How many websites pass the Author Present check?
Based on 596 audited sites · Updated 2026-07-16
95% confidence interval: 15.1%–21.2%
Why This Matters
LLM Discoverability
Explicitly attributed authorship allows AI systems to assess the author's domain expertise and reputation, directly influencing whether the content is judged credible enough to cite.
SEO Impact
Author attribution with structured data is a core E-E-A-T signal; Google's quality rater guidelines require visible, verifiable authorship for YMYL content to be rated as high quality.
What To Do Next
82% of audited sites need attention on author present (489 of 596 sites are warning or failing).
- Prioritize author present on templates that create many URLs, because one template fix can improve a large share of content freshness & authority.
- After changing the page, re-run the audit and compare the observed value for this check instead of relying on visual inspection alone.
- Use the 18% pass rate as a benchmark: if your site fails here, passing the check moves it closer to the visible majority of crawlable, AI-readable pages.
Status Breakdown
Compliance Trend
Daily pass, warning, and failure rates across benchmark snapshots (up to 90 days).
Industry Breakdown
How different industries perform on this check.
35.7% of audited Media & Entertainment sites pass this check (n=84), compared with 6.7% of E-Commerce sites (n=30).
| Industry | Pass rate | Avg score | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Media & Entertainment | 35.7% | 73.8 | 84 |
| Education | 20% | 71.8 | 30 |
| Technology | 16.2% | 72 | 278 |
| Travel & Hospitality | 15.7% | 74.8 | 51 |
| Finance & Banking | 10.3% | 72.8 | 39 |
| E-Commerce | 6.7% | 69.6 | 30 |
| Retail | 33.3% | 78.3 | 3limited |
| Recruitment & HR | 33.3% | 80 | 3limited |
| Professional Services | 25% | 80.8 | 4limited |
| Government | 21.4% | 73.1 | 14limited |
Related Checks
Run a free audit to see whether your site passes this check, or browse the leaderboard and the audited-sites directory.