Direct Answer
A brand gap analysis finds the difference between what your brand should be known for and what search engines, AI systems, and third-party websites actually show. The useful version is not a single visibility score. It is an evidence table that connects each missing mention, citation, ranking, topic association, format, or branded query to a specific action.
The workflow is: map the brand -> define the topics it should own -> record a search and AI baseline -> classify the gaps -> compare competitors -> prioritize Fix, Build, or Influence work. Repeat the same audit on a fixed schedule so changes can be measured against the original baseline.
Watch: How to Run a Brand Gap Analysis
Credit: This guide is based on Ahrefs' AEO Course lesson with Sam Oh, the supplied transcript, and Despina Gavoyannis' brand gap framework. The worksheet, scoring model, evidence rules, and implementation cautions below are editorial additions.
1. Map the Brand Before Measuring It
A brand is rarely one string. Searchers may use the legal name, a shortened name, a product, a proprietary feature, a metric, an executive, or a sub-brand. If the audit tracks only the company name, it can miss the entities through which people actually discover and discuss the business.
| Entity type | Examples to record | Meaning to define |
|---|---|---|
| Main brand | Legal name, public name, abbreviation, common misspellings | Category, core promise, market, geography |
| Products and services | Plans, tools, service lines, signature offers | Problem solved, audience, differentiator |
| Proprietary assets | Features, metrics, methods, reports, datasets | What makes the asset distinct and when it is useful |
| People | Founders, executives, experts, creators | Expertise, role, topics, public proof |
| Sub-brands | Acquired brands, communities, publications, projects | Relationship to the parent brand |
For every entity, add the problems, attributes, audiences, locations, and topics it should be associated with. Use customer interviews, sales calls, support tickets, Search Console, keyword research, and category language. This desired-state map becomes the benchmark. Without it, an audit can report that visibility is low without explaining where visibility would matter.
2. Build Two Baselines: Search and AI
Ahrefs starts with Site Explorer for the traditional search baseline, then moves into Brand Radar for AI visibility. Keep both views because they describe different surfaces.
| Metric | What it tells you | Do not confuse it with |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Rating and referring domains | Relative link profile and sites linking to the domain | Trust, expertise, or guaranteed ranking ability |
| Organic keywords and traffic | Estimated search visibility and visits from rankings | Qualified demand, leads, or revenue |
| Mentions | AI responses that contain the tracked brand at least once | A citation or a positive recommendation |
| Citations | AI responses that cite at least one page from the tracked domain | A brand mention in the answer text |
| Estimated impressions | Potential exposure weighted using the search demand behind prompts | Observed views in the AI product |
| AI Share of Voice | The brand's comparative share of estimated AI impressions among tracked brands | Market share or an absolute performance score |
Ahrefs notes that AI Share of Voice depends heavily on the entities and competitors included in the report. Save the exact configuration, country, language, platforms, filters, and date with every baseline. Otherwise, a later comparison may look like growth when only the measurement setup changed.
3. Diagnose the Six Brand Gaps
| Gap | Question | Typical evidence | Likely action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility | Where do competitors appear more often? | Rankings, AI mentions, citations, Share of Voice | Fix or Build |
| Narrative | How is the brand described versus the intended position? | Incorrect, weak, outdated, or inconsistent descriptions | Fix and Influence |
| Topic | Which relevant problems or categories are not associated with the brand? | Competitor mentions, missing pages, absent query coverage | Build |
| Format | Which useful formats do cited competitors have that you lack? | Guides, comparisons, videos, reviews, tools, original data | Build |
| Web mentions | Which independent sources discuss competitors but omit you? | Listicles, reviews, forums, publications, creator coverage | Influence |
| Demand | Which branded or category searches show awareness you have not captured? | Brand + feature, alternatives, versus, reviews, category terms | Fix, Build, or Influence |
The categories overlap. A missing comparison page may be a topic, format, visibility, and demand gap at once. Choose one primary label for ownership and reporting, then add secondary labels. The point is to create a manageable work queue, not to force reality into six perfect boxes.
4. Run Four Audit Views
Branded Search Ownership
List the terms containing the brand and its entities. Check who owns the first result and whether that result is appropriate. A YouTube profile ranking first for “brand + YouTube” is not necessarily a gap. A competitor or outdated review outranking the official product page for “brand + pricing” probably is.
Brand Mentioned, Official Site Not Cited
In Brand Radar, isolate prompts that mention the brand but cite other domains. These are potential citation gaps, not automatic outreach targets. Read the answer and the cited page first. The third-party source may be more appropriate because the query asks for an independent review or comparison.
Competitor Present, Brand Missing
Add the relevant competitors and find prompts or pages where they appear but your brand does not. Confirm product fit before treating the omission as a gap. A competitor may serve a market, geography, price point, or feature set that your offer does not.
Unbranded Topic Association
Search each priority topic without the brand name. Record which brands, pages, authors, communities, and formats appear. This reveals what the market and retrieval systems associate with the problem before a buyer knows which company to search for.
5. Convert Findings Into Fix, Build, or Influence
- Fix: improve an existing page, correct an outdated description, strengthen entity clarity, or repair technical access.
- Build: create a missing page, comparison, guide, video, tool, dataset, or landing experience.
- Influence: earn accurate third-party coverage through expert contributions, digital PR, partnerships, review programs, or direct correction requests.
A useful priority score must show its reasoning. The following is an editorial model, not an official Ahrefs formula:
| Factor | Score | Question |
|---|---|---|
| Business demand | 0-5 | Does this gap affect a valuable buyer problem or decision? |
| Brand authority | 0-5 | Would closing it reinforce a topic the brand can credibly own? |
| AI and search visibility | 0-5 | Is there meaningful evidence of discoverability or citation value? |
| Evidence confidence | 0-5 | Is the gap repeated across prompts, dates, tools, or first-party data? |
| Effort | 0-5 | How much production, engineering, or relationship work is required? |
| Dependency risk | 0-5 | Does success depend on a publisher, platform, reviewer, or unavailable proof? |
Priority = demand + authority + visibility + confidence - effort - dependency risk. Keep the raw factors beside the total so stakeholders can challenge the assumptions. A high score authorizes investigation and execution, not a promise of rankings or citations.
The Brand Gap Audit Worksheet
Use one row per observable gap. The official Ahrefs Brand Gap Analysis Report Template provides a stakeholder report. This compact table is designed for the operating queue behind it:
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Entity and topic | The exact brand, product, person, feature, audience, or category being tested |
| Observed gap | The query, prompt, result, response, cited page, or missing mention |
| Gap type | Visibility, narrative, topic, format, web mentions, or demand |
| Evidence | URL, screenshot or export, platform, filters, location, language, and observation date |
| Comparator | The competitor, source, page, or previous baseline used for comparison |
| Business relevance | The customer problem, funnel stage, product fit, and expected outcome |
| Action | Fix, Build, or Influence, with owner, deadline, dependencies, and approval |
| Success measure | Visibility change plus a business measure such as qualified visits, enquiries, trials, or sales |
Do not audit a single AI response and call it a market fact. Answers can vary by platform, prompt wording, model, location, account context, and date. Use a representative prompt set, preserve the exact test conditions, and re-run the same set after changes.
A 30-Day Operating Rhythm
- Week 1: map entities, desired topics, competitors, and business priorities. Save the initial search and AI baseline.
- Week 2: collect branded, unbranded, competitor, citation, and web-mention gaps. Remove false positives.
- Week 3: score the verified gaps and ship a small batch of Fix, Build, and Influence actions.
- Week 4: verify implementation, re-run the fixed prompt and query set, and report visibility and business outcomes separately.
Continue the Ahrefs AI SEO Course
These three requested lessons add the broader strategy around the audit: how AI search changes SEO, how Google's retrieval behavior affects the work, and which fundamentals still matter.
1. The New SEO Playbook for AI Search
2. The Google Update That's Changing SEO
3. Give Me 8 Minutes and You'll Win at SEO
Video Chapters
| Time | Lesson | Time | Lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 | Assess and discover | 03:52 | The six gap types |
| 00:30 | Define a brand gap analysis | 05:52 | Fix, Build, or Influence |
| 00:53 | Map branded entities | 07:16 | Audit competitors |
| 02:20 | Run the Ahrefs baseline | 07:41 | Use the report template |
| 02:53 | Four AI visibility metrics | 07:48 | Move into prompt research |
Sources and Further Reading
- Ahrefs: How to Run a Brand Gap Analysis (primary video and supplied transcript)
- Ahrefs: Brand Gap Analysis by Despina Gavoyannis
- Ahrefs Help Center: AI Visibility Metrics
- Ahrefs Help Center: What Is Brand Radar?
- Ahrefs: 10 Brand Radar Workflows
- Ahrefs Brand Gap Analysis Report Template
YouTube lists the primary video's publication date as 5 May 2026. This article and its product definitions were reviewed on 27 September 2026. Ahrefs interfaces, platform coverage, prompt databases, and metric definitions can change; preserve the date and report configuration with every exported baseline.