The Competitor Gap Analysis Playbook: Finding the Editorial Gaps Your Competitors Haven't Covered

Content gap analysis has been an SEO standard for years: find keywords competitors rank for that you don't, create content targeting those gaps. In the AI era, the most valuable gap analysis extends to editorial authority gaps — and the playbook for finding and closing them is different.

Type 1: Traditional Content/Keyword Gaps (Google SEO)

Competitors rank on Google for queries you don't. Find these with Ahrefs or Semrush keyword gap tools. Standard SEO playbook applies.

Type 2: Editorial Authority Gaps (AI Visibility)

Competitors appear in AI recommendations for category queries you don't. Find these by analyzing competitor editorial coverage patterns and AI citation sources.

This guide focuses on Type 2 — the less-understood but increasingly important gap.

Run AHOD scans for your top 3-5 competitors. For each:

• Their AI Visibility Score
• Which category queries they appear in (that you don't)
• Which LLMs feature them most prominently
• Their AI Visibility Score trajectory (growing or flat)

This creates the competitive AI landscape map that drives the entire playbook.

For each competitor, use Ahrefs to pull:

• All referring domains sorted by DA (highest first)
• Filter to Google News-indexed domains
• leading industry publications

Compile a list of publications covering competitors but NOT currently covering you.

This is your primary editorial gap list.

Identify which category query themes competitors cover in their editorial placements:

1. 1Collect competitor editorial articles from their top publications
2. 2Identify the 5-7 theme clusters these articles address (category leadership, customer outcomes, technical authority, etc.)
3. 3Note which themes are heavily covered by competitors but missing from your own editorial coverage

These theme gaps represent the editorial territory competitors own in AI recommendations that you don't.

Beyond what competitors are doing, identify what NO competitor has done:

• Original research topics no competitor has published data on
• Customer use cases underrepresented in competitor coverage
• Technical or strategic angles competitors haven't addressed in editorial content
• Emerging category trends no competitor has established authority on yet

White space coverage — where no competitor has editorial authority — can produce disproportionate AI Visibility Score gains because there's no established category authority to displace.

Prioritize your editorial placement campaign in this order:

1. 1Publications covering competitors but not you: Pitch to every publication where competitors have editorial coverage and you don't. Being listed alongside competitors in the same publications is the most direct AI visibility gain.

1. 1White space themes: Create original content and editorial campaigns targeting themes no competitor has established authority on.

1. 1Higher-DA alternatives: Identify competitor placements in DA70-75 publications and secure placements in DA80+ publications on the same themes.

Run AHOD scans monthly to track:

• Your AI Visibility Score vs. competitors
• Which category queries you've moved from absent to present
• Share of voice trend vs. each competitor

A well-executed gap closure campaign produces measurable share of voice shifts within 60-90 days of editorial placements going live.