Short answer: An author bio is a short note about the person behind a page: their name, what they do and the experience behind what they write, with a real photo and links to more about them. Google suggests bylines that link to that background, and its Article markup lets you name the author and link to a page about them.
What an author bio is
An author bio tells readers who is behind a page. It usually appears in an author box at the end of an article, next to a photo, and links to a page with more about the author.
Google asks whether pages carry a byline where readers would expect one, and whether the byline opens the way to the writer’s background and the subjects they cover.
| Part | What it shows | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Byline | The author’s name | Near the title of the article |
| Author box | A photo, a line about the author and links | At the end of the article |
| Author page | Background, experience and the topics the author covers | A page of its own, linked from the byline or the box |
Built from Google’s questions about who created a page, read November 4, 2026.
Why it matters for trust
Google says that making clear who created a piece of content helps people understand its E-E-A-T, and it strongly encourages accurate authorship information, such as bylines. Our E-E-A-T guide covers what those letters stand for.
The bio has to be real. Google treats invented creator profiles, with headshots made by AI, fake names or false credentials, as deception that costs a page the trust of readers and of its systems.
How to write an author bio
- Start with the full name the author uses everywhere else.
- Say in one line what the author does and for whom.
- Add the experience that matters for the topics the author writes about.
- Use a real, recent photo of the author.
- Link to a page about the author and to one profile elsewhere, such as LinkedIn.
- Keep it short and in the language of the page.
- Update it when the author’s role or experience changes.
For the page about your business itself, see our guide to writing an About us page.
How to mark up the author
Google’s Article structured data lets you say who wrote a page. In author.name, put only the name: Google says not to add the publisher, a job title, an honorific or introductory words such as “posted by”. If the page shows several authors, include all of them, each in their own author field.
Use author.url for a page that identifies the author, such as a bio page, an “about me” page or a social media profile. Google says it can understand sameAs as well as url when it tells authors apart. If that URL is a profile page on your own site, it recommends marking that page up as a profile page.
Our structured data guide covers how to add markup and test it.
Our author box and markup
At 6:22 PM on November 4, 2026, we opened all 179 guides we had published in each language. Every one carries a byline and ends with an author box: a photo, the line “Founder of Feedback Studios, a bilingual growth studio in Miami” and links to our story page and to the author’s LinkedIn.
We also read their Article markup. All 179 name the author with the name alone, point author.url to our story page, add the LinkedIn profile with sameAs and say which organization the author works for.
The last guide to get all of this was our Google reviews guide, which uses its own layout. We added its author box and its sameAs that same day.
Before you publish an article
- Every article names its author.
- The byline or the box links to the author’s page.
- The bio says what the author does and knows.
- The photo is a real photo of the author.
- author.name holds only the name.
- author.url or sameAs points to a page about the author.
RememberA bio only helps if it’s true. A real name, a real photo and a link to more about the author do more than any title you could add.
We set up author boxes and markup like these as part of our SEO services.
Quick answers about author bios
What is an author bio?
A short note about the person who wrote a page: their name, what they do and the experience behind what they write. It usually sits in an author box at the end of an article and links to a page with more about them.
What should an author bio include?
The author’s full name, a line on what they do and the experience that matters for the topics they cover. Add a real photo and links to a page about them and to a profile elsewhere, such as LinkedIn.
Does Google use author bios to rank pages?
Google doesn’t call a bio a ranking factor. It does say that making clear who created the content helps people understand its E-E-A-T, and it suggests bylines that link to the author’s background.
What goes in author.name in the Article markup?
Only the author’s name. Google says not to add the publisher’s name, a job title, an honorific or words like “posted by”, and to use the publisher, jobTitle or honorificPrefix properties for those instead.
Can an author photo be AI-generated?
Not for a real author profile. Google treats invented creator profiles, with headshots made by AI, fake names or false credentials, as deception that costs a page the trust of its readers.
Sources
Read on November 4, 2026. Google Search Central: Article (Article, NewsArticle, BlogPosting) structured data and Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content. Our case: the bylines, author boxes and Article markup of our published guides, read on November 4, 2026.