Module 20: E-E-A-T, Citations & Authority Patents
25+ patents on author credibility, reputation, topic authority, author vectors, PageRank, link context, TrustRank, site quality, fact-checking, and topical authority.
Overview
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) is Google's framework for evaluating content quality. This module reveals the patent mechanisms that actually operationalize E-E-A-T as algorithmic signals — not just guidelines for content raters.
The E-E-A-T Patent Framework
Experience Signals
US8150842B2 - Reputation of an Author of Online Content
Year: 2011-2013
How Author Reputation Grows:
- Third-party reviews of author's work
- Publication history and consistency
- Time-based reputation accumulation
- Author's track record across content
Key Finding: Reputation grows over time with consistent quality output. New authors start with lower scores, which increase as they publish and earn recognition.
US8645396B2 - Reputation Scoring Over Time
Year: 2013-2015
Temporal Author Scoring:
- Author reputation scored at point in time
- Historical consistency weighted
- Topic-specific reputation (not generic)
- Engagement from credible sources as reputation signal
Expertise Signals
US8458196B1 - System for Determining Topic Authority
Year: 2012-2013
Topic Authority Mechanism:
- Extracts key phrases from document
- Identifies topic signatures per author
- Compares author's topic coverage to domain experts
- Creates per-topic expertise profile for each author
Key Insight: Expertise is topic-specific. An author can be an expert in oncology but not in financial planning. Topic authority is not transferable across unrelated domains.
US20210004416A1 - Topical Authority Ranking (2021)
Year: 2021
Moves Beyond Domain Authority:
- Modern topical authority is page-level, not just domain-level
- Sites that cover a topic comprehensively rank higher for that topic
- "Topical authority" is earned through depth + breadth of coverage
- Single-topic specialized sites can outrank generalist authorities
Website Representation Vector (2018)
Three-Tier Expertise Classification:
| Tier | Classification | YMYL Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Expert | Credentialed professional | Required for medical, legal, financial |
| Apprentice | Practical experience | Acceptable for some YMYL |
| Layperson | Personal experience | Insufficient for YMYL |
Authoritativeness Signals
US6285999B1 - PageRank (Authority Foundation)
Year: 1998-2001
Domain Authority Basis:
- Links from high-authority pages pass authority
- Recursive authority calculation
- Authority measured relative to entire web graph
- Foundation of all modern authority signals
US7603350B1 - TrustRank
Year: 2006-2012
Trust Propagation Mechanism:
Seed Sites (Wikipedia, .gov, .edu, established authorities)
↓
Trust propagates through outgoing links
↓
Trusted sites pass trust to what they link to
↓
Trust decays with link distance from seeds
↓
Sites with only spam links receive minimal trustUS7565358B2 - Agent Rank
Year: 2005-2007
Author Credibility via Signed Links:
- Concept: Authors "sign" content with their identity
- Author credibility propagates across all their content
- A trusted author publishing on a lower-authority site can overcome the site's authority deficit
- Key mechanism behind author-driven E-E-A-T
US9875313B1 - Ranking Authors and Content in Same Framework
Year: 2017
Unified Author-Content Ranking:
- Author reputation and content quality evaluated together
- Author score contributes to page ranking
- Content quality can enhance or diminish author score
- Bidirectional relationship
Trustworthiness Signals
US9684871B2 - Efficient Fact Checking
Year: 2016-2018
Multi-Source Fact Verification:
- Claims extracted from content
- Claims compared against web sources
- Claims cross-referenced with structured databases
- Claims checked against encyclopedic sources (Wikipedia)
- Fact confidence score assigned
- High-confidence facts = trusted content signal
US9015037B2 - Interactive Fact Checking System
Year: 2013-2015
Fact Check Integration:
- Real-time claim verification
- Source quality weighting
- Contradictory fact detection
- Fact confidence propagates to page trust score
US8707459B2 - Content Originality
Year: 2012-2013
Originality as Trust Signal:
- Original content = trustworthy (created by real author)
- Copied content = lower trust (not the original source)
- Originality threshold: >80% preferred
- Below 50% = potential trust penalty
Author Entity Patents
US11275895B1 - Author Vectors
Year: 2020-2022
Writing Style Fingerprint:
- Neural network extracts unique writing pattern
- Consistent style = same author (identity signal)
- Author vector associated with verified expertise areas
- Inconsistent style across "same author" = content farm signal
US8606792B1 - Scoring Authors of Posts
Year: 2012-2013
Author Post Scoring:
- Quality of individual posts affects author score
- Low-quality posts reduce author score
- High-quality posts increase author score
- Score aggregated across authorship history
E-E-A-T Engineering Checklist
1. Author Entity Build (US8150842B2, US11275895B1)
[ ] Dedicated author page with full credentials
[ ] Photo of author (not stock photo)
[ ] Education and professional background listed
[ ] Publications, certifications, years of experience
[ ] Author linked to ALL authored content via rel="author"
[ ] Person schema on author page
[ ] Off-site mentions: guest posts, interviews, podcasts
[ ] LinkedIn profile matching author page claims2. Topical Authority Map (US8458196B1, US20210004416A1)
[ ] Map all content to topical clusters
[ ] Pillar page per core topic (comprehensive coverage)
[ ] Multiple spoke pages per subtopic
[ ] Cross-link spokes to pillar AND to each other
[ ] Avoid off-topic content diluting authority3. Trust Signals Stack (TrustRank family)
[ ] Privacy Policy + Terms of Service
[ ] SSL certificate (HTTPS) — required
[ ] Business contact information visible (About + Contact)
[ ] Physical address displayed
[ ] Press mentions from authoritative sources
[ ] Wikipedia or Wikidata page for organization4. Fact-Check Layer (US9684871B2)
[ ] Primary source link for every factual claim
[ ] Date of data included
[ ] Government or .edu sources where possible
[ ] No uncited statistics5. YMYL Compliance (Website Representation Vector 2018)
[ ] Medical/financial/legal content: Expert credentials required
[ ] Professional qualifications displayed near content
[ ] Professional guidelines referenced (CDC, AMA, IRS, ABA)
[ ] Credentials are verifiable (license numbers, certifications)Key Patents Referenced
| Patent | Title | Year |
|---|---|---|
| US8150842B2 | Author Reputation | 2011-2013 |
| US8458196B1 | Topic Authority | 2012-2013 |
| US20210004416A1 | Topical Authority Ranking | 2021 |
| US9684871B2 | Fact Verification | 2016-2018 |
| US7603350B1 | TrustRank | 2006-2012 |
| US7565358B2 | Agent Rank | 2005-2007 |
| US11275895B1 | Author Vectors | 2020-2022 |
| US9875313B1 | Ranking Authors and Content Together | 2017 |
| US8126882B2 | Credibility of Authors of Online Content | 2011-2013 |
Next Steps
- Reviews & FTC Module — Review signals and compliance
- Agent Rank Author Audit — Apply E-E-A-T signals
- Social Trust Module — Social authority signals