🔍 What the Authority score measures
The Authority score reflects Semrush’s assessment of your domain’s backlink profile. Search Atlas displays this score on a 0–1 scale using Semrush data, with URL metrics used as a fallback when available.
It is not an internal Search Atlas score, and it does not directly measure how many OTTO SEO playbooks you have run.
📉 Why your score may be low
- Your domain may have few high-quality backlinks.
- Your backlinks may come from low-authority, unrelated, or untrusted websites.
- Your competitors may have stronger and more established link profiles.
- New backlinks may not yet be included in the data source.
- Your domain’s score may be based on an older or incomplete data record.
⚙️ Why playbooks do not immediately raise it
OTTO SEO playbooks can improve on-page content, technical issues, internal linking, and other ranking signals. These improvements may support stronger rankings over time, but they do not automatically create authoritative backlinks.
Authority scores usually change gradually because external links must be discovered, evaluated, and reflected in the underlying data. Running more playbooks alone does not guarantee an immediate score increase.
🧭 What to check in Search Atlas
- Open OTTO SEO from the left sidebar to review your active playbooks and confirm that recommended tasks are completed.
- Review your site’s backlink profile in More Features → Backlinks → Backlink Research.
- Check whether referring domains are relevant, trustworthy, and pointing to important pages.
- Use AI Visibility → Summary and AI Visibility → Visibility to track visibility separately from Authority.
- Compare the score over several weeks rather than judging it immediately after making changes.
⏳ When a score may show zero
A score of zero can mean the required data is missing, still processing, or does not contain an Authority value. In some cases, Search Atlas may use available URL metrics instead. Data processing and refresh delays can also temporarily affect the displayed result.
✅ Best ways to improve authority over time
- Create useful, original content that other websites want to reference.
- Earn relevant backlinks from credible websites in your industry.
- Fix broken pages and redirect issues so valuable links reach live content.
- Use OTTO SEO to address technical and on-page recommendations.
- Monitor competitors to identify relevant topics and legitimate link opportunities.
💬 Need help checking your data?
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.