# Author bylines

Category: [On-Page & Content](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/on-page-content/) › [Content quality](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/on-page-content/content-quality/)

An **author byline** is the line that names who wrote a piece of content. Around it, sites often add an author box with a photo and short bio, and an author page that collects all of that person's articles. In SEO, these elements show readers and search engines who stands behind a text.

## What does Google say?

Google's helpful content guidance says: "We strongly encourage adding accurate authorship information, such as bylines to content where readers might expect it." It also warns against deceptive authorship information and says any form of deception makes a page untrustworthy. The guidance also asks whether bylines lead to further information about the author. Google's documentation does not describe bylines as a ranking factor (assessment).

## Structured data

For articles, Google supports `author.name`, `author.url` and `author.sameAs`. The url should point to a page that uniquely identifies the author, such as a bio page or social profile. For an internal author page, Google recommends ProfilePage markup. Each author belongs in a separate author field, and the name field should contain only the name.

## Example

```json
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "Article title",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Jane Doe",
    "url": "https://www.example.com/authors/jane-doe/"
  }
}
```

## Related terms

- [E-E-A-T](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/e-e-a-t/index.md)
- [Helpful content](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/helpful-content/index.md)
- [Structured data](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/structured-data/index.md)
- [Schema.org](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/schema-org/index.md)
- [Entity](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/entity/index.md)

## Sources

- [Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content)
- [Article structured data – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/article)
- [Author bylines are a weak signal that the industry over-fits – public.tg (supplementary)](https://public.tg/post/18414-author-bylines-are-a-weak-signal-that-the-industry-over-fits)

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Last updated: October 7, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/author-bylines/