3.1 Authority & EEAT

In a world flooded with AI-generated noise, AI models (and their developers) prioritize Authority as a proxy for truth.

E-E-A-T Explained

Google's framework is highly relevant to GEO:

• Experience: First-hand usage. "I tested this..."
• Expertise: Credentials. "Dr. Smith, PhD in..."
• Authoritativeness: Industry reputation. Citations from other experts.
• Trustworthiness: Secure site, clear policies, accuracy.

Why LLMs Love Authority

LLMs are probabilistic. They want to minimize the "perplexity" (surprise/error) of their output.

• Data from a trusted source (e.g., Mayo Clinic, Wikipedia, Government sites) has a higher probability weight.
• Aligning your content with these high-weight sources makes your content "safer" for the AI to cite.

Building Authority for GEO

1. The Author Entity

Ensure your content has a clear byline.

• Create robust author bio pages with links to LinkedIn, other publications, and speaking engagements.
• The AI should be able to identify who wrote this and why they are qualified.

2. Digital Footprint / Knowledge Graph

Help AI understand your brand as an entity.

• Wikidata/Wikipedia: If eligible, get a page.
• Crunchbase/LinkedIn: Ensure profiles are consistent.
• Schema Markup: Use Organization and Person schema to explicitly tell the AI who you are.

3. Backlinks (Still Matter)

While GEO focuses on content, backlinks are still a primary signal of authority for the underlying search engine that feeds the RAG system. High-quality mentions > quantity of links.