Almost every week, a business owner tells me something like this: “Our domain authority is only 14. We can’t compete with the big sites.” They have usually seen the number in Moz or Ahrefs, compared it with a competitor who has 60 or 70, and decided the race is lost before it starts.
I understand the worry, but it mixes up two very different ideas. Domain authority is a score that SEO tool companies calculate from backlinks. Topical authority is the idea that Google and AI assistants trust a site on a subject because it covers that subject deeply and consistently. One is a number on a dashboard. The other is a reputation you build page by page.
In this guide, I will explain what each one really measures, what Google has said about both, why a small specialist site can beat a giant generalist, and where the big domain still has the edge. Then I will give you a simple way to decide where to put your effort this quarter. If you are new to the whole idea, start with my main guide on what topical authority is and how to build it step by step, then come back here.
What domain authority actually measures, and who made it
“Domain Authority” (DA) is a metric created by the SEO software company Moz. Other tools have their own versions: Ahrefs has Domain Rating (DR), and Semrush has Authority Score. They all try to answer one question: how strong is this website’s backlink profile compared with other websites?
Moz is clear about this. As quoted in Search Engine Journal’s review of the metric, Moz’s own site says that “Domain Authority is not a Google ranking factor and has no effect on the SERPs.” It is a prediction tool, not a part of Google.
Ahrefs explains its Domain Rating in a similar spirit. In its article Domain Rating: what it is and how to use it, Ahrefs describes DR as “purely link-based” and calculated in a way loosely similar to PageRank, but between websites instead of pages. In simplified form, it works like this:
- Find every domain that has at least one followed link to your site.
- Check how many other sites each of those domains links out to.
- Give your site a share of each linking domain’s own DR, roughly its DR divided by the number of sites it links to.
- Place the result on a 0–100 scale that is logarithmic, which means moving from DR 70 to 71 is far harder than moving from 20 to 21.
Two details from that article matter for small businesses. Only the first link from each domain counts, and nofollow links do not raise DR. So ten links from one directory do almost nothing for the score.
| Metric | Made by | Built from | Looks at topic? | Used by Google? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domain Authority (DA) | Moz | Link data, modeled to predict ranking ability | No | No (Moz says so itself) |
| Domain Rating (DR) | Ahrefs | Followed links from unique domains | No | No |
| Authority Score | Semrush | Link data plus other tool signals | No | No |
| “Topical authority” | Nobody publishes a score | Depth of coverage, focus, relevant links and mentions, reputation | Yes, by definition | Not as a single score, but related ideas appear in Google’s documentation |
Notice the column “Looks at topic?”. None of the link scores care whether your backlinks come from sites about plumbing, cooking or crypto. A link is a link. That is the first big difference. If you want the longer story of what DA is and isn’t, I have a separate post on domain authority explained, so I won’t repeat it here.
Has Google ever said it uses domain authority?
No. Google people have been asked this question for about ten years, and the answer has been consistent. Search Engine Journal collected the statements in Domain Authority: Is It A Google Ranking Factor? (Kristi Hines, January 2023). Here are a few of them:
| Year | Who | What they said (as reported by SEJ) |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Gary Illyes | “We don’t really have ‘overall domain authority’.” |
| 2016 | John Mueller | “Google doesn’t use ‘domain authority’” |
| 2018 | John Mueller | “Of course it exists, it’s a tool by Moz.” |
| 2019 | John Mueller | “We don’t use domain authority, that’s a metric from an SEO company.” |
| 2020 | John Mueller | Said Google has “some metrics that are more on a site level”, without calling them authority |
| 2022 | John Mueller | “you do not need DA for Google Search.” |
“We don’t use domain authority at all in our algorithms.”
— John Mueller (2020), as reported by Search Engine Journal, Domain Authority: Is It A Google Ranking Factor?
The 2020 comment about “site level” metrics is the interesting one. It tells us Google does look at sites as a whole in some ways. It just doesn’t use Moz’s number, or any tool’s number, to do it. That leads us straight to topical authority.
What topical authority means when nobody publishes a score
Ahrefs’ topical authority guide (Despina Gavoyannis, June 2026) describes it as search engines recognizing a site as the go-to source on a subject, because the site covers the full range of related questions instead of a few keywords. The same guide is careful to say that Google has never published a formal specification for it. I agree with that framing. There is no “topical authority score” inside Google that you can look up, and anyone selling you one is selling a tool estimate.
What Google has published is a set of clues that point in the same direction:
- Site-wide signals exist. Google’s guide to ranking systems says its systems work mainly at the page level, but that site-wide signals and classifiers also contribute to how it understands pages.
- Focus is a quality question. Google’s helpful content guidance asks, “Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?” It also lists, as a warning sign, producing “lots of content on many different topics in hopes that some of it might perform well”.
- Google has a named “topic authority” system for news. In May 2023, Google published Understanding news topic authority on its Search Central blog. As Practical Ecommerce summarized it, the signals include how notable a source is for a topic or location, how other publishers cite its original reporting, and its record of quality work. This applies to news, but it shows how Google thinks about expertise on a subject.
- The reviews system rewards people who know the topic. The ranking systems guide says it favors reviews “written by experts or enthusiasts who know the topic well.”
“Having some good site-wide signals does not mean that all content from a site will always rank highly”
— Google Search Central, A guide to Google Search ranking systems
That sentence is the cleanest answer to the DA debate I have seen. A strong site does not get a free pass on every page. Each page still has to earn its place for its own query.
You may also hear about “site focus score” and “site radius”. These names come from the 2024 leak of Google’s internal API documentation. Ahrefs mentions them, crediting Shaun Anderson’s analysis, as signals that seem to describe how concentrated a site is on one subject and how far a page strays from it. I treat this as direction, not proof. A leaked field name tells us something was stored, not exactly how much weight it carries in ranking.
Topical authority vs domain authority side by side
Here is the comparison I walk clients through. Read the last two rows carefully, because that is where most wasted SEO budgets come from.
| Question | Domain authority (DA / DR) | Topical authority |
|---|---|---|
| What is it? | A tool’s estimate of backlink strength | How completely and credibly a site covers one subject |
| Who calculates it? | Moz, Ahrefs, Semrush and others | Nobody publishes it; you judge it by results |
| Does topic matter? | No. A cooking link counts like a plumbing link | Yes. Relevance is the whole point |
| How do you grow it? | More links from more unique, strong domains | Deep content on one subject, tight internal links, relevant links and mentions |
| How fast does it move? | Can jump after one big link | Slowly; Ahrefs suggests 6–12 months for a focused effort |
| How do you check it? | Type the domain into a tool | Rankings across a whole cluster, branded topic searches, AI mentions |
| Typical mistake | Buying links to “raise DA” and seeing no traffic change | Publishing 200 thin posts and calling it “coverage” |
| Does Google use it? | No, per repeated Google statements | Not as one score, but focus, expertise and site-wide signals are all documented ideas |
If you want to see how to track the right column without a magic number, my sibling guide explains how to measure topical authority with real data, using cluster rankings and Search Console instead of a single score.
Why a DR 15 bike shop can outrank Amazon
The best example I have seen comes from the Ahrefs guide. A specialist e-bike retailer, Bicycle Motor Works, had a DR of 15. Amazon has a DR of 96. Yet Ahrefs found the small shop outranking Amazon for competitive e-bike keywords and appearing in AI Overviews regularly.
“A site with a low DR can outrank a much stronger domain simply by covering a niche more completely.”
— Ahrefs, Topical Authority: What It Is, How Google Measures It, and How to Build It
How does that happen? In plain words, the small site wins on several things a link score cannot see:
- Relevance of the whole site. Every page is about e-bikes, motors, batteries and conversions. Amazon’s e-bike pages sit among millions of unrelated products.
- Answering the next question. A specialist explains the difference between hub and mid-drive motors, battery range in cold weather and legal speed limits. A marketplace listing rarely does.
- Internal links that tell a story. Related pages link to each other, so Google can see the full map of the subject.
- Relevant links and mentions. Cycling forums, local riding clubs and gear reviewers link to a specialist. Those links say “this site knows e-bikes,” not just “this site is popular.”
- Experience. Real repair photos, real build notes and real customer questions are hard for a generalist to copy.
This is also why a strong domain can’t simply rent out its strength. Google’s spam policies define site reputation abuse as third-party content published on a host site mainly because of that host’s “already-established ranking signals.” In other words, Google has written a rule specifically against high-authority domains ranking for topics they have no real connection to.
Where the high-DR domain still wins
I don’t want to oversell this. Links still matter a lot, and pretending otherwise would be bad advice. Ahrefs itself says topical authority doesn’t replace backlinks, and that the most competitive sites have both. Here is where a big link profile usually still beats a focused small site:
- Very competitive head terms, like “credit cards” or “car insurance,” where every page on page one is deep, focused and well linked. Depth only gets you into the room.
- Brand-new topics, where nobody has deep coverage yet and Google leans on general trust signals.
- Getting new pages found and crawled. Sites with many links tend to get new pages discovered faster.
- AI visibility at the very top. In Ahrefs’ study of 75,000 brands (May 2025), Domain Rating had a correlation of 0.326 with mentions in AI Overviews. That is real, but branded web mentions were much stronger at 0.664. I explain what that means for AI answers in my guide to topical authority in AI search.
So the honest summary is this: link strength raises your ceiling; topical depth decides whether you reach it. A site with deep coverage and modest links usually beats a site with huge links and thin coverage on a specific topic. A site with both beats everyone. And when you do build links, the topic of the linking site matters more than its score, which I cover in topically relevant backlinks.
Worked example: two sites chasing one niche
Let me make this concrete with a hypothetical example. The numbers below are invented to show the logic; they are not client data.
Two websites want to rank for searches around commercial dishwasher repair in one city.
| Factor | Site A: big home-services directory | Site B: local repair company |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Rating | 72 | 18 |
| Referring domains | 9,000+ | 85 |
| Pages about commercial dishwashers | 1 thin city page | 14 pages: brands, error codes, maintenance, pricing guide, emergency service |
| Links from food-service or restaurant sites | 0 | 11 (supplier, restaurant association, two trade blogs) |
| Internal links between those pages | None | Every page links to a hub and to two related pages |
| First-hand evidence | Generic stock photo | Technician photos, real fault-code fixes, named engineer |
For the broad query “dishwasher repair”, Site A may well rank higher, because the phrase is wide and its overall strength helps. But for queries like “Hobart dishwasher error code fix”, “commercial dishwasher not draining” or “restaurant dishwasher emergency repair near me”, Site B has the only page that truly answers the question. Across the 14-page cluster, Site B can end up owning most of the specific searches, even with a DR one quarter the size.
Now imagine Site B spends its budget trying to push DR from 18 to 30 with generic guest posts on unrelated blogs. The score might move. The rankings that make money probably won’t. That is the trap.
How to decide which one to work on this quarter
Here is the simple process I suggest. It takes an afternoon with Search Console and one SEO tool.
- List the five topics that bring you customers. Not keywords, topics. For a dentist, “dental implants” is a topic; “implant cost” is a keyword inside it.
- Count your pages per topic, and the competitors’ pages. Use a
site:search or a crawler. If the top three competitors have 20 useful pages on a topic and you have 3, you have a depth problem, not a DA problem. - Check where your pages already rank. In Search Console, filter queries by topic words. Many positions 8–20 across a topic usually means Google sees relevance but wants more depth or more links.
- Compare referring domains on the pages that outrank you. Look at the ranking page, not the domain. If the winning pages have many relevant links and you have none, links are the gap.
- Pick the bigger gap and fix it first. Use the decision table below.
- Review after 90 days. Measure rankings across the whole topic, not one keyword.
| What you see | Likely gap | What to do first |
|---|---|---|
| Few pages on the topic, competitors have many | Depth | Plan the cluster with a pillar page and supporting posts |
| Good coverage, pages stuck on page two, rivals have many relevant links | Links | Earn topic-relevant links and mentions |
| Good coverage, but pages don’t link to each other | Structure | Fix internal links before writing more |
| Rankings on many unrelated topics, none strong | Focus | Prune or move off-topic content |
| Strong rankings, no AI mentions | Brand-topic association | Earn mentions on sites that talk about your topic |
If you are just starting out, the guide to topical authority on a new or small website shows how to pick a narrow first topic. And if your site has drifted into many subjects, read whether off-topic content hurts SEO before deleting anything. For the basics of judging a single link, our free lesson on what makes a good link is a good starting point.
Questions business owners ask about DA and topical authority
Should I stop checking my domain authority?
No, but use it for what it is. DA or DR is a handy way to compare link profiles and to spot whether a linking site is real. Just don’t treat it as a goal. Google doesn’t use it, so a higher score is not a ranking by itself.
Can I have high topical authority with very few backlinks?
In a narrow, low-competition niche, yes, you can rank well with few links if your coverage is clearly the best. In competitive niches, you will still need relevant links. Depth and links work together.
Does a high-DR site rank automatically for anything it publishes?
No. Google says good site-wide signals don’t mean every page will rank, and its site reputation abuse policy targets big domains publishing off-topic content to borrow their strength.
Is topical authority the same as E-E-A-T?
They overlap. E-E-A-T is Google’s way of describing experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust. Topical authority is one practical way to show those qualities on one subject: you cover it deeply and others in that field recognize you.
How long does it take to build topical authority?
Ahrefs suggests 6–12 months for a focused effort, with early gains around months 4–6. In my view, that is a fair guide, but it depends on competition and on how much you publish and promote.
Where to put your effort if your domain authority feels too low
In brief: your DA is not your destiny. It is a link score made by a software company, and Google has said many times it doesn’t use it. What Google does reward is a site that clearly knows its subject, covers it properly and is recognized by others in that field.
So pick one topic that brings you customers. Cover it more completely than anyone else. Link those pages together. Then earn links and mentions from sites that care about that topic. Do that, and you will often beat sites with scores three or four times yours.
If you would like a second opinion on where your gaps are, our SEO services team can review your topics, content and links together. Just get a free, no-obligation quote, and we will tell you honestly whether you need depth, links or both.
Our complete topical authority guide series
This article is part of a series. Start with the main guide, then read the parts you need:
- Topical Authority: What It Is and How to Build It Step by Step
- How to Create a Topical Map for Your Website (With a Free Template Layout)
- How to Measure Topical Authority (Without a Magic Score)
- Building Topical Authority on a New or Small Website
- Topical Authority vs Domain Authority: What's the Difference? (you are here)
- Topical Authority in AI Search: Why LLMs Favor Focused Brands
- Content Depth vs Breadth: What to Publish First to Build Authority
- Internal Linking for Topic Clusters: Rules That Build Topical Authority
- Topically Relevant Backlinks: Why Link Context Matters More Than Metrics
- Does Off-Topic Content Hurt SEO? When to Publish Outside Your Niche
Sources for this topical authority vs domain authority guide
- Topical Authority: What It Is, How Google Measures It, and How to Build It — Ahrefs, June 2026
- Domain Rating (DR): What It Is and How to Use It — Ahrefs
- Domain Authority: Is It A Google Ranking Factor? — Search Engine Journal, January 2023
- A guide to Google Search ranking systems — Google Search Central
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content — Google Search Central
- Understanding news topic authority — Google Search Central Blog, May 2023
- How Topic Authority Impacts SEO — Practical Ecommerce, November 2023
- Spam policies for Google web search — Google Search Central
- An Analysis of AI Overview Brand Visibility Factors (75K Brands Studied) — Ahrefs, May 2025
