Ahrefs DR4 Explained: Why Your Domain Rating May Change

What changes with DR4?

Three changes to understand

• A smaller domain pool: fewer domains influence the calculation.
• Organic traffic weighting: more weight goes to sites with estimated organic traffic.
• Separate subdomain scores: evaluate a hosted blog on its own hostname, rather than substituting its parent platform.

Ahrefs reports stronger ranking correlation across its combined host sample, but weaker correlation for root domains alone. The headline does not describe every subgroup. See the methodology.

What the number still means

Domain Rating is a relative, logarithmic backlink-strength metric. It is not a percentage of site quality or a Google ranking score. A five-point move near the top of the scale is not equivalent to one near the bottom.

Check your score in five steps

1. Pick a small sample: your main site, key subdomains, three close competitors, and five current link prospects.
2. Open the official comparison preview. Enter the precise domain or subdomain.
3. Save both results: use separate DR3 and DR4 columns, plus hostname, date, and source.
4. Compare like with like: collect competitors on the same date under the same model.
5. Keep missing data explicit: record “unavailable” when a lookup fails; do not replace it with zero.

If you use an API or dashboard

• The Ahrefs free endpoint documents version=dr3 and version=dr4; its documented default at our source check is DR3.
• Ask your dashboard provider which model it returns, when it will switch, and whether historical values will change.
• PikaSEO’s DR checker does not explicitly request DR4 as of November 12. Use the official preview for this comparison.

Update reporting before changing targets

Run a short audit

• Search client decks, supplier briefs, and qualification sheets for DR thresholds.
• Assign an owner to each rule and save the report already shared with stakeholders.
• Collect both versions during the overlap period; annotate the new series’ starting date.
• Agree on revised targets before an agency renewal or performance review.

Keep Moz’s Domain Authority in a separate column. Our DR versus DA guide explains why these labels are not interchangeable.

Review the placement, not just its score

Before approving a new prospect

• Audience: name one recent article that would interest your actual customer.
• Contribution: explain which finding, example, or resource your team can add.
• Destination: confirm your linked page delivers what the pitch promises.

For an existing placement

• Open the referring page and confirm the link is still present.
• Check its destination and context. Use the redirect checker if the URL has moved.
• Report a missing link as a missing link, separately from a model change.

Compare publishers within a relevant peer group. See what counts as a good DR for that context.

Explain a score change with evidence

A client note you can adapt

If search traffic also falls, investigate the affected pages separately. The November Google core update and Ahrefs’ model change concern different systems.

Frequently asked questions