Free Domain Authority Checker
Check the Domain Rating, Ahrefs Rank, referring domains, backlinks, and ranked keywords for any website. The same Ahrefs-grade authority data SEO teams pay for, exposed at the headline level. Free, no signup, unlimited.
What is a domain authority checker?
A domain authority checker grades a website's likelihood of ranking in search by combining backlink quantity, link quality, organic traffic, and content signals into a single 0–100 score. The original metric was Moz's Domain Authority, but Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) is now the industry standard because its index — 25+ trillion live links — updates every 15 minutes. AIclicks uses Ahrefs' DR plus Ahrefs Rank (global authority position), referring domain count, total backlinks, organic keyword count, and monthly organic traffic. One paste, six metrics, the same data in Ahrefs Site Explorer's $129/month plan. Free, unlimited, no signup.
How to use the domain authority checker
Type or paste the domain (example.com — no http://, no trailing slash needed) and press Check Domain Authority. The checker returns Ahrefs Domain Rating (0–100), Ahrefs Rank (global position), referring domains, total backlinks, ranked organic keyword count, and modeled monthly organic traffic. Use the DR-Ahrefs Rank pair as your authority benchmark; refdomains and backlink count tell you how the score was earned (link breadth versus depth). Hit Enter to run a different domain. Free, unlimited.
What is a domain authority checker?
A domain authority checker grades a website's likelihood of ranking in search by combining backlink quantity, link quality, organic traffic, and content signals into a single 0–100 score. The original metric was Moz's Domain Authority, but Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) is now the industry standard because its index — 25+ trillion live links — updates every 15 minutes. AIclicks uses Ahrefs' DR plus Ahrefs Rank (global authority position), referring domain count, total backlinks, organic keyword count, and monthly organic traffic. One paste, six metrics, the same data in Ahrefs Site Explorer's $129/month plan. Free, unlimited, no signup.
How to use the domain authority checker
Type or paste the domain (example.com — no http://, no trailing slash needed) and press Check Domain Authority. The checker returns Ahrefs Domain Rating (0–100), Ahrefs Rank (global position), referring domains, total backlinks, ranked organic keyword count, and modeled monthly organic traffic. Use the DR-Ahrefs Rank pair as your authority benchmark; refdomains and backlink count tell you how the score was earned (link breadth versus depth). Hit Enter to run a different domain. Free, unlimited.
What you can do with our free domain authority checker
Six high-leverage workflows — link prospecting, guest-post vetting, competitor benchmarking, agency reporting, and DR tracking over time.
What you can do with our free domain authority checker
Six high-leverage workflows — link prospecting, guest-post vetting, competitor benchmarking, agency reporting, and DR tracking over time.
Vet link prospects in seconds
Building a guest post or backlink list? Run each prospect's domain through the checker. DR < 20 with no organic traffic = PBN or low-value site. Save hours of bad outreach.
Vet link prospects in seconds
Building a guest post or backlink list? Run each prospect's domain through the checker. DR < 20 with no organic traffic = PBN or low-value site. Save hours of bad outreach.
Benchmark against direct competitors
Compare your DR and refdomain count against your three closest competitors. The gap reveals whether you should invest in content or links to close the rankings difference.
Benchmark against direct competitors
Compare your DR and refdomain count against your three closest competitors. The gap reveals whether you should invest in content or links to close the rankings difference.
Sales-qualify SEO agency leads
Run any prospect's domain before the call. DR 35 with 800 ranked keywords needs different services than DR 8 with 12 keywords. Position the right offer, price the right scope.
Sales-qualify SEO agency leads
Run any prospect's domain before the call. DR 35 with 800 ranked keywords needs different services than DR 8 with 12 keywords. Position the right offer, price the right scope.
Track your DR over time
Run your domain weekly, log the DR. Dropping DR with steady refdomains usually signals link decay or algorithm shift. Catch authority erosion before it becomes a rankings issue.
Track your DR over time
Run your domain weekly, log the DR. Dropping DR with steady refdomains usually signals link decay or algorithm shift. Catch authority erosion before it becomes a rankings issue.
Build agency client reports
Pull DR, refdomains, and backlink count for client reports without burning a Site Explorer query. Free, unlimited, copy-paste-ready into your monthly deliverable.
Build agency client reports
Pull DR, refdomains, and backlink count for client reports without burning a Site Explorer query. Free, unlimited, copy-paste-ready into your monthly deliverable.
Validate acquisition or partnership targets
Considering buying a site or co-marketing with one? DR plus organic traffic plus refdomain history tell you whether the authority is real or a flagged-link house of cards.
Validate acquisition or partnership targets
Considering buying a site or co-marketing with one? DR plus organic traffic plus refdomain history tell you whether the authority is real or a flagged-link house of cards.
SERP & Rankings
Technical SEO
AI Writing & Content
Keyword Research
AI Visibility
Social & YouTube
How AIclicks works
How AIclicks works
01
Brand Audit
We start by mapping your current AI visibility, analyzing how often you appear in LLMs answers. This gives us a precise roadmap of what needs to be fixed, improved, or created.
01
Brand Audit
We start by mapping your current AI visibility, analyzing how often you appear in LLMs answers. This gives us a precise roadmap of what needs to be fixed, improved, or created.
02
AI-Optimized Content
We produce content crafted specifically for AI models. We reinforce this with citation-worthy sources and high-authority mentions that help AI systems trust and reference your brand.
02
AI-Optimized Content
We produce content crafted specifically for AI models. We reinforce this with citation-worthy sources and high-authority mentions that help AI systems trust and reference your brand.
03
Optimization, Tracking & Insights
You get access to a custom AI visibility dashboard, weekly progress updates, and continuous optimization cycles. We monitor ranking shifts, citation changes, competitors, and new AI opportunities.
03
Optimization, Tracking & Insights
You get access to a custom AI visibility dashboard, weekly progress updates, and continuous optimization cycles. We monitor ranking shifts, citation changes, competitors, and new AI opportunities.
Explore our blog
Explore our blog
FAQ
What is a good domain authority score?
Context-dependent. For most B2B SaaS and ecommerce niches: DR 30–40 is solid, 50+ is strong, 70+ is elite. For news and major publishers: 80+ is the floor. Compare against your direct competitors rather than chasing an absolute number — DR 25 in a niche where the leader sits at 30 is competitive; DR 60 against a 90 leader is not.
Domain Authority (Moz) vs Domain Rating (Ahrefs) — which should I use?
Both score authority on a 0–100 scale, but Ahrefs' DR has a fresher index (re-crawled every 15 minutes vs Moz's monthly cycle), a much larger link graph (25T+ vs 35B+), and is the de-facto standard SEO teams quote in 2026. We use DR. Moz's DA is fine for legacy reporting; for new workflows, default to DR.
Does Google use domain authority for ranking?
No. Google has repeatedly stated DA and DR are third-party metrics, not signals it uses. But the underlying inputs — link quantity, link quality, organic traffic — are correlated with the things Google does evaluate. So a higher DR usually does correlate with better rankings, just not because Google looks at the score itself.
How do I increase my Domain Rating?
Earn links from sites with their own high DR. Three high-DR contextual links move the needle more than 50 low-DR forum mentions. The fastest paths: digital PR (data-led studies that earn editorial links), guest posting on legit publications, and unlinked-mention reclamation. Avoid PBNs and bulk link packages — they trigger refdomain spikes that Ahrefs flags as unnatural and won't move DR.
Why does my DR change without me building links?
DR is relative — it floats based on the link graph of all other domains, not just yours. If competitors lose links, your DR can rise. If a major site's link graph grows faster than yours, your DR can fall. Ahrefs also recalibrates the algorithm periodically (the most recent meaningful update was 2023). Track the trend, not single-point changes.
FAQ
What is a good domain authority score?
Context-dependent. For most B2B SaaS and ecommerce niches: DR 30–40 is solid, 50+ is strong, 70+ is elite. For news and major publishers: 80+ is the floor. Compare against your direct competitors rather than chasing an absolute number — DR 25 in a niche where the leader sits at 30 is competitive; DR 60 against a 90 leader is not.
Domain Authority (Moz) vs Domain Rating (Ahrefs) — which should I use?
Both score authority on a 0–100 scale, but Ahrefs' DR has a fresher index (re-crawled every 15 minutes vs Moz's monthly cycle), a much larger link graph (25T+ vs 35B+), and is the de-facto standard SEO teams quote in 2026. We use DR. Moz's DA is fine for legacy reporting; for new workflows, default to DR.
Does Google use domain authority for ranking?
No. Google has repeatedly stated DA and DR are third-party metrics, not signals it uses. But the underlying inputs — link quantity, link quality, organic traffic — are correlated with the things Google does evaluate. So a higher DR usually does correlate with better rankings, just not because Google looks at the score itself.
How do I increase my Domain Rating?
Earn links from sites with their own high DR. Three high-DR contextual links move the needle more than 50 low-DR forum mentions. The fastest paths: digital PR (data-led studies that earn editorial links), guest posting on legit publications, and unlinked-mention reclamation. Avoid PBNs and bulk link packages — they trigger refdomain spikes that Ahrefs flags as unnatural and won't move DR.
Why does my DR change without me building links?
DR is relative — it floats based on the link graph of all other domains, not just yours. If competitors lose links, your DR can rise. If a major site's link graph grows faster than yours, your DR can fall. Ahrefs also recalibrates the algorithm periodically (the most recent meaningful update was 2023). Track the trend, not single-point changes.
Be the #1 Response in AI
Reach millions of consumers who are using AI to discover new products and brands
Be the #1 Response in AI
Reach millions of consumers who are using AI to discover new products and brands
Be the #1 Response in AI
Reach millions of consumers who are using AI to discover new products and brands