Expertise the query demands

Whether the page demonstrates the credible expertise its target query calls for - judged against what the ranking pages show.

For queries about health, money, safety, legal matters, and buying advice, search engines hold results to a higher standard: the pages that win name their authors, show credentials, and demonstrate first-hand experience - real testing, real practice, real data. A page competing for such a query with anonymous, second-hand copy is at a structural disadvantage no amount of on-page tuning fixes.

When this is flagged

The report flags this when the target query is one where searchers and search engines demand credible expertise, the ranking pages demonstrate it - named authors, credentials, first-hand testing - and this page shows none.

When this is not flagged

Queries that do not reward demonstrated expertise (navigational queries, simple product or service lookups) are judged "not applicable" rather than flagged.

How to fix it

Put a real, qualified human behind the content. Name the author, state their relevant credentials or experience, and link to an author page that substantiates them. Where the content makes claims, ground them in first-hand evidence - what you tested, measured, or practised - rather than paraphrasing other sources.

Learn more

• Author pages and bylines - making the expertise behind content visible and verifiable