E-E-A-T Audit for the AI Era
The problem
E-E-A-T checklists hide the decision that matters
A byline, date, source, or markup field is not a Trust verdict. You need to connect the reader decision, possible consequence, inspectable evidence, and one accountable action.
Signals without evidence
A checked box says you looked. The evidence log says what the page actually supports.
YMYL as the only boundary
High-stakes pages need the strongest safeguards, but product and editorial pages also influence real decisions.
Audit without handoff
A finding becomes useful only when it has one owner, dependency, verification path, and claim limit.
The method
Trust does not stop at YMYL
Use stronger safeguards when health, safety, money, rights, employment, or civic consequences are plausible. Apply the same evidence discipline proportionately when a page shapes a product, service, or editorial decision.
8
evidence categories inspected
1
material action per page
0
E-E-A-T scores
How it works
Five steps from page stakes to accountable action
The learner makes every substantive decision. AI checks only the current decision point and never becomes the source of truth.
1. Frame the stakes
Name what the reader needs, may do, and could experience if the central information is wrong.
2. Inspect evidence
Separate observed facts and locations from what was not found, did not apply, or could not be verified.
3. Build the Trust chain
Choose the Trust basis, gap, limit, reliance conclusion, action, and priority.
4. Draft one ticket
Turn the material gap into one learner-edited ticket with owner, dependency, verification, and claim limit.
5. Review the handoff
Add an accountable note, review the deterministic pack, and submit the exact current version.
Your deliverable
E-E-A-T Trust Action Pack
A traceable record that an editor or owner can act on without mistaking missing evidence for fact.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is this Play only for YMYL pages?
No. YMYL is the familiar high-stakes subset. The Play also covers product, service, and lower-consequence editorial pages using safeguards proportionate to the reader consequence.
Does a byline or Person markup prove E-E-A-T?
No. Those can make responsibility inspectable, but they do not prove expertise, experience, or factual accuracy by themselves.
Does the Play give an E-E-A-T score?
No. It records evidence, a bounded reliance conclusion, and an implementation action instead of turning Trust into a synthetic score.
What if the live page cannot be fetched?
Continue from a faithful learner-supplied record, mark affected Trust areas as Could not check, and do not treat the failed fetch as a learner failure.
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