Moz Domain Authority (DA) and Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR) are both third-party scores from 0 to 100 that estimate how strong a website's backlink profile is. The core difference: DA is a machine-learned prediction of ranking ability, while DR measures the strength of your link profile by counting quality referring domains. Neither is used by Google.
Domain Authority is Moz's prediction of how well an entire domain is likely to rank in Google search results. Moz built it as a comparative, machine-learned model that weighs signals from its own link index, including the quantity and quality of referring domains and patterns associated with spam. The output is a single number from 0 to 100.
The important word is prediction. DA does not tell you how Google scores your site. It tells you how Moz's model expects your site to perform relative to other sites Moz has measured. Because it is a relative score, DA is best read as a benchmark, not an absolute grade. A DA of 40 only means something when you compare it to your direct competitors' DA.
DA is also recalibrated over time. When Moz updates its model or the web grows, scores can shift even if your backlinks have not changed. That is normal behavior for a relative metric, and it is one reason chasing a specific DA number is a poor strategy. Moz documents the metric and its methodology in its own Domain Authority resource.
Domain Rating measures the strength of a website's backlink profile compared to every other site in the Ahrefs index. Where DA tries to predict ranking, DR is more narrowly about links. Ahrefs calculates DR by looking at the number of unique websites (referring domains) linking to a target, weighted by the authority those linking domains carry, and the number of sites each of them links out to.
DR runs from 0 to 100 on a logarithmic scale. That scale matters. Pushing a brand-new site from DR 5 to DR 25 can happen with a modest number of solid links, while moving an established site from DR 75 to DR 85 demands links from far stronger sources. Ahrefs explains the calculation in its own Domain Rating documentation.
One detail worth knowing: DR only counts dofollow links in its core calculation, and it measures referring domains rather than raw link count. A thousand links from one site move DR far less than single links from a thousand different quality sites. DR rewards link diversity, not link volume.
The table below frontloads the practical contrasts. Read it as "different lenses on the same backlink reality," not "one is right and one is wrong."
| Factor | Moz Domain Authority (DA) | Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR) |
|---|---|---|
| What it estimates | Predicted ranking ability of the whole domain | Strength of the backlink profile |
| Built by | Moz | Ahrefs |
| Scale | 0 to 100, logarithmic | 0 to 100, logarithmic |
| Primary inputs | Link signals plus machine-learned ranking model | Quality and quantity of referring domains |
| Link types counted | Considers broader link patterns and spam signals | Core score weighs dofollow links |
| Best used for | Benchmarking against niche competitors | Link prospecting and competitor link gaps |
| Updates | Recalibrated as the model and index change | Recalculated as the link index updates |
| Used by Google? | No | No |
The headline takeaway: a DA of 50 and a DR of 50 are not equivalent. They come from different indexes and different math, so comparing them directly across tools is meaningless. Compare DA to DA and DR to DR.
Both scores start from the same raw material, a crawl of the web's links, but they process it differently.
Moz DA is a machine-learned model. Moz feeds dozens of link-based signals from its own Link Explorer index into an algorithm trained to predict which sites tend to rank in Google. The output is calibrated against the rest of the web, which is why Moz describes it as a comparative score rather than an absolute one. Moz introduced the modern "DA 2.0" methodology in 2019 to better track ranking ability and resist manipulation, and documents the approach in its Domain Authority resource.
Ahrefs DR is closer to a domain-level version of PageRank. Ahrefs looks at the unique websites linking to a target, weights each linking domain by its own DR, divides that strength across all the sites it links out to, and maps the result onto a 0 to 100 logarithmic curve. There is no machine-learning layer and no traffic or content signal in the core score, only the dofollow link graph. Ahrefs lays this out in its Domain Rating documentation.
A practical difference that trips people up: the two scores refresh on very different clocks.
So if you build a strong link today, expect DR to react first and DA to catch up later. A short-term gap between the two is usually just timing, not a contradiction.
DA and DR both score the whole domain. Each vendor also publishes a page-level sibling, and for ranking work the page-level numbers often matter more, because Google ranks individual pages, not domains as a block.
When you are evaluating whether a specific page can rank, or whether a specific page is a strong place to earn a link, glance at PA and UR alongside the domain-level scores. A high-DR domain with a weak, link-poor target page is not the same opportunity as a strong page on a mid-DR site.
Moz and Ahrefs are not the only vendors selling an authority number. Two others come up constantly, and knowing how they differ keeps you from comparing apples to oranges.
| Metric | Vendor | What it leans on |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Authority (DA) | Moz | Machine-learned ranking prediction from link signals |
| Domain Rating (DR) | Ahrefs | Strength of the dofollow referring-domain graph |
| Authority Score (AS) | Semrush | Blends link data with organic traffic and natural-traffic signals |
| Trust Flow / Citation Flow | Majestic | Quality (TF) and quantity (CF) of links, scored separately |
The lesson is the same as with DA versus DR: every score uses its own index and formula, so a number only means something against other numbers from the same tool. Semrush AS leaning on traffic is exactly why it can diverge sharply from a pure-link metric like DR for the same site.
Google does not use Moz DA or Ahrefs DR as ranking factors. Both are third-party metrics invented by their respective vendors. This is the single most important thing to understand about either score. Google has publicly stated, on multiple occasions, that it does not use a third-party "authority" or "domain authority" score in its ranking systems. Treat that as a known, long-standing position from Google.
DA and DR are useful precisely because Google's own scoring is private. SEO tools build their own estimates of authority so practitioners have something to measure. But an estimate of a black box is not the black box. When you optimize for DA or DR directly, you are optimizing for a vendor's model rather than for what Google actually rewards.
What does Google reward? Helpful, relevant content backed by genuine signals of trust. Google's own Search Central documentation lays out spam policies that target link spam and "scaled content abuse," which is a strong hint about what not to do. Buying links to inflate DR, or spinning up low-value pages to look bigger, works against you on the platform that matters.
There is real money riding on getting this right. According to BrightEdge, organic search drives roughly 53% of all website traffic, so the channel where DA and DR are supposed to help is the channel that often matters most. Misreading these scores as ranking factors sends teams chasing the wrong work.
Neither score is "better." Each is better at something. Here is how to match the metric to the job.
If your tooling budget is tight, the choice between platforms matters too. We compare options in our breakdown of Ahrefs alternatives, which is worth a look before you commit to an annual plan.
This is the lens we apply for clients. When we rebuilt the authority profile for Swordfish AI, the focus was on earning relevant, quality referring domains rather than chasing a vanity number, and the result was revenue up 400% from organic search. The DR movement followed the links; the rankings followed the relevance.
The right place for an authority score is at the end of your evaluation, as a tiebreaker, not the start. Use this order:
A useful gut-check at the end: would this link still be worth having if it passed zero SEO value, purely for the referral traffic and brand exposure? If yes, it is almost certainly a good link.
There is no universal "good" DA or DR number, because both are relative scores that only mean something next to your actual competitors. A DR 30 site can dominate a low-competition niche, while DR 30 would be weak in a cut-throat one. That said, here are the rough bands practitioners use as a sanity check, not as targets:
| Band | Rough read (DA or DR) |
|---|---|
| 0 to 20 | New or thin link profile; normal for young sites |
| 20 to 40 | Established; competitive in many niches |
| 40 to 60 | Strong; competitive in most niches |
| 60 to 80 | Authority site; hard to reach and hold |
| 80 to 100 | Rare; major brands, news, and platforms |
Two reality checks on the top of the scale. Because the scale is logarithmic, the gap from 70 to 80 dwarfs the gap from 20 to 30. And the very top is genuinely scarce: Moz notes that only a handful of sites on the entire web reach a DA of 100, which is why a round-number goal like "DA 70" is the wrong way to plan. The right question is never "what is a good score" in the abstract, it is "what score do the sites already ranking for my keywords have, and how do I close that gap."
Because both scores are built on links, both can be inflated with bought or spammy links, which is exactly why neither is a Google ranking factor. If Google leaned on a third-party authority score, that score would be trivial to game. People sell PBN links and link packages specifically to pump DR or DA, and a number that goes up while organic traffic stays flat is the classic fingerprint of an inflated profile.
This cuts two ways. When you vet a link prospect, a high DR alone proves nothing, because the site's owner may have bought it. And when you measure your own progress, a jump in DA or DR only counts if rankings and traffic move with it. Per Google's Search Central spam policies, buying links to manipulate rankings is a violation that can hurt the rankings you actually care about, so chasing the score with paid links trades a vanity number for real risk. Always pair the score with a look at the site's organic traffic and the relevance of its links.
You do not need a paid plan to glance at either number.
For anything beyond a spot check, pull the underlying referring-domain list rather than the headline score. The list of who actually links to a site tells you far more than a single 0 to 100 number ever will.
With AI Overviews and AI assistants now answering queries directly, teams ask whether a domain score helps you get cited. The honest answer: there is no special DA or DR threshold for AI visibility, and Google has said the same fundamentals that earn rankings earn AI citations. What an AI engine cites is usually a strong, relevant page, not a strong domain in the abstract.
The data backs the page-first view. Outrank's January 2026 analysis of roughly 1.9 million AI Overview citations found that about 76% of cited URLs also rank in the top 10 organic results, with the median top-cited URL sitting around position 2. In other words, the path to getting cited by AI runs through ranking the page well, the same work that moves rankings the old-fashioned way. A high domain score with weak, off-topic pages will not buy you a citation. This is the heart of how we approach AI search optimization (AEO and GEO) for clients.
You improve DA and DR the same way: by earning quality links from relevant, trusted sites. Because both metrics are built on backlink data, there is no shortcut that moves the score without moving the underlying link profile. Here is what actually works.
Scale matters here for a reason worth repeating. According to Ahrefs, roughly 96% of pages get zero organic search traffic from Google, across a study of about one billion pages. Most of those pages also have no backlinks. Earning even a handful of quality links puts you ahead of the vast majority of the web, which is why a focused link strategy moves these scores at all. If you want a structured program, our link building services are built around exactly this.
Wondering how many links you actually need? We tackle that in how many backlinks do I need to rank, which pairs naturally with any DA or DR improvement plan.
The biggest mistake is treating either score as a ranking factor. It is not, and optimizing for the score instead of the customer leads teams astray. A few more traps to avoid:
Is Moz DA or Ahrefs DR more accurate? Neither is "accurate" in an absolute sense, because both are estimates of authority, not measurements of Google's actual scoring. DR is generally tighter for pure backlink strength; DA is broader because it folds link data into a ranking-prediction model. Use the one that fits your task.
Does Google use Domain Authority or Domain Rating? No. Both are third-party metrics built by Moz and Ahrefs. Google has said publicly that it does not use a third-party domain authority score in its ranking systems. Treat DA and DR as planning tools, not Google signals.
Why is my DA different from my DR? Because they are calculated by different companies using different link indexes and different formulas. A site can sit at DA 35 and DR 50, or the reverse, and both can be correct within their own systems. Never compare the two numbers head to head.
What is a good DA or DR score? There is no universal "good" number, because both are relative. A score is good when it is competitive with the other sites ranking for your target keywords. Benchmark against your real competitors, not against arbitrary thresholds.
Can I increase DA and DR quickly? Early gains can come fast for new sites because the scale is logarithmic, so a handful of quality links moves the needle. High-end growth is slow and demands strong, relevant referring domains. There is no legitimate instant fix.
Should I track DA, DR, or both? Track both as supporting context, and track organic traffic and keyword rankings as your primary KPIs. Authority scores are useful for direction; rankings and traffic are what actually grow the business.
Why does DR update faster than DA? Ahrefs DR refreshes continuously as its crawler finds and re-scores links, so DR can move within days of a new link. Moz DA recalculates on a roughly monthly index cycle, so it is steadier but slower to reflect fresh links. A short-term gap between the two is usually just timing.
Can DA and DR be faked or inflated? Yes. Because both are built on links, both can be pumped with bought or spammy links, which is a big reason Google uses neither as a ranking factor. A score that climbs while organic traffic stays flat is the classic sign of an inflated profile, so always cross-check the score against real traffic and link relevance.
Do DA and DR matter for AI Overviews and AI search? There is no special DA or DR threshold for AI visibility, and Google has said the fundamentals that earn rankings also earn AI citations. Outrank's January 2026 analysis of about 1.9 million AI Overview citations found roughly 76% of cited URLs also rank in the top 10, so strong, relevant pages, not a high domain score alone, are what get cited.
Stop treating DA and DR as scoreboards and start treating them as instruments. Pick DR for link prospecting, DA for quick benchmarking, and judge both against your real competitors rather than round-number goals. Then connect every authority read back to rankings and traffic, because that is the only scoreboard Google and your revenue agree on.
If you want a clear picture of where your authority, links, and rankings actually stand, get a free SEO audit from Rankite and we will show you what to fix first.
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