How to run a brand gap analysis for AI search visibility

Executive overview

Most brands don't know where AI and search are ignoring them. A brand gap analysis measures the difference between where your brand should appear and where it actually does — across Google, AI platforms, and the wider web.

Map your entities, audit visibility in Ahrefs, identify gaps across six dimensions, then prioritise by effort and impact.

The brands that act now will lock up the citations their competitors haven't claimed yet.

Mapping your branded entities

• List every entity: main brand, sub-brands, product names, proprietary metrics, personal brands
• Each entity has its own visibility profile in search and AI results
• Connect each entity to the topics and attributes it should be associated with
• Use keyword research to find recurring adjectives and descriptors people use alongside your brand

Auditing visibility in Ahrefs

• Enter your domain into Site Explorer for baseline SEO metrics
• AI Citation Metrics show brand visibility across AI platforms (mentions, citations, impressions, AI share of voice)
• Brand Radar filters let you isolate what matters: prompts mentioning your brand, citations without a link back, queries where competitors appear but you don't

The six gap dimensions

• Visibility gap — appearing less often than competitors in search or AI results
• Narrative gap — how AI describes your brand vs. how you want to be positioned
• Topic gap — topics you should own but aren't associated with
• Format gap — content types AI tends to cite (guides, videos, comparisons) that you're not producing
• Web mentions gap — external sources citing competitors but not you
• Demand gap — branded queries in your space where your name never surfaces

Prioritising your efforts

• Three actions: fix (optimise existing), build (create new), or influence (earn offsite mentions)
• Weigh each gap by demand potential, brand credibility impact, and AI citation likelihood
• Start with quick wins: a page that ranks but needs a content update is low effort, high impact
• Missing from a major listicle your competitors are on? Close it with outreach
• Run the same audit on competitors to surface topics and gaps relevant to your business