Free keyword difficulty tool
Can Your Site Rank For It?
A difficulty score out of 100 does not tell you whether to write the page. See Google's live top 10, the Domain Rating behind every result, and your website next to that bar: write it now, or earn backlinks first. The pages that rank are also the pages AI answers quote, so a winnable keyword is a shot at both. One check free, no score to decode.
How the check works
Live top 10
See what Google ranks today, not a stale index. Those ten pages are the competition you would actually be writing against.
DR per result
Every ranking website gets a Domain Rating lookup. The median is the bar the page demands; the weakest one shows whether a small site already slipped through.
Your verdict
Your DR against that bar: winnable now, within reach, or earn backlinks first. Same engine as the Pro Keywords tab, one keyword at a time.
Reading the result
Difficulty scores that blend dozens of signals hide the decision you need to make. DR-based difficulty keeps it concrete: if the median top-10 DR is 40 and you're at 45, write the page, because content is what's missing. If the median is 65 and you're at 30, no amount of on-page work closes that gap this quarter; the keyword belongs on next quarter's list while you build trusted backlinks.
The minimum DR is the tell worth watching. A DR 20 site holding position 8 on a median-60 page means Google wants relevance it can't find from the big players, and that's an opening. You can verify any competitor's DR with the free domain rating checker.
Free check vs Pro keyword research
Free check
- One check per keyword and website
- The DR bar and the weakest site still ranking
- Your DR, your gap, and a plain verdict
- Top 3 ranking sites, DR and trust check attached
Pro keyword research
- 20 saved keywords per site, weekly snapshots
- Full top 10, search volume, CPC, demand trend
- Opportunity-sorted suggestions
- Competitor gap keywords
Win visibility in AI search
This tool answers one question. VerifiedDR answers the one behind it: are you in the AI answers your buyers read, and what do you do this week if you are not.
Track your share of voice
How often ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI recommend you, and who gets recommended instead.
Work a prioritized plan
Every week, the moves ranked by what they win back. Each one names the answers behind it.
Turn answers into pipeline
Get cited on the pages that shape the answers your buyers read before they ever reach your website.
Your first scan is free. 4 buyer questions, three AI platforms, your share of voice in each.
Keyword difficulty tool FAQ
What is a keyword difficulty tool?
A keyword difficulty tool estimates how hard it is to rank for a search term. This one measures the DR bar: it fetches the live Google top 10, looks up the Domain Rating behind each result, and compares the median with your site's DR. At or above the median, backlink strength is less likely to be the blocker. Far below it, build trusted backlinks before treating content alone as the fix.
Is this keyword difficulty check really free?
Yes. After email verification, one check per keyword and website is free. You get Google's live top 10, the median and minimum DR, your own DR and gap, a verdict, and the top results with their DR. Saved keyword tracking, search volume, CPC, trend data, and suggestions are part of Pro.
How is DR-based difficulty different from other difficulty scores?
Most difficulty scores blend many signals into an opaque 0 to 100 number. Comparing DR with the live top 10 answers a narrower, practical question: does my site clear the page's current DR bar? A median DR of 40 is within reach for a DR 45 site. A DR 15 site has a backlink gap to close before it commits the same effort.
What is a good DR gap for targeting a keyword?
At or above the median top-10 DR, the keyword is winnable on backlink strength and worth writing for now. Up to about 10 points below the median, it is a stretch: possible with a strong, specific page, especially if the minimum DR in the top 10 is low. More than 10 points below, build trusted backlinks first and keep the keyword for later.
Why does the minimum DR in the top 10 matter?
The minimum DR shows whether a lower-DR page is already competing. If the minimum is 20 while the median is 60, relevance may have created an opening worth investigating. If even the minimum is 55, backlink strength is a more consistent feature of the current top 10.
How many keywords can I check?
The free tool runs one email-verified check per keyword and website. Free VerifiedDR accounts also get 3 keyword checks per month inside the dashboard. Pro tracks up to 20 saved keywords per site with weekly snapshots, search volume, CPC, trend, opportunity-sorted suggestions, and competitor gap keywords.