content based on real experience or simply rewritten from existing pages?”

In his view, the era of faceless content is coming to an end. Websites that publish hundreds of anonymous articles without clear expertise may struggle to build lasting visibility in search results.

Understanding the Four Elements of E-E-A-T

Avid explains that each element of E-E-A-T plays a different role in how Google evaluates content quality.

The first element, Experience, refers to direct, first-hand involvement with the subject. For example, a product review is stronger when written by someone who has actually used the product. A travel guide is more valuable when created by someone who has visited the destination. A business case study is more convincing when it is based on real client work or internal data.

“Experience is what separates practical content from generic content,” Avid says. “It shows that the author is not only collecting information but has actually interacted with the subject.”

The second element, Expertise, focuses on knowledge and professional competence. This becomes especially important in technical, financial, legal, medical, and other sensitive topics where inaccurate information can harm users.

“Google expects a higher level of expertise in complex fields,” Avid explains. “If a topic can affect someone’s money, health, safety, or major life decisions, the content needs to come from people who truly understand the subject.”

The third element, Authoritativeness, is about recognition. A brand or author becomes authoritative when others in the industry refer to them, cite them, interview them, mention them, or rely on their insights.

“Authority is not something you can simply claim,” he says. “It is earned when the market, the media, other websites, and professional communities recognize you as a reliable source.”

The fourth and most important element is Trustworthiness. According to Avid, trust is the foundation of the entire framework.

“Trust includes accuracy, transparency, secure websites, clear contact information, honest business practices, proper sourcing, and even how users talk about the brand,” he notes. “Without trust, the other three elements lose much of their value.”

Why E-E-A-T Matters More for YMYL Topics

One area where E-E-A-T becomes especially critical is YMYL content. YMYL stands for Your Money or Your Life, referring to pages that can influence a user’s health, finances, legal decisions, safety, or overall well-being.

Avid says that brands operating in sectors such as finance, investment, medicine, law, insurance, news, parenting, or public policy cannot afford to ignore E-E-A-T.

“In these fields, content quality is not just about ranking higher,” he explains. “It is about responsibility. Google applies stricter expectations because poor information can lead to real-world harm.”

For businesses in YMYL industries, Avid recommends building content systems around qualified authors, transparent sourcing, expert review, and visible brand credibility.

“At Kholaseh Agency, we usually advise clients in sensitive industries to treat author identity and organizational trust as part of their SEO strategy,” he says. “The article itself matters, but the credibility behind the article matters just as much.”

AI Content Has Made E-E-A-T More Important, Not Less

The rise of generative AI has changed the way brands produce content. However, Avid believes AI has not reduced the importance of human expertise. Instead, it has made it more valuable.

“Google is not against AI,” he says. “Google itself is one of the biggest players in artificial intelligence. The real issue is not AI-assisted content; the issue is anonymous, unverified, low-accountability content.”

According to Avid, AI can be useful for research, outlining, drafting, editing, and improving workflows. But the final content still needs human judgment, expert review, original insight, and clear accountability.

“AI can assist the process, but it should not replace the expert,” he explains. “The strongest content will be the content where AI improves efficiency, while real people add experience, analysis, examples, and trust.”

He also believes E-E-A-T will become important beyond traditional Google Search. AI-powered search engines and answer engines increasingly rely on recognizable, credible, and well-sourced information.

“If a brand has no authority signals, no expert identity, and no trustworthy footprint, it may not appear strongly in the new generation of search either,” Avid says.

Practical Steps Brands Should Take

Avid believes brands should stop thinking of E-E-A-T as a theoretical SEO concept and start treating it as a practical brand-building strategy.

The first step is making author identity visible. Articles should include the writer’s name, background, professional experience, and where relevant, a short biography. For expert topics, the reviewer or consultant behind the content should also be clear.

The second step is strengthening the About Us page. A generic About page is no longer enough. Brands need to explain who they are, what they do, who is on the team, what experience they have, and why users should trust them.

The third step is creating content based on real experience. Instead of producing generic articles that repeat what competitors have already said, brands should use internal data, client experience, case studies, original examples, product testing, and practical insights.

The fourth step is improving source transparency. If an article mentions a statistic, study, regulation, market trend, or technical claim, it should clearly reference reliable sources.

“Small trust signals add up,” Avid explains. “A cited statistic, a named author, a real company address, a transparent editorial process, and a useful About page may seem like separate details, but together they create a stronger trust profile.”

He also emphasizes the importance of off-page credibility. Mentions in reputable websites, interviews, industry collaborations, expert quotes, digital PR, and high-quality backlinks can all help build authority.

The Future of SEO Belongs to Brands With a Clear Identity

For Avid, the biggest lesson of recent SEO changes is simple: content without identity is losing power.

“E-E-A-T is more than a ranking framework,” he says. “It reflects a broader direction in the web. In a digital world filled with repetitive and machine-generated information, users and search engines both need credible voices.”

He believes brands should invest less in producing endless anonymous articles and more in building real authority.

“Ten strong articles written or reviewed by credible experts can be more valuable than hundreds of generic pages with no author, no experience, and no trust,” Avid concludes. “The future of SEO belongs to brands that are not only visible, but credible.”