Domain Authority (DA) / Domain Rating (DR)
Updated July 21, 2026
Proprietary scores (Moz, Ahrefs) predicting how likely a domain is to rank. Used to benchmark competitive SEO strength.
Also known as: DA, DR, Moz Domain Authority, Ahrefs Domain Rating, domain authority score, domain rating score
Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR) are proprietary third-party scores that estimate a website's overall link-based standing on a 0-100 scale, where DA is Moz's metric and DR is Ahrefs'. Both are calculated primarily from a site's backlink profile: how many other domains link to it and how authoritative those linking domains are. Both are also logarithmic, so moving from DA 10 to 30 is far easier than moving from 50 to 60. Neither score is a Google ranking factor. Google has repeatedly stated it does not track or use "Domain Authority," and Ahrefs itself notes DR correlates only moderately with actual rankings. The value of these scores is as shorthand: a fast way to size up a domain's link-authority "weight class" without auditing its full backlink profile by hand.
Domain Authority was built by Moz (formerly SEOmoz) as a branded metric; secondary sources disagree on its exact origin date, so any precise founding year should be treated with caution. What is well documented is that Moz rebuilt it as "Domain Authority 2.0" on March 5, 2019, moving from a linear model to a neural-network model trained on its Link Explorer index to better correlate with real search outcomes. Domain Rating is Ahrefs' independently built analogue, calculated from Ahrefs' own backlink index using a PageRank-like scheme in which a linking domain's authority is split across the domains it links to.
Because the two were made by competing SEO vendors using different crawlers, link indexes, and weighting models, they are not interchangeable. The same site can show DA 45 on Moz, DR 52 on Ahrefs, and a different Authority Score on Semrush at the same moment. Today SEO teams, agencies, and competitive-intelligence analysts use these scores to benchmark relative link strength across a competitive set.
How DA and DR are calculated
Both scores start from a backlink index, a vendor's own crawl of links across the web, and reduce it to a single number on a 0-100 logarithmic scale. Moz's Domain Authority is the output of a machine-learning model, a neural network since the 2019 relaunch, trained to correlate with real Google search rankings. Its inputs include the count and quality of linking root domains and Moz's own Spam Score, and the model is tuned so that the score tracks observed SERP outcomes rather than any published Google signal.
Ahrefs' Domain Rating works differently. It passes "DR juice" between domains in a way loosely modeled on PageRank: a higher-DR domain passes more authority, but that authority is divided across every domain it links out to, and only the first followed link from a given domain adds to the target's DR. Because both metrics are logarithmic, gains compress at the top: a mature domain sees its score creep upward slowly even after a strong link-building push. Both are also relative and database-dependent: a score can move when other sites in the vendor's index change, even if the domain's own backlinks have not.
Domain Authority vs. Domain Rating vs. Authority Score
DA, DR, and Semrush's Authority Score all try to answer the same question, how strong is this domain's link profile, but each vendor uses its own crawler, link index, and formula, so the numbers rarely line up. A domain reading DA 45 on Moz and DR 52 on Ahrefs is normal, not an error in either tool. The practical rule is that these scores are only comparable within the same tool: benchmark a competitor's DR against your DR in Ahrefs, or DA against DA in Moz, but never DA against DR.
All three descend conceptually from Google's original PageRank, which scored authority by link passing, but PageRank was Google's internal and public-toolbar metric and is not the same as any vendor score. Majestic offers yet another pair, Trust Flow and Citation Flow, on its own index. Each of these is a domain-level roll-up; each vendor also ships a page-level counterpart, Moz's Page Authority and Ahrefs' URL Rating, that scores an individual URL rather than the whole site.
How competitive-intelligence teams use DA and DR
In a CI workflow, DA and DR act as a standardized proxy for a competitor's overall link-building strength and site maturity. They let an analyst triage a competitive set quickly: which rivals are investing heavily in SEO, content, and digital PR, and which are comparatively weak, without manually reviewing every backlink. That triage is directional, not precise. It points to where deeper analysis is worth the effort.
The trend matters more than the absolute number. A competitor's DR climbing several points over a quarter can signal a large link-building campaign or a digital PR push, the kind of shift worth pairing with other monitoring: a burst of press coverage, new content velocity, or hiring for SEO and content roles. Tracked over time within a single tool, DA and DR become an early indicator that a competitor is pouring resources into organic search. Used as an absolute measure of ranking ability, or compared across tools, they mislead.
Common mistakes and limitations
The most common error is treating DA or DR as a Google ranking factor. They are vendor estimates trained or engineered to correlate with rankings, not signals Google consumes, and Google has said as much. A high score does not guarantee ranking, and a page can outrank a higher-DR domain on relevance, intent match, and page-level authority.
The second mistake is cross-tool comparison: reading DA 45 as "lower" than DR 52 for the same site, when the two are measured on unrelated indexes. The third is over-reading small movements: because both scales are logarithmic and database-relative, a score can drift as the vendor recrawls the web or adjusts its model, independent of any change to the domain itself. These metrics are best used as a coarse, directional benchmark within one tool, then confirmed against page-level signals and the actual backlink profile before drawing conclusions.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Domain Authority a Google ranking factor?
No. Domain Authority and Domain Rating are proprietary vendor scores, not signals Google uses. Google's John Mueller has repeatedly said Google does not track or use "Domain Authority." Moz and Ahrefs build these metrics to correlate with observed rankings, but the correlation is only moderate, and Ahrefs notes its page-level URL Rating tracks rankings more closely than DR. Treat both as estimates of link strength, not as ranking inputs.
Why is my Domain Authority different from my Domain Rating on Ahrefs?
Because Moz and Ahrefs are separate companies using different crawlers, different backlink indexes, and different algorithms. Moz's DA comes from a machine-learning model; Ahrefs' DR comes from a PageRank-like link-equity calculation. The same site routinely shows one number on Moz, another on Ahrefs, and a third on Semrush at the same time. That gap is expected and is not a sign either tool is wrong. Compare scores only within one tool.
What is a good Domain Authority or Domain Rating score?
There is no universal threshold, because both scales are logarithmic and relative to a vendor's index. What matters is the score relative to your direct competitors within the same tool. A domain in a low-competition niche may rank well at a modest DA, while in a crowded market the same score is weak. Benchmark against your competitive set rather than chasing an absolute target, and watch the trend over time.
What is the difference between Domain Authority and Page Authority?
Domain Authority scores an entire domain's link profile, while Page Authority scores a single page or URL. Moz publishes both; the Ahrefs equivalents are Domain Rating at the domain level and URL Rating at the page level. Domain-level scores tell you a site's overall link-authority weight class, but individual pages on a strong domain can still have weak page-level authority, which is often why they underperform in search despite a high DA.
How can I increase my Domain Authority or Domain Rating?
Both scores rise mainly by earning links from other authoritative domains, so link-building and digital PR that attract new linking root domains are the direct levers. Because the scales are logarithmic, early gains come faster than later ones, and only the first followed link from a given domain typically adds to DR. Scores are also index-relative, so they can shift when the vendor recrawls the web even without new links of your own.
Related terms
Referring domains linking to competitors but not to you, identifying link-building opportunities.
Link VelocityThe rate at which a domain acquires new backlinks. A spike in a competitor's link velocity signals a PR push or campaign.
Competitive BenchmarkingSystematic comparison of processes, products, pricing, or performance against competitors to identify gaps and improvements.
Organic Traffic EstimationUsing tools to estimate competitor monthly search traffic based on keyword rankings and click-through rates.
Search Visibility ScoreAggregate metric representing a domain's overall presence in search results across tracked keywords.
Rank Tracking (Position Monitoring)Continuously monitoring where you and competitors rank for target keywords over time.
Content GapTopics or keyword clusters competitors cover but are absent from your site.
Keyword Gap AnalysisIdentifying keywords competitors rank for but you do not, revealing content opportunities.