--- type: "Article" title: "Google crisis information systems | E-E-A-T trust signals" description: "Google's crisis information systems show hotlines and SOS Alerts in a crisis. What Google confirms and what publishers on these topics should do." resource: "https://www.laurelinlabs.com/search-systems/crisis-information-systems" tags: ["google-crisis-information-systems", "e-e-a-t-trust-signals", "sos-alerts-personal-crisis-search"] generated: { by: "laurelin-site-build/2026-09-02", at: "2026-09-02T12:00:00+00:00" } status: "stable" stale_after: "2027-03-02T00:00:00+00:00" --- # Crisis information systems Crisis information systems are confirmed Google systems that show helpful, timely information during crises. For personal crises, Google detects searches about suicide, sexual assault, poison ingestion, gender-based violence or drug addiction and shows hotlines and content from trusted organisations. For natural disasters and wide-spread emergencies, SOS Alerts show updates from local, national or international authorities. Google said in 2022 it uses MUM to detect a wider range of personal crisis searches. Sites cannot rank into these features, but publishers on these topics can signpost help clearly. ## What are Google's crisis information systems? Crisis information systems are the Google systems that provide helpful and timely information during personal crises, natural disasters and other wide-spread emergencies. Google's [ranking systems guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide) lists them as a current system with two parts: personal crisis features and SOS Alerts. ## How do crisis information systems work? The first step is recognising the need. In [March 2022](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/using-ai-keep-google-search-safe/) Google said people in personal crises search in many ways, and that it would use MUM to detect a wider range of personal crisis searches more accurately, including across the languages MUM is trained on. For disasters, the [ranking systems guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide) says SOS Alerts show updates from authorities that may include emergency numbers and websites, maps, translations of useful phrases and donation options. These are search features built from authority sources, not ordinary ranked listings. ## What evidence is there that Google uses crisis information systems? The evidence label is **Confirmed**. Google documents both parts in its ranking systems guide and describes the personal crisis work on its own blog. The visible behaviour is also easy to observe: searches on these topics show hotline panels or crisis alerts above the web results. What is not documented is any ranking benefit to ordinary web pages. Google has not said that signposting helplines on a page affects its ranking, so this page does not claim it. ## What does this mean for sites covering crisis topics? Two things, neither of them a ranking tactic. First, for crisis queries a hotline panel or alert takes the most prominent space, so expect fewer clicks to organic results for those queries regardless of page quality. Second, publishers on suicide, self-harm, abuse, poisoning or addiction should signpost immediate help on the page itself, because readers may arrive from other routes and need it. Authorities and emergency services that want to be a source for disaster information should publish updates as accessible, dated HTML text rather than only as images or PDFs. Google does not document how SOS Alert sources are chosen beyond the authority types it names, so treat this as good practice, not a route in. - Place a helpline block near the top of pages on personal crisis topics, localised by country. - Keep helpline numbers checked and dated. - Publish emergency updates as text with a timestamp. ## Which Laurelin audit checks relate to crisis information systems? The new check, [Personal crisis content carries no helpline signposting](https://www.laurelinlabs.com/audit/trust-signals/354-personal-crisis-content-carries-no-helpline-signposting), looks for pages on suicide, self-harm, sexual assault, domestic abuse, poisoning or addiction with no visible route to immediate help. It is a responsible-publishing check that mirrors the categories Google names; it does not test or influence Google's crisis features. Related checks: [no expertise signals on health and money pages](https://www.laurelinlabs.com/audit/trust-signals/218-no-expertise-signals-on-ymyl) tests credentials on sensitive health content; [no last reviewed or updated date on time-sensitive content](https://www.laurelinlabs.com/audit/trust-signals/223-no-last-reviewed-updated-on-time-sensitive-content) tests whether crisis information is current. [Important facts only in images](https://www.laurelinlabs.com/audit/topical-content/179-important-facts-only-in-images) catches emergency numbers locked in graphics, and [no contact information](https://www.laurelinlabs.com/audit/trust-signals/226-no-contact-information) tests whether an organisation can be reached. ## What are the key dates for Google crisis information systems? - 2022-03-30: Google announces MUM will be used to detect a wider range of personal crisis searches ([source](https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/using-ai-keep-google-search-safe/)) ## FAQ ### Can my site appear in a Google crisis hotline panel? Google says the personal crisis features show hotlines and content from trusted organisations. There is no documented way for an ordinary site to optimise into them. ### Which topics trigger personal crisis features? Google's ranking systems guide lists certain queries related to suicide, sexual assault, poison ingestion, gender-based violence and drug addiction. Hub: [Trust Signals](/topics/trust-signals.md)