Search Ranking Factors Explained: What Google Really Looks For in 2026

Search Settings, Filters, and Advanced Search

In addition to using search operators to limit the search scope for a query, as discussed earlier in this chapter, you can use the Advanced Search feature buried in Google’s SERP Settings menu, also located at this specific URL: https://www.google.com/advanced_search.

From the Settings menu (accessed via the gear icon on the SERP or the Settings link in the lower-right corner of the main search page), you can also alter the search settings to limit results to pages that are hosted in certain countries or contain content in certain languages, change the number of results per page, enable or disable autocomplete, and enable or disable the SafeSearch filter that attempts to exclude broadly “offensive” results.

On the SERP, the Tools menu enables you to filter results by age or date range, and to enable or disable verbatim interpretation of the query.

Ranking Factors

Search results are selected and ranked according to various logical processes (algorithms) which apply a variety of scoring methodologies and rulesets.

In the early days of web search, search engines were not advanced in how they assessed the quality of site content; they simply matched document vocabulary and user vocabulary. Pages that contained a title, description, or content that matched the search query verbatim would often reliably rank well for some or all of the keywords in that query, even if the sites contained low-quality content or were spam. Consequently, it was pretty easy to influence search results by inserting keywords into pages in the right locations.

The magic that set Google apart from its early search competitors was in the way it qualified pages in the index by analyzing whether they were linked to, and how they were described by, other web pages. The PageRank algorithm uses the link text (the text between the <a></a> HTML tags on web pages) as an extra layer of descriptive metadata for sites, pages, keywords, and topics, then evaluates each page’s rankings based on the quantity of those links and the quality of the source pages containing the links.

More concisely, links are votes endorsing the quality of your site (but all votes are not equal, and some don’t count at all). The details involved in weighting those votes are among the most precious of Google’s secrets, but there are some fundamental truths. In general, Google gives more weight to links from sites that it trusts and are linked to or from other trustworthy, topically related websites.

Relevance

The first and most important objective for a search engine, as described earlier, is to determine query intent and then deliver results that are relevant to the query by satisfying the intent of the user performing that query. As a result, this is, and always will be, the largest ranking factor.

When a trusted site uses descriptive link text to link out to a page, Google begins to establish topical relevance for that new page. For instance, if your site sells used cars in the Phoenix, AZ, region, a descriptive link like this one from the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce will establish your site’s relevance to the Phoenix, AZ topic:

<a href="https://www.example.com/index.html">Local used car virtual showroom</a>

If that page is also linked to from a credible national or international magazine site that reviews online used car dealerships, then that will establish relevance to the used cars topic. This is the case even if the link text does not contain the phrase “used cars,” because Google understands that a site that has been publishing reviews about used car dealerships for the past 15 years is within the used cars domain.

With those two links, your site will soon be included in results for the query used cars in Phoenix.

Inbound links that originate from highly relevant sources are generally more valuable, in isolation, than links from partially or tangentially related sites. Links from sites that have no relevance to yours (i.e., which don’t share your topical domain at all) are generally less valuable, but if the sites are quality sites (and aren’t ads) they still have some value.

AI/Machine Learning’s Impact on Relevance

While content and linking are important factors in Google’s determination of a piece of content’s topic and relevance to a query, modern machine learning technologies, such as the algorithms discussed in Query Refinements and Autocomplete, play a useful role in analyzing queries and the text content of web pages. The resulting AI models are able to analyze new web pages and natural language queries and determine their relevance to every topical domain in the index.

E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness

In 2018, Google’s Search Quality Raters Guidelines (SQRG), a set of instructions provided to human reviewers who test the quality of its search results, introduced the concept of EAT, an acronym for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. In 2022, Google added the extra E, for Experience.

Experience

There are many situations where what users are looking for in content is to benefit from the experience of others, and/or the point of view that others have developed based on their experience. Note that if your content is created by AI, it can really only put together summaries of what others have published on the web, and this is the basic objection that Google has to such content.

Expertise

Expertise relates to the depth of knowledge that you offer on your site. For example, contrast the expertise of a general copywriter you hire to write your content with someone that has two decades of experience in the topic area of your business. A general copywriter given a few hours to create a piece of content will struggle to write material of the same quality that a true subject matter expert can produce.

Authoritativeness

Google assigns authority to sites that are linked to from other authoritative sites that have proven to be trustworthy over time. Your used car website will gain authority when it is linked to from external pages that have a significant amount of relevant topical authority in the search index.

Trustworthiness

A search engine’s concept of trust is similar to the usual sociological definition: it’s a measure of a page, site, or domain’s integrity over time. Trusted sites have a long history of consistently playing by the rules and have not been compromised by spammers or scammers.

Local Signals and Personalization

As explained earlier in this chapter, results can be heavily influenced by local intent and personalization factors—essentially, taking user behavior data into account when determining query intent and deciding which results to show. For example, depending on the query, searches from mobile devices may be assumed to be “local first.”

Timing and Tenure

Search engines keep detailed records on linking relationships between websites (as well as information pertaining to domain names, IP addresses, pages, and URLs). With regard to linking relationships, the search engines generally store the following information:

When the link was first seen (by Google)

This isn’t just a simple date stamp; it’s combined with an analysis of other changes in the index. For example, did this link (URL) appear immediately after an article was published in the New York Times?

When the link was no longer seen (by Google)

Sometimes link retirement is routine, such as when blog posts move from the home page to an archive page after a certain period of time. However, if an inbound link disappears shortly after you made major changes to your site, search engines may interpret this as a negative signal.

❓ FAQ: SEO Ranking Factors in 2025

Q1: What are the top Google ranking factors in 2025?

Relevance, E‑E‑A‑T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust), high-quality backlinks, and helpful content. Google's AI now prioritizes intent-matched, well-structured, trustworthy content.

Q2: Do more backlinks mean better rankings?

A: Not always. Quality > quantity. Links from trusted, topically relevant sites carry more weight than random or spammy backlinks.

Q3: How does AI impact SEO rankings today?

A: AI helps Google understand context, intent, and meaning. It favors natural, user-focused content over keyword stuffing.

Q4: What is E‑E‑A‑T in SEO?

A: It stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. Google uses it to measure if content is credible and created by knowledgeable sources.

Q5: How do I rank higher in local searches?

A: Use city/location keywords, get backlinks from local sites, ensure consistent NAP info, and optimize for mobile. Local authority matters.