High-DR Directories for AI Tools
The highest domain rating sites that accept AI tool listings, sorted by DR, with pricing and type for each.
Domain Rating is Ahrefs' 0 to 100 measure of a site's backlink strength, and it is logarithmic: climbing from DR 70 to DR 90 represents far more authority than 20 points suggests. That is why the top of a directory list matters more than its length. A listing on a DR 90 site does more for your link profile than a dozen listings on forgotten DR 20 directories, and it is where we tell founders to start when they do submissions themselves.
An honest note about what is on this list
Not everything below is an AI directory, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Capterra, G2 and Product Hunt are general software and launch platforms. They are on the list because they accept AI tools, they carry more authority than almost any AI-only directory, and a listing on them is worth more than three listings on a niche site nobody visits.
The Type column tells you which is which. If you only want AI-specific directories, the full list lets you filter for exactly that.
Highest-DR sites that accept AI tool listings
| Site | DR | Listing | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| producthunt.com | 91 | Free | General software |
| aitools.neilpatel.com | 91 | Free | AI-specific |
| g2.com | 91 | Free | General software |
| capterra.com | 91 | Free | General software |
| devpost.com | 88 | Free | General software |
| softwareadvice.com | 87 | Free | General software |
DR values sync from Ahrefs. Every site above accepts submissions and has been submitted to.
How we test
Every list of AI directories claims its numbers. Here is where ours come from. We have worked through more than 1,000 directories by actually submitting to them, then tracking three things: whether the listing was ever published, how long approval took, and what the live listing links back with. Sites that never publish, never respond, or turn out to have no submission route at all do not make the list.
DR values sync automatically from Ahrefs, so the numbers here do not go stale. Link status is rechecked periodically rather than continuously, because directories change it quietly and sometimes site-wide.
Where to start if you are doing this yourself
Work down from the top. The first 20 to 30 sites by DR are worth more than the next 200 combined, so submit to those first, carefully, with your best assets. Prioritise the free ones, then decide case by case whether any paid placement is worth it. And keep a spreadsheet from the first submission, because past 20 you will lose track, and resubmitting to the same directory reads as spam on their side.
The mistakes that waste the most time
Submitting from a stale list is the big one. Plenty of lists circulating were compiled during the 2023 rush and never pruned, so a chunk of the domains are dead or ignoring their queue. Treating DR as a guarantee is the second: a high-DR listing helps your link profile, but nobody can promise what it does to your rankings. Third is ignoring relevance, though it cuts both ways. A DR 91 general software directory is worth having, and so is a DR 60 AI-specific one where your actual buyers are browsing.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a high-DR directory?
Domain Rating (Ahrefs) runs 0 to 100 on a logarithmic scale, so the gap between DR 70 and DR 90 is far larger than 20 points suggests. We treat DR 70+ as high. The strongest sites that accept AI tool listings sit at DR 88 and above.
Why are general software directories on an AI directory list?
Because they are worth listing on. Capterra, G2 and Product Hunt are not AI-specific, but they carry more authority than most AI-only directories and they accept AI tools. We mark which is which rather than pretending everything on the list is an AI directory.
Will one directory backlink raise my DR?
One link rarely moves DR on its own. DR responds to referring domains in aggregate, which is why a full submission round across dozens of directories moves the number while a single listing does not. Nobody can honestly guarantee a specific DR increase.