E-E-A-T for Healthcare Content: What Google Wants to See on a Therapist Website

E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It's not a directly measurable score, but a collection of signals that Google's evaluators (and increasingly, Google's algorithms and AI models) use to determine if a page is trustworthy enough to display highly. For YMYL content (Your Money or Your Life: finance, health, law), the bar is higher than for other topics.

Why Healthcare Content Has a Higher Bar

A blog about interior styling can give bad advice without serious consequences. An article about trauma, medication, or treatment advice can harm someone. Google knows this and therefore filters healthcare content more strictly. A beautifully written article without a clear author or source attribution will hardly score here, no matter how good it is.

The Seven Minimal Signals on a Therapist Website

1. A Recognizable Author Per Article

Every article should show who wrote it, with a name, title, and short bio. No vague "editorial team" attribution. Preferably with a link to a more extensive 'about' page and a professional photo. A Person schema in JSON-LD also makes this information machine-readable.

2. Demonstrable Qualifications and Registrations

On your 'about' and 'approach' pages, state which training(s) you have completed, which registrations (NVPA, NIP, BIG, SBLP, SE-practitioner, NARM-master), and which professional association you are affiliated with. Where possible, add a link to your public profile with that association so it is verifiable.

3. Experience: How Many Clients Have You Treated

Since 2022, Google explicitly includes "experience." State how many years you've been in practice, how many clients or trajectories you've guided, or what specific experience you have with the complaint you are writing about. Not boasting, but factual: "since 2018, I have guided an average of twenty clients per year in trauma trajectories."

4. External Authority: Mentions and Memberships

Display logos of your professional association, links to interviews or publications where you were featured, and guest lectures or training sessions you've given. This is external authority, and it carries more weight than self-proclaimed expertise.

5. Supervision and Intervision

An often-forgotten E-E-A-T signal for therapists: state that you participate in supervision and intervision, and which ethical code you follow. It shows that you work within a professional framework and have your work reviewed by colleagues.

6. Transparent Source Attribution in Articles

In your content articles, refer to evidence-based sources: scientific research, standard works (Van der Kolk, Levine, Porges), or guidelines from professional associations. Preferably with a direct link and an attribution to the author or organization. Plagiarism without a source is fatal for YMYL content.

7. Visible Date of Last Update

Display prominently at the bottom of each article when it was last updated. For healthcare content older than two years, trust decreases. Plan an annual review of your key pages and update the date if you make substantive changes.

What to Avoid

Stock photos of happy people on your 'about' page. Testimonials without verifiable sources. Claims like "the best therapy for burnout" or "guaranteed quick results." General health advice that does not fit your field of work. Any form of vagueness where Google expects a verifiable fact weakens your E-E-A-T.

Next Step

Open your own 'about' page, your 'approach' page, and any article from your knowledge base. Check them against these seven signals. Which ones are missing? Start with the three that yield the most with the least effort: visible author per article, qualifications on the 'about' page, and date of last update. Then tackle the rest at your own pace.

Perplexity announced a Premium Health Sources program in June 2026. For health and care questions, the LLM weighs sources with explicit professional registration and peer-reviewed references significantly more. This directly impacts E-E-A-T: what was previously a 'nice to have' (visible credentials, external references) becomes a 'must have' for AI citation in healthcare.

Four Additional Signals That Now Carry More Weight

One: place your BIG, SKJ, NVPA, NVRG, or SE registration number in the visible text of your 'about' and treatment page, not just in the footer. Two: link your professional association via a sameAs property in your Person or MedicalBusiness schema (NVPA, NIP, BPSW, SBSE). Three: state where you completed your training and who your supervisor is in a short visible bio. Four: refer to peer-reviewed sources via pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov in healthcare content articles, and do so in the text, not just in a footnote.

Mini-Template for Your 'About' Page

A working formula: 'I am [name], somatic therapist [BIG/SKJ number], trained at [educational institution] and affiliated with [professional association with direct link]. I work under the supervision of [supervisor's name, registration].' Three lines, meeting the guidelines LLMs will use in 2026 to weigh your expertise.