Authority Score
Authority Score is Semrush's proprietary 0–100 metric for estimating the overall quality and SEO strength of a domain or webpage using backlinks, organic traffic, and spam signals.
Start here
- Use it for relative comparisons, not absolute truth.
- Always check the three underlying components before acting.
- Don't mix scores from different tools—they're not equivalent.
- Track trends over 1–3 months, not daily.
- Prioritize backlink relevance and topic alignment over a raw number.
I've seen too many people treat this like a magic number—here's how to use it without getting burned.
What I'd do first
- Open Semrush's Domain Overview and check your score alongside 3–4 competitors. Write them down, but don't act yet.
- Click into the breakdown: Link Power, Organic Traffic, Spam Factors. Identify the lagging component.
- Manually review 10–20 backlinks from a high-score site—are they editorially placed, relevant, and natural?
- Set a monthly calendar reminder to re-check the score. Weekly check-ins just breed anxiety.
Plain-English take
Think of Authority Score as a report card graded by a strict teacher who cares about three things: the reputation of who links to you (Link Power), how many visitors you get (Organic Traffic), and whether the link profile looks like spam (Spam Factors). A 1 is a failing grade, 100 is perfect, but most good sites sit between 20 and 60. The important thing: Google never sees this report card. It's still useful for comparing two sites side-by-side, but it won't get you a better search ranking by itself.
When it actually matters
- You're prospecting for link building: a site with a score above 40 might pass more authority, but only if the topic matches yours.
- You're running a competitive audit: compare your score with direct rivals to see where you might need more high-quality links or traffic.
- You've just disavowed toxic backlinks: if the score trends up over a month, the cleanup likely worked.
What I got wrong
- I thought Authority Score was a Google-approved ranking factor. It's not—Google doesn't use Semrush's data.
- I tried to compare Authority Score directly with Ahrefs' Domain Rating or Moz's Domain Authority. They're built differently; you can't treat them like the same scale.
- I chased a higher number by posting on low-quality directories. The score might budge, but those links can hurt your real SEO.
- I refreshed the tool daily and panicked over 1-point drops. Authority Score is a trend metric, not a real-time gauge.
Next step
Quick answers
Is Authority Score a Google ranking factor?
No. Authority Score is a proprietary metric from Semrush and is not used by Google's search algorithm. Google has its own measures for assessing page quality and expertise.
Sources
Primary documentation is linked directly. Anything commercial is marked nofollow.
- Semrush Authority Score Help — Primary definition, scale, inputs, and product locations.
- Semrush New Authority Score Update — Explains the updated weighting and spam-related factors.
- Google Search Central — Useful for clarifying that Google focuses on helpful, reliable content rather than third-party authority scores.
Notes from Callum Bennett.