What is PageRank?PageRank is the foundational link-based ranking algorithm developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University and commercialized in Google Search. It assigns a numeric value (originally displayed as 0-10 on a logarithmic scale) to web pages based on the quantity, quality, and relevance of links pointing to them.
What is PageRank?
PageRank is the foundational link-based ranking algorithm developed by Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at Stanford University and commercialized in Google Search. It assigns a numeric value (originally displayed as 0-10 on a logarithmic scale) to web pages based on the quantity, quality, and relevance of links pointing to them. The core insight: a page linked to by many high-authority pages is itself authoritative. PageRank is distributed through links: each link from a page passes a fraction of that page authority to the linked page (known as link juice).
PageRank and Modern SEO
Google discontinued public PageRank scores in 2016, but the underlying algorithm continues to operate internally and remains a core ranking signal. Third-party metrics like Ahrefs Domain Rating (DR), Moz Domain Authority (DA), and Majestic Trust Flow are attempts to approximate PageRank-like link authority. For SaaS companies, building PageRank (link authority) remains one of the most important long-term SEO investments: pages with more high-quality backlinks consistently outrank pages with better content but fewer authoritative links.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does PageRank pass through internal links?
PageRank flows through both internal and external links. A high-authority homepage passes PageRank to all pages it links to. This is why pillar pages and important product pages should be linked from the homepage and from high-traffic content: it concentrates link authority on the most commercially important pages. Internal link audits that optimize PageRank distribution (ensuring key pages receive links from your most authoritative pages) are a high-value technical SEO activity.
How is PageRank different from Domain Authority?
PageRank is Google internal, page-level link authority metric. Domain Authority (DA) is Moz proprietary metric attempting to predict overall domain ranking capability based on link data. Domain Rating (DR) is Ahrefs equivalent. None of these third-party metrics are used by Google in ranking calculations: they are approximations useful for competitive benchmarking and SEO strategy, but do not directly predict rankings. Actual Google PageRank signals from real linking data are the true ranking factor.