Domain Rating vs Domain Authority: What Each Score Measures and Which One to Use

Domain Rating (DR) and Domain Authority (DA) are not the same thing. DR is Ahrefs' 0 to 100 score for the strength of a site's backlink profile, built only from followed links from unique domains. DA is Moz's 1 to 100 score that predicts how likely a site is to rank, from a machine learning model fed mostly by link data. Neither is used by Google, and a DR 40 is not equal to a DA 40.

Which one "wins" depends on the tool you already pay for. Pick one, use it consistently, and compare sites only within the same metric. This guide explains how each score is calculated, how they compare with Semrush's Authority Score, what counts as a good score, and how backlinks move them.

#Is Domain Authority the same as Domain Rating?

No. Domain Authority and Domain Rating answer similar questions with different data and different math, so the same site gets different numbers in each tool. They are both third-party estimates of how strong a site's backlink profile is, on a scale where higher is stronger and each point is harder to earn than the last.

#What is Domain Rating (DR)?

Domain Rating is an Ahrefs metric that "shows the relative strength of a website's backlink profile," on a logarithmic scale from 0 to 100. Ahrefs describes the calculation in three steps:

1. Find every domain with at least one followed link to the target site.
2. For each of those domains, count how many other domains it links to.
3. Pass "DR juice" from each linking domain to the target, roughly that domain's DR divided by the number of unique domains it links out to.

What DR ignores matters as much: nofollow links don't count, only the first link from each domain counts, and it doesn't look at search traffic, domain age or spam. Ahrefs says plainly that "DR doesn't account for backlink spam," so a site can inflate its DR with many low-quality links.

#What is Domain Authority (DA)?

Domain Authority is a Moz score from 1 to 100 that predicts how likely a website is to rank compared with competitors. Moz calculates it with a machine learning model that "evaluates multiple factors, primarily focusing on backlink data," including the number of linking root domains, the quality of those links, and other signals that correlate with rankings across thousands of search results. Moz rebuilt the model as Domain Authority 2.0 in 2019. New sites start at DA 1.

Because DA is relative, your score can drop without you losing a link: if very large sites gain links, there is less room at the top of the scale for everyone else.

#And Semrush Authority Score?

Semrush's Authority Score is a 1 to 100 compound metric with three parts: link power (followed referring domains and their authority), estimated organic traffic, and a "natural profile" check for suspicious patterns such as link-to-traffic imbalances and shared networks. Semrush updates it every two weeks. It is the only one of the three that tries to discount manipulated link profiles.

#DR vs DA vs Authority Score at a glance

The practical differences:

• DR is the purest link count. It tells you how strong a site's link graph is and nothing else. That makes it easy to reason about and easy to game.
• DA is a ranking prediction. It is trained to correlate with rankings, so it blends link quantity and quality in ways Moz doesn't fully publish.
• Authority Score is the most skeptical. Because it weighs traffic and spam signals, a site with lots of links and no traffic scores lower than its DR would suggest.

We go deeper on the Moz and Ahrefs methodologies in Moz DA vs Ahrefs DR.

#Which is better: DR or DA?

Neither is more "correct". Each is a model of Google's link graph built from a different crawler, so the better metric is the one backed by the tool and data you use every day. Ahrefs users should track DR, Moz users DA, Semrush users Authority Score. Switching metrics mid-project makes trends meaningless.

Whatever you pick, judge a linking site by three things the score doesn't show: whether it gets real organic traffic, whether it covers your topic, and whether it links to anyone who pays.

#What is a good Domain Rating or Domain Authority?

A good DR or DA is one close to or above the sites that rank for the keywords you want. Both Moz and Ahrefs say the score only means something relative to competitors: a DA of 30 can be strong in a local niche and weak in personal finance.

For a sense of where real businesses sit, here is how 200 randomly sampled Outrank customer sites (each with at least 500 Google impressions in 28 days) spread across Ahrefs DR bands, and how often AI assistants cited them:

Two readings. First, most working business sites are not DR 70: in this sample the median fell between DR 20 and 29, and only 20 of 200 sites were at 45 or above. Second, the jump in visibility happens early. Moving from under 10 to the 20s mattered far more than moving from the 30s to 45+. (This is correlation: sites with higher DR also had far more Google impressions.)

Rough, practical bands for a business site's DR or DA:

• Under 10: new or barely linked. Long-tail keywords only.
• 10 to 30: typical for small businesses and young blogs. Low-competition keywords are realistic.
• 30 to 50: an established niche site. Mid-competition keywords open up.
• 50+: strong authority, usually years of links, PR or a well-known brand.

#Does Google use Domain Authority or Domain Rating?

No. Both are proprietary scores from SEO software companies. Moz states that "Domain Authority is not a Google ranking factor and has no effect on the SERPs," and Ahrefs points out that Google ranks pages, not websites. Google uses its own link analysis (PageRank among other systems), which no third party can see.

They are still useful because they correlate with what Google does reward. In Ahrefs' 2025 study of 1 million keywords, Domain Rating correlated with rankings at 0.131, while page-level referring domains correlated at 0.255. That gap is the main lesson: the links pointing to the specific page matter more than the domain's overall score.

#How backlinks raise your DR and DA

Both scores go up the same way: more unique, relevant sites linking to you, especially sites that themselves have strong profiles. Repeat links from the same domain add little to DR, and nofollow links add nothing to it.

Here is what that looks like in practice for three Outrank customers using its backlink exchange:

• Scalelist (B2B SaaS) went from DR 16 to 45 in twelve months, with 327 verified backlinks through Outrank.
• 24hourEDU (online education) went from DR 1.2 to 30 in about a year, with 127 verified exchange backlinks plus a one-time directory submission package.
• Moonb (creative agency) went from DR 22 to 43 between June 2025 and September 2026, with 336 verified backlinks through Outrank.

The curves flatten as they rise, which is the logarithmic scale at work: each point above 30 takes more links than the points below it. Links through Outrank's exchange go inside relevant articles on other businesses' sites, with a guarantee of 15 verified backlinks a month; the median site placing those links has a DR of 26.

For the tactics themselves, see how to build backlinks, and for the risks of paying for high-DR links, our guide to the best places to buy backlinks.

#How to use DR and DA without fooling yourself

• Judge pages, not domains, when planning rankings. For a target keyword, compare referring domains to the ranking URLs. Our guide to how many backlinks you need has a calculator for that.
• Check traffic before trusting a high score. A DR 60 site with almost no organic traffic is usually a link seller or a site that lost Google's trust. Look at its traffic trend in Ahrefs or Semrush.
• Watch the trend, not the number. Scores move when the tools recalibrate or when big sites gain links. A steady climb over months is the signal; a one-point drop is noise.
• Don't compare across tools. A DR 35 and a DA 35 describe different things. Compare like with like.
• Treat a score as a filter, not a goal. The point of links is traffic and rankings. A rising DR with flat traffic means the links aren't landing where they help.

#FAQ

#Is domain authority and domain rating the same thing?

No. Domain Authority is Moz's 1 to 100 score that predicts how likely a site is to rank, from a machine learning model based mainly on link data. Domain Rating is Ahrefs' 0 to 100 score for the strength of a site's backlink profile, counting followed links from unique domains. The same site gets different numbers in each, so compare only within one metric.

#What is a good Domain Rating?

A good Domain Rating is one similar to or higher than the sites ranking for your target keywords; there is no universal threshold. As a rough guide, DR 10 to 30 is typical for small business sites, 30 to 50 for established niche sites, and 50+ for strong brands. Among 200 Outrank customer sites, the median fell between DR 20 and 29.

#What is a DA score?

A DA score is Moz's Domain Authority, a number from 1 to 100 that predicts a website's ability to rank compared with other sites. It is calculated mostly from the number and quality of linking root domains. New websites start at 1, and the score is relative, so it can change when other sites gain links.

#Does Google use Domain Authority to rank websites?

No. Domain Authority, Domain Rating and Authority Score are all third-party metrics, and Moz itself says DA is not a Google ranking factor. Google uses its own link analysis, which correlates loosely with these scores. Page-level referring domains correlate with rankings more strongly than any domain score.

#How do I check my Domain Rating or Domain Authority for free?

Use Ahrefs' free Website Authority Checker for DR, and Moz's Link Explorer or the MozBar extension with a free Moz account for DA. Semrush shows Authority Score in its tools, including a limited free account. Check the same metric each month so the trend is comparable.

#What is the difference between domain authority and domain reputation?

Domain authority is an SEO score for how strong a site's backlink profile is. Domain reputation usually refers to email: how mailbox providers such as Gmail rate the emails sent from your domain, shown in tools like Google Postmaster Tools. The two are unrelated; a high-authority site can still have poor email reputation.