> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://theseguysknow.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Domain Rating, Domain Authority and Google Rankings Are Not the Same Thing - URL: https://theseguysknow.io/domain-rating-vs-domain-authority/ - Published: 2026-09-08T12:32:24.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-08T12:32:24.000Z - Description: Ahrefs DR and Moz DA can help you compare backlink profiles, but neither score comes from Google, and raising one does not guarantee better rankings or traffic. - Author: Mike Hazard - Tags: Things to Learn, Side Hustles If an SEO dashboard gives your website a **Domain Rating of 0**, it is very easy to read that number as Google's opinion of everything you have built, especially when an agency is waiting nearby with a monthly retainer and a promise to make the score move. The problem is that Ahrefs created Domain Rating, Moz created Domain Authority, Google uses neither of them, and an agency can sometimes improve the number in its report without improving the rankings, traffic or recognition you cared about in the first place. We had the same question while building These Guys Know, because when a young publication still shows DR 0, you need to know whether the site is failing or the score is answering a much narrower question. It is the narrower question, although that does not make the number useless; it means we should stop asking a backlink score to judge content, technical SEO, search intent and every other part of a website that it was never designed to measure. ## Quick Answer **Ahrefs Domain Rating and Moz Domain Authority are third-party estimates calculated from each company's own data, while Google rankings are query-specific results produced by Google's systems.** A DR of 0 means Ahrefs sees almost no measurable backlink strength for the domain relative to the other sites in its index, but it does not mean Google has graded the website as worthless or decided that its content is poor; use DR or DA for comparisons, then use Google Search Console to judge impressions, clicks, and positions for the searches that matter. ## What DR, DA and Google rankings measure The names sound related enough to create confusion, but the three measurements belong to different companies, use different data, and answer different questions. | Metric | Who created it | What it measures | What it does not tell you | | ------------------------- | -------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Domain Rating (DR)** | Ahrefs | The relative strength of a domain's backlink profile on a 0–100 scale | Whether Google trusts every page, whether the content is useful or where a page will rank | | **Domain Authority (DA)** | Moz | A 1–100 prediction of a domain's ability to compete in search, calculated with Moz's link index and model | A score assigned or used by Google | | **Google ranking** | Google | Where a particular page appears for a particular search, location, device and moment | One permanent score for the entire domain | Ahrefs explains that DR is relative and that the linking site's strength, together with the number of other domains it links to, affects the calculation, while Moz's DA uses Moz's link data and predictive model, which is why the two scores can disagree without either tool being broken. Google describes a much larger system that examines many signals and works mainly at the page level; links remain part of its core systems through PageRank and other link analysis, but Google uses its own index and calculations rather than importing an Ahrefs or Moz score. Our [backlinks and referring domains guide](https://theseguysknow.io/backlinks-vs-referring-domains/) explains another part of the same confusion, including why 600 backlinks can still come from one website and tell a very different story from 600 independent sites choosing to link to you. ## Why DR 0 does not mean Google considers your site worthless A new or lightly mentioned website can sit at DR 0 because Ahrefs has found few links that affect its formula, because recent links have not entered its index or because the site's backlink strength remains tiny beside the rest of the web. Ahrefs says DR is not a Google ranking factor, and its 2025 study found a small positive correlation of 0.131 between DR and search positions, which helps explain why strong domains often compete well without making the score a requirement for ranking. Google says its systems work mainly on individual pages, while site-wide signals contribute without guaranteeing that every page from a strong site ranks well or every page from a weaker site ranks badly. A domain-level score can describe how difficult the competition may be, but it cannot decide whether one page deserves a position for one search. ## When DR and DA are useful DR and DA are useful when you compare your backlink profile with publications competing for the same topics, check whether a possible linking website has some established strength, watch whether outreach attracts new referring domains and find search results where similarly rated sites already compete. Neil Patel's explainer gives general DA bands but also acknowledges that the relationship with traffic may be correlation rather than cause, while Ahrefs says there is no universal good DR and recommends comparing it with direct competitors, the wider industry and the search results you want to enter. ## Can an agency raise DR without improving the website? An agency can focus on the input that moves a third-party formula while paying much less attention to the outcome you expected, so enough links from domains valued by Ahrefs or Moz can raise the score even when those sites are irrelevant, bring no interested visitors or point at pages that never improve in search. PR agencies, digital PR agencies and link-building services also sell different things, even though their sales pages sometimes blend them together. Earned-media work persuades an independent journalist to cover a story, press-release distribution sends or syndicates your own release through a network, digital PR develops a linkable story with coverage and backlinks in mind, and a link-building seller may arrange placements primarily to move SEO metrics; each can have a legitimate use, but 40 syndicated copies of one release should not be presented as 40 journalists independently deciding that your company mattered. This is where an agency dashboard can become a small theatre production, with enormous potential-reach figures, dozens of placements and a DR chart pointing upward while Search Console sits in the next tab looking exactly as bored as it did last month. The numbers do not have to be false to mislead when the report celebrates the easiest outputs and leaves the harder outcomes outside it. | If the report celebrates… | Ask the agency to show… | | -------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **40 media placements** | How many were original earned stories rather than identical syndicated copies? | | **100 million potential reach** | How many people visited, searched for the brand, subscribed or made an enquiry? | | **A 10-point DR or DA increase** | Which new referring domains caused it, whether they are relevant and whether the links remain live? | | **High-authority coverage** | Whether the article mentions the brand properly and includes a followed, nofollow, sponsored or no link at all? | | **More organic visibility** | Which queries and pages gained impressions, clicks and average position in Search Console? | ## What PR services cost, and what that price buys Public PR pricing is messy because one company sells automated distribution, another sells a journalist list and another sells an ongoing publicist, so comparing them directly is a little like comparing a bus ticket with hiring a driver. These examples show the range rather than our endorsement, and the promises belong to the vendors. | Service type and public example | Listed price checked 5 September 2026 | What you are buying | What the price does not prove | | --------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Press-release distribution: EIN Presswire Basic** | **$149 per release** | Distribution through its network, targeting options and a placement report | That a journalist wrote an independent story, readers visited your site or rankings improved | | **Broader distribution: eReleases Buzz Builder** | **From $399 per release** | PR Newswire distribution, editorial review and targeting from its journalist database; writing costs another $300 | That the release will receive meaningful editorial pickup or create a valuable backlink | | **Ongoing agency offer: Otter PR** | **$2,000 per month** | Its advertised package includes pitching, story creation, strategy and one guaranteed placement each month | That the placement will reach your audience, produce a followed link or improve Google rankings | | **Custom agency work on Clutch** | **U.S. listings commonly show $100–$149 per hour** | Professional time for strategy, writing, outreach, monitoring or other agreed work | Any standard number of links, placements, leads or ranking gains | Even eReleases explains on its own pricing page that inexpensive syndication can copy a release across websites without any journalist becoming involved, so those URLs may make the distribution report look busy while readers never encounter them and search engines treat them as duplicates. ## Does PR work well enough to justify the price? PR can work because journalists use good outside material, although paying an agency does not make an ordinary announcement interesting. Cision's 2026 State of the Media study surveyed 1,899 journalists across 19 markets and found that 66% relied on PR-provided material for story ideas, while 72% said fewer than one quarter of the pitches they received were relevant; the same report says journalists value original research, expert access and embargoed information, which makes relevance and evidence more persuasive than sending another generic release to a giant database. AMEC's measurement guidance asks PR teams to report outputs, outcomes and wider impact rather than stopping at the activity that was easiest to count. A placement is an output, while relevant referral visits, branded searches, newsletter sign-ups, enquiries and useful journalist relationships show whether the coverage reached anyone who mattered; if SEO is part of the brief, add relevant referring domains and Search Console changes without pretending that DR is Google's final exam score. ## A cheaper approach for a small publication For a small publication such as TGK, paying a monthly agency to announce that we publish articles would be difficult to justify, because thousands of sites can make the same announcement and no publicist can manufacture a strong story from it. Our better opportunity is the work we already produce: original AI model tests, transparent prompts, cost comparisons, failure examples, and datasets that a journalist can inspect. A cheaper plan is to package one new finding into a clean data page, build a small list of journalists and newsletters covering that exact subject, send a personal pitch explaining why the evidence matters, and answer relevant journalist requests when we have something useful to contribute. If we later pay an agency, the brief should name the result before the agency chooses the statistics: reach relevant AI or consumer-technology journalists, earn original coverage of a specific test, create visits to the source page, and build relationships that remain useful for the next piece of research. ## Final verdict Domain Rating, Domain Authority, and Google rankings are connected in the broad sense that strong websites often earn good links and good links can help pages compete, but neither Ahrefs nor Moz sends its score to Google. Use DR and DA to compare similar sites and investigate the links behind the number, then use Search Console and real business outcomes to see whether people are finding your work; if you pay an agency, decide whether you need distribution, earned coverage, backlinks, relevant traffic, or leads, and make its report answer the question you paid it to solve. --- #### Sources - [Ahrefs: What is Domain Rating?](https://help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/1409408-what-is-domain-rating-dr?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [Ahrefs: What Is a Good Domain Rating?](https://ahrefs.com/blog/what-is-a-good-domain-rating/?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [Moz: Domain Authority](https://moz.com/learn/seo/domain-authority?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [Google Search Central: A Guide to Google Search Ranking Systems](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [Neil Patel: What Is Domain Authority?](https://neilpatel.com/blog/increase-domain-authority/?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [Cision: 2026 State of the Media findings](https://www.cision.com/about/press-releases/2026-press-releases/pr-emerges-as-the-primary-source-for-journalists-in-high-pressure-newsrooms-302770936/?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [AMEC: Barcelona Principles and PR measurement guidance](https://amecorg.com/?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [Clutch: PR Pricing Guide 2026](https://clutch.co/pr-firms/pricing?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [EIN Presswire pricing](https://www.einpresswire.com/pricing?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [eReleases pricing](https://www.ereleases.com/pricing/?ref=theseguysknow.io) - [Otter PR public offer](https://otterpr.com/special-offer/?ref=theseguysknow.io)