UPDATED MAY 2026 · 7 INDUSTRIES

SEO benchmarks by industry

Industry SEO benchmarks for Google penalty risk, E-E-A-T scores, content readability, and AI-detection rates: compared against top-10 ranking pages across 7 industries. Free.

48/100
Avg penalty risk
46/100
Avg E-E-A-T
73%
Missing author schema
14k+
Analyses on Credify
Check my penalty risk →Check E-E-A-T score
MethodologyHow these numbers were producedclick to expand

Mixed sources. Some figures on this page are observed from Credify's own scanner; others are directional estimates from manual sampling. Each is labelled below.

  • Observed (real data): “Analyses on Credify” KPI and the AI-detection before/after table (Section 4) come from aggregate Credify scanner and humanizer runs. The total-analyses figure updates live from our backend; AI-detection numbers reflect averaged outputs from GPT-4 and Claude samples humanized through Credify across the listed content types.
  • Directional estimates: Industry penalty-risk scores, E-E-A-T scores by dimension, top-penalty-signal frequencies, and readability scores by content type are derived from manual sampling: roughly 20–30 top-10 ranking pages per industry as of May 2026: and rounded for readability. They are intended as orientation, not a peer-reviewed study.
  • Tool: All scans were produced by Credify's own scanner using the same 28-signal Google penalty risk model and 4-dimension E-E-A-T model that powers the public tools.
  • Sampling caveat: 20–30 pages per industry is a small sample. Use these as a comparison baseline, not as ground truth. We are expanding the sample and will re-publish with a larger N and confidence intervals.
  • Updates: Last refreshed May 2026. We plan quarterly updates.

Questions or want to contribute data? Email hello@credify.work.

How to Use These SEO Benchmarks

1Find your industry

Locate your niche in the Google Penalty Risk table below. YMYL industries: health, finance, and legal: face the strictest Google quality standards and require a penalty risk score below 40 and an E-E-A-T score above 60 to rank competitively.

2Run your free scan

Get your actual Google penalty risk score and E-E-A-T score using Credify's free scanner. 32 signals checked in under 10 seconds: no signup required. Compare your real scores directly against these SEO benchmarks by industry.

3Close the gaps

The scanner shows exactly which signals are pulling your Google penalty risk score up. Fixing 3–5 critical signals typically drops your risk by 20–30 points and lifts E-E-A-T score significantly above the industry benchmark.

Google Penalty Risk by Industry

32 signals · 0–100 score · May 2026Directional · n≈20–30/industry

Google penalty risk scores from Credify's scanner across top-10 ranking pages per niche. A higher score means more gaps in E-E-A-T, technical SEO, and content quality: and a greater chance of being caught by a Google quality update. YMYL industries face stricter standards: a penalty risk score above 50 in health or finance is a serious red flag.

IndustryRisk scoreLevelCommon issue
Health & MedicalYMYL
64
High
Missing author + no Person schema
Finance & InvestmentYMYL
58
High
No expert credentials or citations
Legal ServicesYMYL
61
High
No author, no trust pages, YMYL gap
E-commerce
49
Medium
Thin content, missing review schema
SaaS & Technology
42
Medium
Missing canonical, slow CWV
News & Journalism
31
Low
Missing Article schema on some pages
Food & Lifestyle
34
Low
No structured recipe markup
Most common penalty signals (% of scanned pages)
Missing author or author schema
73%
No structured data (schema.org)
67%
Poor Core Web Vitals (LCP > 2.5s)
61%
Missing canonical tag
54%
No H1 or duplicate H1
48%
Missing trust pages (About/Privacy)
44%
Thin content (< 300 words)
38%
No Open Graph / social meta tags
35%
Fixing 3–5 critical signals typically drops risk score by 20–30 pts. Scan your page free →

E-E-A-T Scores by Industry

0–100 · 25 pts/dimensionDirectional · n≈20–30/industry

Most content scores below 60 on the E-E-A-T scale: these SEO benchmarks show the industry averages across all four dimensions. An E-E-A-T score above 65 puts you ahead of most competitors. Expertise (Expt) averages just 12/25 across all industries and is typically the easiest gap to close with credential mentions, author bios, and first-hand examples.

IndustryAvgExpExptAuthTrust
Health & Medical
YMYL · strictest standards
38
9/25
12/25
8/25
9/25
Finance & Investment
YMYL · citations critical
41
10/25
14/25
9/25
8/25
SaaS & Technology
Tutorials beat theory
47
12/25
16/25
10/25
9/25
E-commerce & Reviews
First-hand experience wins
44
13/25
11/25
10/25
10/25
News & Journalism
Bylines + sourcing key
52
13/25
13/25
14/25
12/25
Food & Lifestyle
Personal experience valued
55
16/25
13/25
12/25
14/25
Critical 0–39· High penalty risk
High Risk 40–59· Unlikely to rank competitively
Medium 60–79· Solid: some gaps remain
Low Risk 80–100· Strong E-E-A-T

Readability & Clarity

Flesch score · Clarity · Passive voiceDirectional

Flesch 0 = very difficult, 100 = very easy. These content readability benchmarks show news journalism sets the bar for web writing: grade 9–10, Flesch 58, passive voice at 12%. Marketing and blog content performs best overall. Student essays average 24% passive voice, making passive-voice reduction the single easiest readability improvement for most sites.

Content typeFleschClarityPassiveGrade
Marketing & Landing Pages72786%
Gr 7–8
Blog Posts & Articles62719%
Gr 8–9
News & Journalism587412%
Gr 9–10
Technical Documentation356318%
Gr 12–13
Student Essays426124%
Gr 11–12
Academic Papers185232%
Grad+

AI Detection Benchmarks

GPT-4 + Claude · before/after humanization · May 2026Observed

AI detection scores below 30% are typically classified as human by leading detectors. These AI detection benchmarks show raw GPT-4 and Claude output scores before and after humanization. Social media and short-form content responds best: brief text allows faster variance injection. Blog and academic content needs more passes to reach the target.

Content typeBeforeAfterReductionTarget
Blog Posts & General87%52%
↓ 35pt
<30%
Academic & Technical84%58%
↓ 26pt
<30%
Creative & Narrative79%55%
↓ 24pt
<30%
Social Media & Short-form81%44%
↓ 37pt
<30%
No humanizer guarantees 100% bypass. Results vary by detector and content length. Running twice or switching content type mode can improve scores that stay high after first pass.

Frequently Asked Questions

A good E-E-A-T score is above 60/100: the average across all industries is just 46/100. Scoring above 65 puts you ahead of most competitors. YMYL content (health, finance, legal) typically needs an E-E-A-T score above 60 to rank competitively after Google quality updates.
A Google penalty risk score is a 0–100 measure of how likely a page is to be caught by a Google quality update. Credify's scanner checks 32 signals: including E-E-A-T gaps, missing schema, Core Web Vitals, and technical SEO issues: and returns a risk score. Scores above 50 carry significant ranking risk.
For most web content, a Flesch readability score of 60–70 is ideal (grade 7–9 reading level). Blog posts average 62, marketing pages average 72, and news journalism averages 58. Technical documentation scores 35 or lower, which is too difficult for general web audiences and may hurt engagement metrics.
SEO benchmarks vary significantly by industry. YMYL industries: health, finance, and legal: average 61–64/100 Google penalty risk and E-E-A-T scores of just 38–41/100 due to strict Google quality standards. News and lifestyle content averages E-E-A-T of 52–55/100, benefiting from clear authorship and source citation practices.
Related tools
Google Penalty Risk Scanner →E-E-A-T Checker →Readability Checker →AI Humanizer →AI Detector →Meta Checker →

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