Semrush Authority Score Explained: What It Measures and How It Compares to DR and DA

Semrush Authority Score explained briefly: it is a 1–100 grade that Semrush builds from a site's backlinks, its estimated organic traffic and a set of spam checks, and it is meant for comparing domains, not as a verdict on one. Unlike Ahrefs DR, it looks at traffic as well as links, which makes it harder to inflate with links alone. This guide walks through how the score is built, why it moves when you change nothing, and how to use it when you vet or pitch a site.

Published: 2026-10-16 · 7 min read · Satelo

What Authority Score is, in Semrush's own words

Semrush's knowledge base article on Authority Score calls it a compound metric that grades the overall quality of a website or a webpage. It runs from 1 to 100, and higher is better.

The same article adds the most important caveat itself: Authority Score is best used for domain comparison, not for deciding good or bad on an absolute scale. A score of 25 isn't "bad" on its own. It's low or high only relative to the sites you're comparing it with.

It's also worth being clear about what it isn't. Authority Score is a Semrush metric built from Semrush's databases. Google's guide to its ranking systems lists Google's own systems, and no third-party authority score is among them.

The three building blocks

According to the Semrush KB, the score combines eight weighted factors grouped into three categories:

The six Natural Profile checks, as listed in the KB, are:

• no organic rankings in Google's top 100;
• an unusually high share of dofollow referring domains;
• an imbalance between links and organic traffic;
• too many referring domains on the same IP address;
• too many referring domains on the same IP network;
• another domain with an almost identical backlink profile.

Read that list as a description of a link scheme: lots of followed links, from sites hosted together, pointing to a domain that gets no search traffic. That's roughly what a private blog network looks like, and it's why our guide on how to spot PBN sites checks many of the same things by hand.

Authority Score vs Domain Rating vs Domain Authority

The three scores answer related but different questions, so the same site can sit at very different numbers in each tool.

A few specifics from the vendors' own pages:

• Ahrefs DR shows the strength of a site's backlink profile compared with others in Ahrefs' database. Ahrefs explains that a linking domain splits its rating equally among the domains it links to, so a link from a site that links out to almost everyone counts for little.
• Moz DA is described by Moz as a comparative metric, not a direct ranking factor, and spam is handled by a separate number; see our explainer on Moz Spam Score.
• Semrush Authority Score is the only one of the three that folds estimated traffic and spam checks into the headline number.

The practical consequence: a site with lots of links but almost no search traffic will usually look better in DR than in Authority Score. When the two disagree sharply, that gap is a question worth asking. We compare the broader family of scores in domain authority explained.

Why your Authority Score changes when you do nothing

Semrush's FAQ lists several reasons a score can drop: competitors outperforming you in your niche, weaker SEO efforts, a negative SEO attack and a weak backlink profile. Two mechanics sit behind most of the surprises:

1. It's relative. If other sites grow faster than yours, your position on the scale can slip with no change on your side.
2. It's recalculated regularly. Semrush says it updates Authority Scores for all domains once every two weeks. Your traffic estimate also moves with keyword positions, so a few lost rankings can show up in the score.

The FAQ also says it is highly unlikely that a Google penalty will affect your score, because the score is built from Semrush's data, not Google's. So a drop in Authority Score is not evidence of a penalty, and a stable score is not proof that you're safe. For real search problems, Google Search Console is the place to look.

How to raise Authority Score honestly

Since the score mixes links, traffic and spam checks, the honest path is the one that improves the actual site, and the score follows. Gaming one input tends to trip another.

• Earn links from different, relevant sites. Semrush's FAQ answers "no" to whether more backlinks from the same referring domain boost the score. Breadth of real referring domains matters more than repeat links. Our guide to increasing domain authority covers methods that work across all three tools.
• Grow search traffic you can show. Update pages that already rank on page two, fix titles that get impressions but no clicks, and add content that matches real queries. Traffic is a direct input here.
• Keep the profile natural. Don't chase only followed links, don't pile up links from one hosting network, and stay away from link schemes. The Natural Profile checks exist to catch exactly those patterns, and Google's spam policies list link spam as a violation.
• Mark paid or partner links correctly. Sponsored links should carry rel="sponsored". That's how Google's guide to qualifying outbound links asks you to label them, and it keeps your profile honest regardless of what any tool's score does.

Treat the score as a lagging indicator. If you need a number to check progress, compare the same tool's score every few months rather than reacting to each update.

Using Authority Score in guest post and partnership deals

Publishers often quote Authority Score or DR as a price justification. Use it as a starting filter, then check the things the score can't tell you:

1. Compare two tools. If Authority Score is far below DR, the site may have links but little traffic. Ask why.
2. Look at the traffic trend, not a snapshot. A sharp recent decline matters more than the current score.
3. Read the site. Recent posts, real authors, topics that match yours, no page stuffed with "write for us" offers in every niche.
4. Check outbound links. A site that links to casinos, loans and crypto in every post is selling links, whatever its score.
5. Price on audience fit, not the number alone. Our pre-purchase checklist goes through this step by step.

For illustration: if one candidate shows Authority Score 30 with steady traffic in your topic and another shows 45 with traffic falling off a cliff, the first is usually the better partner, even though its number is lower.

Where to check Authority Score

• Free: Semrush's Website Authority Checker is the free option the KB points to.
• In Semrush: the KB lists Domain Overview, Compare Domains, the Backlinks tool, Backlink Gap, Backlink Audit and other reports. Those are part of a Semrush account.
• Alternatives: if you want a second opinion built from different data, open-data signals like Tranco rank and domain age are free to check.

The limits worth remembering

• It's an estimate built from one company's crawl and traffic model. Your real traffic in Search Console or analytics can differ a lot.
• It's comparative. Semrush itself says not to read it as an absolute good or bad grade.
• It ignores content quality, topical relevance and whether a site's readers care about your topic.
• Small and new sites often score low for a long time, even when they're useful and growing.

What to do next

Look up your own Authority Score once in the free checker and note it, then compare it with a second, independent view. On Satelo's free checker you can see any site's Quality Score with the evidence behind each number in about 30 seconds. It's built mostly from open data, such as Tranco rank, domain age, Common Crawl and page speed; for sites connected to the Satelo network it also shows Semrush and Similarweb estimates. If the two views disagree, you'll know exactly which signal to dig into.

FAQ

What is a good Semrush Authority Score?

There's no universal threshold. Semrush says the score is best used for comparing domains, not for judging good or bad on an absolute scale. Compare your score with sites in your niche that rank for the same topics.

How is Semrush Authority Score calculated?

Per Semrush, it combines eight weighted factors in three groups: Link Power (backlink quantity and quality), estimated Organic Traffic, and Natural Profile, a set of six checks for manipulative link patterns.

Is Authority Score better than Domain Rating?

Neither is better; they measure different things. DR reflects backlink strength only, while Authority Score also includes estimated traffic and spam checks. Looking at both helps spot sites with links but no audience.

Why did my Authority Score drop?

Semrush lists competitors outperforming you, weaker SEO, a negative SEO attack and a weak backlink profile. Because it's relative and refreshed every two weeks, it can also drop when other sites grow faster than yours.

Does Google use Semrush Authority Score?

No. It's Semrush's own metric built from its databases. Google's documented ranking systems don't include any third-party authority score, so treat it as a comparison tool, not a ranking factor.

Can I check Authority Score for free?

Yes. Semrush offers a free Website Authority Checker. The full set of reports that show the score, like Domain Overview and Backlink Audit, is part of a Semrush account.

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