My SaaS has a Domain Rating of 2 - and Google is ranking it anyway

I’m building Inkfluence AI, a SaaS that helps people create ebooks and PDFs with AI.

According to SEO tools, my site’s Domain Rating is 2. Which, if you believe SEO Twitter/X, means I shouldn’t exist!

But when I open Google Search Console, I see something very different:
impressions growing daily, dozens of keywords indexed, and pages already climbing into the top 50-100 results.

That gap is what surprised me!

If you only look at DR, you’d assume nothing is happening. But Google clearly doesn’t wait for “authority” before testing new sites.

I didn’t do anything clever. No expired domains or link schemes, and most of my backlinks so far are just basic SaaS directories.

What did matter ...was intent.

Inkfluence pages are narrowly focused around what users actually search for: creating ebooks, lead magnets, and publish ready PDFs. Each page answers one thing clearly, and users actually stay and use the product.

I think Google treats early sites like a probation period. If your pages match intent and users don’t bounce, you get tested, even with low authority. Backlinks seem to matter more once Google already trusts that your site isn’t garbage.

What’s interesting is that third-party tools lag hard here. My DR hasn’t moved, but impressions and clicks keep going up. Authority scores feel like a trailing indicator, not a gate you have to pass first.

I’m still going to write content. I’ll still build links. That stuff compounds.

But this experience changed how I think about early SEO:
you don’t need permission to start ranking.

You need a real product, pages that match real searches, and users who don’t instantly leave.

If you’re building a SaaS and putting off SEO because your DR is “too low”, don’t. I almost did the same. And I’m glad I didn’t!

I’m building Inkfluence AI https://www.inkfluenceai.com - a SaaS that helps people create ebooks, lead magnets, and more with AI.