Definition
An expert author is a content creator whose visible credentials (degree, license, years of experience, published work) and external validation (citations in trusted sources, employment at recognized institution) qualify them as an authority on the page's topic. AI engines preferentially cite content with credentialed authors over anonymous content, explicitly per Google's E-E-A-T quality rater guidelines.
Article on tax planning by 'Jane Smith, CPA, 12 years at Deloitte, author of Tax Law Primer (2023)' outranks identical content by anonymous 'Editorial Team'.
How to optimize
Every author has a credential line. Link author byline to /authors/[name] bio page with full credentials. Use Person schema with sameAs links to LinkedIn, ORCID, Google Scholar.