Google wrapped up its December 2025 core update on 29th December after an 18-day rollout. If you’ve noticed your rankings shifting over the festive period, you’re not alone, although according to Google, this was just “a regular update designed to better surface relevant, satisfying content for searchers from all types of sites.”
As with many core updates, some sites saw sharp gains, others saw sudden drops and many saw movement in waves rather than a single hit as Google recalibrated how it evaluates overall content quality, relevance and usefulness across the web. Despite the ‘nothing new to see’ messaging, this update doubled down on a theme Google has been pushing for years: helpful, reliable, people-first content wins over time.
Helpful People-First Content
That doesn’t mean longer content, more keywords or quick technical fixes. Google say they reassess how well a site serves its audience as a whole – including how trustworthy it appears, how clearly expertise is demonstrated, and whether the content genuinely satisfies the search intent. Experience, expertise, authority and trust (aka E-E-A-T) aren’t ranking factors you can bolt onto a page. They’re part of how Google evaluates quality at scale, especially for high-stakes content that influences major life decisions, money, health, or wellbeing (often referred to as YMYL or ‘Your Money or Your Life’ content).
E-E-A-T is not a direct ranking signal – it’s a framework Google uses to assess whether your content genuinely helps people when evaluating whether content deserves to be surfaced for users. A page that clearly shows real experience, backed by deep subject knowledge and credibility, is more likely to satisfy a user’s intent – and that’s what Google aims to reward.
What E-E-A-T Means
- Experience means the content reflects actual, real-world interaction with the topic (e.g. firsthand use of a product or sharing insights from direct practice).
- Expertise means you have the credentials or specialised knowledge to speak authoritatively on the topic (and go beyond surface-level research).
- Authoritativeness means you’re recognised as a credible source in your field, often supported by external backlinks and signals like citations, testimonials, or reviews.
- Trustworthiness is the foundation – built on clear authorship and contact information, accurate facts, transparent sourcing, adequate privacy policies and reliable information that your audience can depend on.
Experience and expertise work together to show you know what you’re talking about. For some content (like a restaurant review), first-hand experience is what matters. For medical advice, professional expertise is what’s important. Google’s also looking for signals that you’re not just regurgitating information from other websites.
Authoritativeness is about your reputation beyond your own site (the quality of sites linking to you and mentions of your brand across the internet). Google’s algorithms can even assess how real people discuss your brand online (e.g., on Reddit), and this increasingly influences AI overviews as well. And when it comes to trust, Google wants to see that you’re reliable, that you look after users and that you’re upfront about who you are and what you’re offering.
Demonstrating E-E-A-T
The December 2025 core update reinforces the following:
- Sites that rely on surface-level optimisation without substance are increasingly fragile.
- Sites that invest in clarity, depth and credibility tend to recover (or quietly outperform) over time.
Google doesn’t trust what you say about yourself on your own website. What matters is what the wider web thinks of you, i.e., your reputation across the internet, the quality of sites linking to you and how people talk about your brand. It’s less about penalties and more about prioritisation. What that means:
- Thin or generic content can be a liability. Pages that exist just to rank (they don’t offer original insight or clear value) are more likely to slide as Google continues to refine its quality assessments.
- Your brand’s credibility matters. Signals outside your website (mentions, reviews, reputation and consistency) increasingly support how Google judges trust.
- Content quality is now inseparable from user experience. Clear structure, logical navigation and content that answers real questions all contribute to whether a page feels ‘satisfying’ (a word Google keeps using).
Google’s Advice
- Avoid quick fixes (and don’t start frantically deleting pages). These updates focus on the overall quality and trustworthiness of your entire site, not on individual page tweaks.
- Focus on genuinely improving your content:
- Can you make it easier to understand?
- Can you better demonstrate your expertise?
- Are you showing real experience?
- Have you made it clear who you are and why people should trust you?
The Last Word
Google’s December 2025 core update didn’t change the rules (Google is still sending traffic to sites it trusts); the bar is just higher and keeps rising. For brands investing in SEO and GEO, that’s good news. The smart move now isn’t to panic or start making drastic changes. Take a step back and honestly assess whether your content truly serves your audience. Meaningful improvement will come from strengthening your content foundations with clearer intent, stronger expertise, better structure and genuine usefulness. If you’d like to chat about what you can do to better align with E-E-A-T guidelines, get in touch.