How is Domain Rating Calculated? Ahrefs DR Formula Explained (2026)

If you have ever checked your website in Ahrefs, one of the first numbers you see is Domain Rating. But what actually goes into that number? How does Ahrefs decide whether your site deserves a DR of 12 or 62? Understanding the Ahrefs domain rating calculation is the first step toward improving it intentionally rather than guessing.

For a broader overview of what this metric means and why it matters, see our complete guide on what is domain rating. If you want to check your current score right now, use our free DR checker tool.

Sources:

• Ahrefs Blog: What is Domain Rating and how is it calculated
• Ahrefs: Domain Rating definition and scale

What is Domain Rating?#

Domain Rating is a proprietary Ahrefs metric that scores the overall strength of a website's backlink profile on a scale from 0 to 100. It was designed to give SEO practitioners a quick way to gauge how strong a site's link profile is compared to every other domain in the Ahrefs web index — which covers billions of pages.

Think of DR as a reputation score for your website's link profile. It does not measure your content, your traffic, or your ranking potential directly. It answers one narrow question: based on who links to this site and how strong those linking sites are, how does this link profile compare to every other site on the web?

A few important things DR is not:

• DR is not a Google metric. Google has its own internal link analysis systems (descendants of PageRank) that are entirely separate from Ahrefs.
• DR is not the same as Domain Authority. Moz's DA uses different data and a different algorithm. A site with DR 40 and DA 25 is not unusual. For the full comparison, see our DR vs DA guide.
• DR is not a ranking predictor. A DR 20 page with great content can and does outrank DR 60 pages for specific search queries.

With that context established, let us look at exactly how the domain rating algorithm works under the hood.

What goes into the Ahrefs domain rating calculation#

Ahrefs has not published the exact mathematical formula — it is proprietary — but they have been transparent about the three key inputs that drive the DR score formula. Understanding these three factors is essential for anyone trying to improve their score intentionally.

Input 1: Number of unique referring domains#

This is the single most important factor in the domain rating calculation. A referring domain is any unique website that contains at least one dofollow link pointing to your site.

The keyword here is unique. Getting 500 links from one website counts the same as getting one link from that website — it is still one referring domain. But getting one link each from 500 different websites gives you 500 referring domains, and that has a massive impact on your DR.

This is why building links from diverse sources matters so much more than accumulating multiple links from a single source.

Input 2: DR of the linking domains#

Not all referring domains carry the same weight. A backlink from a site with DR 80 passes significantly more authority than a backlink from a site with DR 10. The Ahrefs domain rating calculation weighs each referring domain by its own DR score.

This creates a compounding effect: strong sites that link to you make your site stronger, which in turn makes the sites you link to slightly stronger, and so on across the entire web graph. It is similar to how Google's original PageRank algorithm works — authority flows through links like water through pipes.

Input 3: Number of sites each linking domain links to (equity dilution)#

This is the input most people overlook, and it is crucial to understanding the DR score formula.

Imagine two websites, both with DR 70:

• Site A links to 50 external websites total
• Site B links to 50,000 external websites total

A backlink from Site A passes far more authority to you than a backlink from Site B. Why? Because Site A's link equity is split among 50 recipients, while Site B's equity is diluted across 50,000 recipients. Each individual link from Site B carries a tiny fraction of the authority.

This is called link equity dilution, and it explains a counterintuitive reality: a link from a smaller niche blog (DR 40, linking to 80 sites) can actually boost your DR more than a link from a massive publication (DR 90, linking to 100,000 sites).

What does NOT count#

The domain rating algorithm intentionally ignores several things:

• Nofollow links: Only dofollow links count. Links marked as nofollow, sponsored, or UGC are excluded from the calculation entirely.
• Internal links: Links between pages on the same domain have zero effect on DR. Only external links from other websites matter.
• Anchor text: The words used in the link do not affect DR. Anchor text matters for keyword rankings in Google, but not for the Ahrefs DR calculation.
• Link placement: Whether a link is in the header, body, sidebar, or footer makes no difference to DR. A link is a link.
• Content quality: DR is blind to what is on your pages. A site full of thin, auto-generated content and a site with world-class editorial content are evaluated identically if their backlink profiles are the same.

Sources:

• Ahrefs Blog: Domain Rating calculation inputs and link equity distribution

The logarithmic scale: why each point gets exponentially harder#

This is where most people get confused — and where the domain rating algorithm becomes genuinely interesting.

DR uses a logarithmic scale, not a linear one. On a linear scale, the difference between DR 10 and DR 20 would represent the same amount of link equity as the difference between DR 70 and DR 80. But DR does not work that way at all.

The Richter scale analogy#

The best analogy is the Richter scale for earthquakes. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake is not twice as strong as a magnitude 3.0 — it is roughly 1,000 times more powerful. Each whole number on the Richter scale represents a tenfold increase in measured amplitude.

DR works similarly. Each point higher on the scale represents an exponentially larger amount of accumulated link equity. The gap between DR 70 and DR 71 represents vastly more link equity than the gap between DR 10 and DR 11.

What this means in practice#

Here is a rough guide to what each DR range typically requires in terms of unique referring domains:

These numbers are approximations because the quality and equity dilution of each referring domain matters too. A site with 200 referring domains from high-DR, low-outbound-link sites could reach DR 35, while another site with 200 referring domains from low-DR, high-outbound-link sites might only reach DR 15.

A concrete example#

Suppose your new SaaS site has DR 0 and zero referring domains. You submit to 40 quality directories over two weeks. Each directory is a new unique referring domain with a dofollow link. Your DR might jump to 18-22.

Now suppose you are at DR 55 and want to reach DR 60. You would need to earn backlinks from potentially thousands of additional referring domains — and not just any domains, but ones with meaningful DR themselves that are not linking to tens of thousands of other sites. That is why the high end of the scale is occupied almost exclusively by globally recognized brands.

Sources:

• Ahrefs Blog: DR logarithmic scale and real-world benchmarks

How link equity flows through the web#

Understanding how link equity actually moves between sites is key to making sense of the Ahrefs domain rating calculation — and to building a smarter link building strategy.

The pipe network analogy#

Think of the entire web as a network of water pipes. Every website is a reservoir, and every dofollow link is a pipe connecting one reservoir to another. Link equity is the water.

When a website earns backlinks, equity flows into its reservoir. When that website links out to other sites, equity flows out through its outbound pipes. The more outbound pipes (links to other sites), the less water flows through each individual pipe.

This is exactly how the domain rating algorithm models equity distribution:

• A site with DR 90 that links out to 10,000 other websites is like a massive reservoir with 10,000 outbound pipes. Each pipe carries a small trickle.
• A site with DR 50 that links out to only 50 other websites is like a smaller reservoir with 50 outbound pipes. Each pipe carries a much stronger flow.

Why niche blog links can outperform major publication links#

This equity dilution model has a practical consequence that surprises many people: a link from a smaller, focused blog can boost your DR more than a link from a major news outlet.

Consider these two scenarios:

Scenario A: You get a backlink from TechCrunch (DR 93, links to roughly 150,000+ external domains). The equity from that single link is divided among 150,000+ recipients. Your individual share is tiny.

Scenario B: You get a backlink from a respected niche blog in your industry (DR 45, links to 120 external domains). The equity is divided among only 120 recipients. Your individual share is substantial relative to the blog's total authority.

In terms of raw DR impact, Scenario B might actually move your DR more than Scenario A — especially if you are at a lower DR level where smaller equity inputs still register on the logarithmic scale. That said, a TechCrunch link has enormous value beyond DR: referral traffic, brand credibility, and the indirect SEO benefits of being associated with a trusted source.

The iterative calculation#

The Ahrefs domain rating calculation is iterative, meaning it recalculates across the entire web graph in cycles. When Site A's DR changes, that change ripples outward to every site that receives a link from Site A, which in turn affects the sites those sites link to, and so on.

This is why your DR can shift by a point or two even when your own backlink profile has not changed at all. If the sites linking to you gained or lost authority, that change propagates to your score.

Sources:

• Ahrefs Blog: Link equity flow and dilution in the DR model

Why your Domain Rating can drop (even when gaining links)#

One of the most frustrating experiences in SEO is watching your DR decrease when you know you have been actively building links. Understanding why this happens requires knowing that DR is a relative metric, not an absolute one.

Reason 1: Lost backlinks#

The most straightforward cause. Websites that previously linked to you may have:

• Removed the page containing your link
• Changed the link from dofollow to nofollow
• Gone offline entirely
• Restructured their site and broken the link

Ahrefs continuously recrawls the web and updates its index. When it discovers that a referring domain no longer links to you, that domain drops from your count, and your DR adjusts accordingly.

Reason 2: Link equity dilution from your referring domains#

Remember Input 3 from the calculation — the number of sites each linking domain links to? If a site that links to you starts linking to many more external sites, the equity it passes to you through its link gets diluted.

For example, if a DR 60 blog that used to link to 100 sites now links to 5,000 sites, the equity flowing to you through that single link has decreased by roughly 50x. Your DR can drop because of changes in someone else's linking behavior, even though your own link from them is still live.

Reason 3: The rest of the web is growing#

DR is relative to the entire Ahrefs index. If other websites across the web are gaining referring domains faster than you are, the logarithmic curve can push your score down slightly — even if you are still gaining links yourself.

Think of it like grading on a curve. If everyone else in the class scores higher on the next test and you score the same, your relative position drops even though your raw performance has not changed.

Reason 4: Ahrefs index maintenance#

Ahrefs regularly cleans its index by removing spam, de-duplicating domains, and discounting links from sites that violate their quality thresholds. If some of your referring domains get purged from the index during a cleanup, you lose those referring domains from your count.

What to do when DR drops#

• Check your referring domains trend in Ahrefs. If you see a sudden drop in referring domain count, investigate which links were lost.
• Look at the "Lost" tab in Ahrefs Site Explorer. This shows you exactly which referring domains stopped linking to you and when.
• Do not panic over 1-2 point fluctuations. Small movements are normal noise in a relative, continuously recalculated metric.
• Focus on the trend, not the snapshot. A DR that trends upward over quarters is what matters — not whether it dipped by a point this week.

For strategies to recover and keep your DR growing, see our guide on how to increase domain rating.

DR vs URL Rating (UR): what is the difference?#

Ahrefs actually has two authority metrics, and confusing them leads to poor SEO decisions.

Domain Rating (DR)#

DR evaluates the backlink strength of an entire domain. It looks at every dofollow link from every unique referring domain pointing anywhere on your site. Whether those links go to your homepage, your blog, your pricing page, or a random PDF — they all contribute to your domain-level DR score.

URL Rating (UR)#

URL Rating evaluates the backlink strength of a specific page. It looks at the links pointing to that one URL, considering both external backlinks and internal links within your own site. Yes, unlike DR, internal links do factor into UR.

Why both matter#

A site can have DR 50 overall but have individual pages with UR 5 (pages with no links) and other pages with UR 70 (heavily linked pages). When you are trying to rank a specific page, the UR of that page (and the UR of competing pages) is often a more useful signal than domain-wide DR.

Practical implication: When someone with DR 80 links to your homepage, your DR benefits — but the page they linked to also gets a UR boost. If you want a specific page to rank, earning direct links to that page (boosting its UR) is more targeted than earning links to your homepage (which primarily boosts DR).

For a deeper comparison of how Ahrefs' metrics stack up against Moz's, see our domain rating vs domain authority comparison.

Common misconceptions about how Domain Rating is calculated#

The domain rating algorithm is frequently misunderstood. Here are the most persistent myths and the reality behind each one.

Misconception: "DR is a Google ranking factor"#

Reality: Google does not use Domain Rating, Domain Authority, or any third-party SEO score in its ranking algorithm. Google has confirmed this repeatedly. DR correlates with rankings because it reflects backlink strength, which Google evaluates through its own separate systems. But the DR number itself plays zero role in how Google ranks your pages.

Misconception: "More links always means higher DR"#

Reality: Quantity without quality does not move DR significantly. One hundred links from DR 5 sites that each link to 50,000 other websites will barely register. Meanwhile, 10 links from DR 50 sites that each link to only 200 other websites could have a noticeable impact. The Ahrefs domain rating calculation weights quality and equity concentration heavily.

Additionally, remember that DR counts unique referring domains, not total backlinks. Getting 1,000 links from one website still counts as one referring domain.

Misconception: "DR can only go up"#

Reality: DR fluctuates regularly. It can drop when you lose referring domains, when linking sites dilute their equity by adding more outbound links, when Ahrefs purges spam from its index, or when other sites across the web grow faster than yours. Treating DR as a number that should only go up leads to unnecessary anxiety over normal fluctuations.

Misconception: "Internal links affect DR"#

Reality: Internal links have absolutely zero effect on Domain Rating. DR is calculated exclusively from external referring domains. Internal links do matter for URL Rating (UR) and for distributing PageRank within your own site for Google's purposes, but the DR calculation ignores them entirely.

Misconception: "Nofollow links count toward DR"#

Reality: Only dofollow links are included in the DR score formula. Links marked as nofollow, sponsored, or UGC are excluded. This means that even though a link from Wikipedia might look impressive, it does not contribute to your DR because Wikipedia marks all external links as nofollow.

Misconception: "You need thousands of backlinks to get decent DR"#

Reality: Because of the logarithmic scale, the lower end of the DR spectrum is very accessible. A new site can realistically reach DR 20-25 with 30-60 quality referring domains. You do not need thousands of backlinks — you need a focused strategy to earn links from diverse, quality sources.

Real customer DR improvements#

To ground these concepts in reality, here are actual DR improvements from startups that used RankInPublic's directory submission service to build their referring domain base:

Notice the pattern: sites starting from very low DR saw the largest jumps, which is exactly what the logarithmic scale predicts. Each new referring domain has the biggest proportional impact when you are starting from the bottom of the curve. The site that started at DR 21 (clipt.cc) gained fewer points from the same service — not because the service was less effective, but because each additional point requires more equity at higher DR levels.

How to check your Domain Rating#

Ahrefs (the source of truth)#

Since DR is an Ahrefs-proprietary metric, Ahrefs is the definitive source:

• Ahrefs Free Website Authority Checker: Go to ahrefs.com/website-authority-checker, type in any domain, and get the current DR score along with referring domain count and total backlinks. No account needed.
• Ahrefs Site Explorer (paid): The full tool gives you DR history over time, referring domain trends, lost and gained backlinks, and competitor analysis.

RankInPublic free DR checker#

We built a free Domain Rating checker that lets you look up DR for any domain and compare it against competitors — including real MRR data from public startups. If you are a RankInPublic customer, you can also track your DR progress directly from your dashboard.

Other tools that display DR#

Several third-party tools pull Ahrefs DR data through the API:

• Ahrefs SEO Toolbar: A free Chrome and Firefox extension that overlays DR scores directly on Google search results.
• SE Ranking, Mangools, and similar tools: Display DR alongside their own proprietary metrics.

If you are interested in checking Moz's metric alongside DR, see our guide on how to check domain authority.

Sources:

• Ahrefs: Free Website Authority Checker tool

FAQs#

How does Ahrefs calculate Domain Rating exactly?#

Ahrefs calculates DR using three primary inputs: the number of unique referring domains linking to your site with dofollow links, the DR of each of those linking domains, and how many other unique sites each linking domain links to (which determines equity dilution). These inputs are processed through a logarithmic algorithm that produces a score from 0 to 100 relative to every other domain in the Ahrefs index.

Is the Domain Rating formula public?#

No. Ahrefs has disclosed the key inputs and general mechanics (logarithmic scale, referring domains, equity dilution) but has not published the exact mathematical formula. The domain rating algorithm is proprietary. What they have shared is enough to understand what drives the score and how to improve it.

Why did my DR drop when I gained new backlinks?#

Several reasons can cause this. The most common are: other linking domains increased their outbound link count (diluting the equity they pass to you), Ahrefs removed spam from their index (reducing your referring domain count), or other sites across the web grew faster than yours (since DR is relative). A 1-2 point drop while actively building links is normal fluctuation.

Does anchor text affect Domain Rating?#

No. The text used in the link (anchor text) has no impact on the DR calculation. DR only considers the presence of a dofollow link, the DR of the linking domain, and the link equity dilution. Anchor text is relevant for Google's keyword ranking signals, but it plays no role in the Ahrefs domain rating calculation.

How is DR different from PageRank?#

PageRank was Google's original link analysis algorithm, and it is no longer publicly visible (the toolbar version was retired in 2016). DR is Ahrefs' external metric built on their own crawl data. Both evaluate links to determine authority, but they use different data sources, different algorithms, and different scales. DR is a useful third-party approximation of link strength, but it is not a recreation of PageRank.

How long does it take for DR to update after getting new links?#

Ahrefs recalculates DR on a rolling basis as their crawler discovers new links. In practice, you can expect changes to reflect within days to a few weeks of earning new referring domains. The update is not on a fixed monthly schedule — it happens continuously as Ahrefs processes new crawl data.

Can I manipulate DR with PBNs or link farms?#

Technically, any new dofollow referring domain can influence DR. But Ahrefs actively identifies and discounts links from known private blog networks (PBNs) and link farms during their index maintenance. Beyond that, Google's spam detection systems target these schemes aggressively. Even if your DR temporarily increases, the SEO risk far outweighs the benefit. Focus on earning legitimate referring domains through strategies like proven DR improvement methods.

What is a good DR score for a startup?#

Most startups begin at DR 0-10. Reaching DR 20-30 within a few months is a realistic and meaningful goal — it puts you in the competitive range for long-tail keywords in most niches. Compare your DR against the sites currently ranking for your target keywords rather than aiming for an arbitrary number. For a practical starting point, our directory submission service has taken multiple startups from DR 0-8 to DR 20-26 through systematic referring domain acquisition.