Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score developed by Moz that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine results pages (SERPs). It is scored on a logarithmic scale from 1 to 100 — meaning it's much harder to move from 70 to 80 than from 20 to 30.

What Drives DA

The primary driver is the backlink profile — the quantity and quality of external links pointing to the domain. Age, content depth, and technical health also contribute. DA is a relative metric — it's most useful for comparing your domain against competitors, not as an absolute measure of quality.

DA Is Not a Google Metric

Google does not use Domain Authority in its ranking algorithm. DA is Moz's proprietary estimate. Similar metrics include Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) and SEMrush's Authority Score. Each uses different methodology. They're useful proxies but not ground truth.

PR Application

When building a media list, DA helps prioritize outlets. A backlink from a DA-90 publication (like The Wall Street Journal or Forbes) carries far more SEO value than a link from a DA-20 blog. PR teams increasingly evaluate placements on both reach and DA contribution.

AI Retrieval Correlation

High-DA sources are more likely to be cited by AI engines. ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity weight authoritative sources more heavily in their retrieval — and DA is a reasonable proxy for the kind of authority those engines respect.