How often are domain authority numbers typically updated?

How often are domain authority numbers typically updated?Domain Authority (DA) scores from Moz are updated roughly once per month, though the exact schedule varies. Other domain metrics like Ahrefs' Domain Rating (DR) or Semrush's Authority Score update continuously as new backlink data is crawled, typically reflecting changes within days to weeks.AnswerDomain Authority from Moz updates approximately once per month when they refresh their link index. The exact date shifts, but you can expect a new DA score every 3–5 weeks. This means a link you built today won't move your DA for several weeks, and when it does update, it reflects all the link changes across the web during that period, not just yours. If everyone else also gained links, your DA might stay flat or even drop despite building quality backlinks.Ahrefs' Domain Rating and Semrush's Authority Score work differently. Both crawl the web continuously, so their metrics update as soon as their bots discover new backlinks pointing to your site or your competitors. You might see DR movement within 3–10 days of a strong link going live, assuming Ahrefs has already crawled the linking page. Semrush operates similarly. This makes them more responsive for tracking recent link-building campaigns.A few things to keep in mind. First, all these metrics are third-party estimates of Google's actual authority signals. They're useful for benchmarking and comparing domains, but Google doesn't use DA or DR in rankings. Second, one-point fluctuations mean almost nothing. A site moving from DA 42 to DA 41 doesn't signal a problem unless you see a sustained downward trend over several updates. Third, competitor activity affects your score. If you're in a competitive niche where everyone's link building aggressively, you can build ten solid links and still see no DA change because the baseline moved.At Ottawa SEO, we check DA monthly as part of client reporting but track Ahrefs metrics more frequently during active campaigns since they're more real-time. We care less about the absolute number and more about trends: Are we outpacing competitors? Are link placements actually getting indexed and counted? If you're link building and see no movement in any metric after 6–8 weeks, either the links aren't being crawled, they're low-quality, or you're in a hyper-competitive vertical where incremental gains are slow. Focus on links that drive referral traffic and rankings, not just metric bumps.