How to Run a Brand Gap Analysis | 2.1. AEO Course by Ahrefs

Learn how to run a brand gap analysis that reveals exactly where AI and search are overlooking your brand, and do it now before competitors lock up the citations you should own.

Brand Gap Template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z16ENB8G7kshEyJfXXSRQyqNVYsl7x-YRDcYWtp5vpQ/copy

Lessons from our AI SEO Course
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In this module, Sam Oh demonstrates how to conduct a brand gap analysis within a practical AEO workflow.

You’ll start the “assess phase” by mapping your branded entities including sub-brands, product names, proprietary metrics, and key personal brands. Next, you’ll connect these entities to the specific topics and problems your brand should own. Using Keywords Explorer, you’ll identify the recurring modifiers that shape how search engines and LLMs perceive your company. By the end of this section you will have a clear benchmark for what your brand should be known and found for.

Next, you will run the audit in Ahrefs. Get your baseline in Site Explorer with Domain Rating, referring domains, organic keywords and traffic, then shift to AI visibility with Brand Radar. You will learn how to interpret Mentions, Citations, Impressions and AI Share of Voice, and how to use filters to isolate the scenarios that matter most, branded search performance, missed citation opportunities, competitor gaps and unbranded wins. You will organize findings across six gap types. Then prioritize with Fix, Build or Influence to land fast wins like closing listicle mentions or refreshing pages that are one update away from being cited. You will also see how to mirror this exact audit for competitors to uncover quick steals and net-new topics.