Compare direct competitors
Compare your site with direct competitors. If you see a gap, check who links to them and which of their content attracted those links.
DR4 is coming
Ahrefs DR Studio Affordable pay-per-query DR4 platform for individuals and small teams
Check DR scores for root domains and subdomains through the official Ahrefs API, compare competitors’ backlink strength, and shortlist link partners.
USING DOMAIN RATING
What can you do with DR?
Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs’ 0–100 score for comparing how strong a site's backlinks are. Use it to narrow your list, then look more closely at individual sites and pages.
Shortlist link partners
Use DR to narrow down a list of relevant sites. Check their organic traffic and the pages where a link would appear before deciding whom to contact first.
Gauge keyword competition
Look for sites with a DR close to yours in the search results. Then check what the ranking pages cover, who links to them, and whether they meet searchers’ needs.
DR reflects backlink strength. Check organic traffic, content quality, and search performance separately when evaluating a site.
DOMAIN RATING GUIDE
DR4 GUIDEWhat changed with the DR4 algorithm?
DR4 scores each subdomain separately based on the backlinks pointing to it. It gives more weight to backlinks from websites and subdomains that Ahrefs estimates receive organic search traffic.
Frequently asked questions
The essentials, from meaning to practice01What is DR, or Ahrefs Domain Rating?
DR compares the strength of backlinks to sites in Ahrefs’ database. Scores range from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the harder it generally is to gain another point.
03How does DR4 differ from DR3?
DR4 scores subdomains separately and gives more weight to links from sites and subdomains that Ahrefs estimates get organic search traffic. In the announcement, the number of rated domains fell from about 272 million to 132 million, narrowing the pool that can influence other scores.
05Does a higher DR mean better Google rankings and more traffic?
Ahrefs tested about 10 million root domains and subdomains. Across both groups together, DR4’s correlation with the number of Google top-three and top-ten rankings was more than 2.5 times that of DR3. For root domains alone, DR3 correlated more strongly. DR still measures backlinks. To see how much traffic a site gets from organic search, check its traffic data separately.
07Why did my DR drop without losing backlinks?
DR is relative, so changes to other sites’ backlinks can affect your score. Switching from DR3 to DR4 also changes how the score is calculated. To see whether you actually lost backlinks, review new and lost links and compare scores from the same model.
02What can I use a DR check for?
Use DR to compare backlinks across similar sites, then decide which competitors to study, which sites to contact, or which keywords to evaluate first.
04Why are subdomains rated separately?
Subdomains can have very different backlink profiles. In Ahrefs’ example, ahrefs.com scores 92 and help.ahrefs.com scores 75. To assess a specific blog, help center, or community, enter its full subdomain.
06What is a good DR score?
There is no universal passing score. Compare websites with similar topics and scale, rather than judging a new site against a major platform.
08When will DR4 launch?
Ahrefs announced the preview on November 5, 2026, with a standard-interface rollout planned for December 1. No exact time or time zone was specified. Our countdown is a development target only.
09How do single and bulk checks work?
Start with a single domain or switch to bulk. Add or remove domains before checking. If you exceed your credits, adjust the list first. Results include sorting, timestamps, and CSV export.
10How does Semrush AS differ from Ahrefs DR?
Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR) measures the relative strength of a site's backlink profile. Semrush Authority Score (AS) combines backlink strength, estimated organic search traffic, and signs of link manipulation or spam. Use DR to shortlist backlink prospects, then review AS and its components for more context.
11How can I use Moz DA alongside Ahrefs DR?
Moz Domain Authority (DA) uses link data to estimate a root domain's ranking potential in search results. Ahrefs DR measures backlink strength. Compare peers using DA within Moz, then use DR to check their backlink profiles. A DA of 40 does not correspond to a DR of 40.
12Does Similarweb Rank measure the same thing as DR?
Similarweb ranks sites using estimates of monthly unique visitors and pageviews. Use it to compare relative traffic and audience size. Use Ahrefs DR to compare backlink strength.
13How should I use all four metrics together?
Pick comparable sites in the same industry and market. Match root domains or subdomains and use data from the same period where possible. Compare scores and trends within each tool. If the metrics diverge, inspect the relevance of linking sites, the pages those links come from, and traffic trends. The scores use different data and methods, so avoid converting or averaging them.
Independently summarized from official sources
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