How to find and fix your AEO keywords gap

To enhance visibility in AI answer engines, satisfied and SEO marketers need to add AEO keywords gap inspection to their strategies. Traditional SEO keyword gaps display which conditions a business isn’t ranking for versus the competition. An AEO keywords gap uses the identical regulation but alongside broader criteria, identifying the prompts and questions anywhere a stated brand is cited in AI search, but another isn’t.

This guide offers a applicable pathway to discover and near the AEO keywords gap, identifying AI citation opportunities a business is missing. It covers how to audit current satisfied and competitor coverage, how to place high-value gaps to near first, how to rotate gaps into answer-ready satisfied that gets cited, and how to track whether it’s working.

Table of Contents

• What is an AEO keywords gap?
• AEO Keywords Gap vs. Traditional SEO Gap
• How to Audit Your AEO Keywords Gap
• How to Prioritize the Right Gaps
• How to Turn a Gap Into Answer-Ready Content
• How HubSpot AEO Helps You Find and Close Gaps
• How to Measure Progress Over Time
• Frequently Asked Questions About AEO Keywords Gaps
• Don’t underestimate the value of AEO keyword gaps.

What is an AEO keywords gap?

An AEO keywords gap is the difference between the questions or topics AI answer engines exterior versus the questions a brand answers plainly adequate to be cited. The gap refers to keywords, topics, questions, and prompts that a brand hasn’t answered plainly adequate to be cited in engines akin ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

The stakes are high for AEO keyword gaps in this new hunt era. When a buyer asks an answer motor to propose a merchandise or solution, fairly than a leaf of links to choose from, they get a paraphrased reply or a shortlist immediately from AI.

The evidence is in the data: HubSpot’s own research of 3,063 CRM application acquisition decision-makers established that 42% of CRM application buyers now use AI search as part of their evaluation, and it’s the strongest predictor of acquisition intent HubSpot tracks. Referral traffic from AI tools akin ChatGPT and Gemini has additionally tripled complete the former year, according to Search Engine Land. If a brand isn’t showing up in the prompts that map to its category, it’s being remaining off the shortlist before a buyer always visits a website.

The following bar diagram from the Search Engine Land part shows the total referral traffic by duration in 2025. Monthly quantity climbed steadily throughout the year, alongside December’s referral traffic approximately three times higher than January’s. The rising traffic reinforces the importance of the AEO keyword gap. More group are searching using AI tools.

Important note: An SEO keyword gap and an AEO keywords gap don’t inform the identical story, and decision one doesn’t near the other. A leaf can position on leaf one of Google for a term and motionless never get pulled into an AI-generated answer for that identical topic. BrightEdge’s inspection of AI Overviews (AIO) established that lone concerning 17% of sources cited in AIOs additionally position in the integrated top 10, definition approximately five out of six AIO citations drag from satisfied that never appears on leaf one of traditional results.

Pro tip: While an SEO keyword gap shows anywhere satisfied is missing from rankings, it can’t display anywhere satisfied is ranking fine and motionless getting skipped complete in AI-generated answers.

AEO Keywords Gap vs. Traditional SEO Gap

A traditional keyword gap study answers one question: Which conditions does a competitor position for that a brand doesn’t?

Gaps between AEO versus SEO are not the identical thing. The difference needs additional dimensions than that, since answer engines aren’t fair matching keywords. AEO keyword investigation prioritizes questions, entities, answer formats, and citation potential.

How to Audit Your AEO Keywords Gap

Auditing an AEO keyword gap is the archetypal stage to improving visibility and staying rivalrous in search. There are four essential steps that create up an AEO keywords gap audit:

1. Inspect Search Console and SERP patterns.

Google Search Console (GSC) shows which queries are already driving impressions and clicks to a website. While GSC is mostly an SEO tool alongside keyword research capabilities and AEO features in beta, the data is motionless transferable to AEO (also known as GEO). Queries that are already gaining impressions and clicks are, in theory, connected alongside your website; the brand already has authority there, which may transfer to AIO.

Start by exporting data and reviewing keywords in Google Sheets or in an Excel spreadsheet. Look for:

• Long-tail queries (multiple words in one query). People lean to use additional conversational prompts in AI hunt engines. Longer-tail keywords are additional apt to contain problems or hints concerning the audience) searching.
• Question-style queries, since those are most apt to exterior in answer engines.

Export data from GSC by visiting the Performance report, altering the data range, afterward clicking Export.

The following screenshot shows a Google Sheet I exported that contains all queries for my brand in Google Search Console. I used a equation to compute how many words were in 1,000 queries, afterward sorted by the biggest value.

The formula:

=IF(TRIM(B1)=””, 0, LEN(TRIM(B1)) - LEN(SUBSTITUTE(TRIM(B1), “ “, “”)) + 1)

The queries highlighted in green are most engaging to me.

I can see B2B application companies struggling to tie pipeline to won deals, which is a average difficulty I can solve! From this information, I could create pages and satisfied to assistance this spectators alongside a call to act to get in touch.

Before creating content, it helps to appearance at the hunt motor results pages (SERPs). Even a manual assessment provides insights into patterns. Next, drag up the SERP for a mark query and note:

• Whether an AI Overview or answer box appears
• Which pages (e.g. blogs, assistance pages, merchandise pages, case studies, etc.,) is the AIO pulling from
• Which domains are cited
• What shows up in traditional search

Once I’ve established what’s being prioritized in SERPs, I’d create a akin leaf to maximize visibility.

2. Collect first-party client questions.

Sales calls, assistance tickets, and community forums are complete of the exact phrasing customers use whenever they’re trying to resolve a problem, which is frequently nearer to how person would immediate an answer engine.

Pulling recurring questions from these sources and checking whether current satisfied answers them immediately is a accelerated way to exterior gaps that neither a keyword tool nor a competitor audit would capture on their own. Start by reviewing:

• Transcripts, tickets, or thread exports
• Sales call recordings
• Support ticket logs
• Forum threads (Reddit, Slack communities, G2 reviews) and owned communities

Here’s an example of a inquiry on HubSpot’s Community, apt the benevolent of inquiry that gets asked in AI hunt all the time:

This inquiry relates to speed differences between WordPress and HubSpot. HubSpot has a comparison between WordPress and HubSpot. This mini content gap analysis demonstrates that HubSpot could edit the difference to contain data concerning leaf speed to fulfill queries akin this. This mini satisfied gap inspection reveals which content edits or new pieces volition enhance performance in hunt generative experiences.

3. Study competitor coverage.

A company’s top competitors in AI answer motor hunt are frequently distinct than the ones showing up in a traditional SERP. To disclose anywhere the genuine competition is, run a set of prompts connected to a brand’s category and note:

• Which competitors appear in the response
• The domains cited as sources

Which formats those citations favor (comparison pages, listicles, merchandise pages) Start by operating category-level prompts through ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overview that a prospective client power category before they’ve decided on a vendor. Log the response, the domains cited, and the leaf category rearward all citation in a spreadsheet.

Here’s an example: Running a immediate akin “best CRM for small revenue teams” surfaced listicle-style blog posts and Reddit posts as citations. The domains were not any vendor’s own website. The pages cited most consistently were organized as head-to-head comparisons alongside pricing tables, reviews, pros and cons, and more.

From this, marketers cognize what they need to do to enhance brand visibility in these searches. Marketing needs to activity on connections alongside third-party websites or PR, since this hunt is dominated by them.

4. Review current content.

Once the foundational investigation is done, it’s period to optimize websites alongside a perspective of decision AEO gaps. Start alongside an inventory of existing pages mapped against the center topics a brand should own.

Does all leaf immediately answer identified, particular questions? Or does it conversation about a topic without committing to a apparent answer? A leaf can shield a topic thoroughly and motionless neglect this test if it never states a straightforward answer an motor could lift and cite. Sticking alongside the examples above, a satisfied assessment for all understanding power be:

• The B2B pipeline-to-won-deals query from Search Console points to a leaf (or a gap) that needs a direct, citable answer built about that expression for a particular audience.
• The HubSpot community inquiry concerning leaf speed points to an existing page, the WordPress vs HubSpot comparison, that covers the topic but doesn’t commit to an answer on speed specifically. That’s a partial pass: The topic is owned, but the straightforward answer isn’t there yet.
• The CRM competitor research points the another way; the citations are going to difference pages alongside pricing tables, reviews, and pros and cons on another people’s sites, not the vendor’s own.

Run together, these AEO keywords gap audit steps substitute guesswork alongside a documented perspective of anywhere a brand is answering clearly, anywhere it’s talking about a topic without committing to an answer, and anywhere competitors are winning the citation instead.

With all the data and data from the archetypal three steps, marketers have a much easier period getting buy-in from teams to create or edit content, or equal securing prosperity from stakeholders to get the activity done.

How to Prioritize the Right Gaps

Not all gap surfaced by the four steps complete is value closing. Some questions get asked but sit exterior what the endeavor really sells or wants to specialize in.

For example, in my Google Search Console export, I established many queries connected to ecommerce websites or sites alongside thousands of SKUs. While I could create satisfied to assistance these brands and addition my visibility in AI tools, I don’t mark ecommerce brands. Since they’re not my ideal client overview (ICP), I needn’t try to get in forefront of them.

Sort queries and actions by how much they assistance your brand and, importantly, revenue. Think about:

• Business relevance. Does answering this inquiry nexus to item the brand sells or wants to be known for? A recurring inquiry that’s neighboring to the category but doesn’t contact the merchandise is lesser precedence than one that maps direct to a center offering, equal if the neighboring inquiry has higher volume.
• Audience: Does the inquiry arrive from the brand’s ICP? Does the inquiry arrive from a individual alongside purchasing power? A gap that maps to an ideal spectators alongside purchasing power warrants precedence complete one that draws traffic from an spectators that volition never convert.
• Funnel stage. A difference or “vs” inquiry sits nearer to a acquisition decision than a broad instructional question. Prioritize gaps at the phase anywhere a citation is additional apt to power a decision versus clean visibility.
• Answerability. Can this be answered immediately and entirely alongside topic matter experts to provision insights? A inquiry that requires nuance needs subject-matter expertise.
• Likelihood of influencing visibility. Some gaps sit on pages or topics alongside existing authority (already ranking, already getting impressions in Search Console), which makes them easier to shove into a citable position. Others would necessitate construction authority from zero. The erstwhile is normally the faster win.

Once the catalog is sorted, it helps to have a baseline peruse on anywhere the brand already stands compared to competitors.

HubSpot’s AI Search Grader is a liberated tool that scores how ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity characterize a brand throughout five dimensions: Sentiment, existence quality, brand recognition, portion of voice, and market position. Based on those scores, AI Search Grader generates a liberated optimization study companies can use as a baseline to benchmark how AI represents competitors.

How to Turn a Gap Into Answer-Ready Content

Once a gap is confirmed and prioritized, the job shifts from investigation to penning item an answer motor can really lift. Answer-ready satisfied uses straightforward answers, supporting evidence, and accordant being naming in a particular construction that makes it easier for AI answer engines to extract as standalone citations.

1. Choose the format the inquiry calls for.

Not all gap needs a new blog post.

• A difference or “versus” question, akin the WordPress versus HubSpot leaf speed gap, is normally finest served by a difference leaf or a array complete narrative copy.
• Use a step-by-step guide to display a recurring how-to inquiry from assistance tickets.
• A B2B pipeline-to-won-deals query is nearer to a blog, use case, or resolution page.

2. Lead alongside the straightforward answer.

If a inquiry appears as a heading inside a page, the archetypal declaration or two following the heading should answer the inquiry completely, in tongue near to how it was asked. Then, contain any nuance, caveats, or supporting details.

Front-loading a straightforward answer fixes the “talks about it” pages that get flagged during the satisfied review. A leaf power already shield the inquiry location in the copy, but if the answer isn’t stated plainly near a heading that matches the question, an answer motor has nothing spotless to cite.

3. Add supporting questions.

Once the center inquiry is answered, build out the connected questions a buyer would ask next. Each supporting inquiry gets its own heading and straightforward answer, turning one leaf into safety for a collection of connected prompts.

4. Build inner links alongside intent.

Link to pages that assistance the claim, specified as a case study, a merchandise spec, or a data page. Link in from connected satisfied covering the identical topic cluster.

How HubSpot AEO Helps You Find and Close Gaps

Technically, marketers can execute all the AEO keyword gap investigation steps we’ve outlined manually. But it’s incredibly tedious, inaccurate, and reductive. Manual AEO keyword investigation is mostly a mistake since it is inefficient and captures lone a sole snapshot in time.

HubSpot AEO helps marketers track brand visibility, competitor presence, and citation gaps throughout answer engines. It extends visibility tracking beyond traditional hunt to answer engines akin ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, turning that manual audit into an ongoing trend study fairly than a one-off exercise redone from scratch all quarter.

1. Visibility Tracking

Manual monitoring lone captures a sole item in time: Whatever a immediate returns on the day it’s checked, until person remembers to inspect again. HubSpot AEO runs that tracking continuously, sending all tracked immediate to ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity all day and aggregating the responses into a Brand Visibility score, the percent of answers anywhere the brand is mentioned.

The benefit? Visibility becomes a trend. No brand can anticipate to display up in all hunt all time, but if visibility is trending in the correct direction, it’s positive. Marketers can see a mark move week complete week, capture a dip as it happens, and see it damaged downward by engine, fairly than waiting for a quarterly recheck to notice item changed.

2. Competitor Comparison

Instead of manually operating a fistful of prompts and noting which competitor names came back, HubSpot AEO runs that difference continuously and structures the results: Which competitors are named, how consistently, and whether that shifts complete time.

The tool tracks Share of Voice, showing marketers the percent of citations throughout tracked prompts that citation their brand versus named competitors.

3. Citation Analysis

Keeping track of which domains get cited and why, particularly throughout multiple prompts, is complex and time-consuming. HubSpot AEO provides thorough citation inspection that shows which domains, satisfied types, and channels power AI-generated answers. Marketers get rivalrous insights on what’s really shaping the answers in their category.

4. Recommendations

Once gaps are visible, HubSpot AEO can propose how to near them according to its rivalrous analysis, efficiently automating a piece of the prioritization work: Which gaps are answerable, which are most relevant, and which are at a chimney phase value prioritizing

HubSpot AEO doesn’t substitute individual judgment; a tool can’t cognize a brand’s ICP the way a marketer does. But it narrows the catalog downward to an efficient, informed operating set teams can build on.

Acting on findings is anywhere Marketing Hub’s SEO software comes in. AEO in Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise uses CRM data to propose applicable prompts to track, so the prompts a brand monitors indicate its own spectators and offerings. From there, Marketing Hub helps teams rotate AEO recommendations into published content, exterior prioritized SEO fixes, discover topics value construction out, and nexus Google Search Console to see impressions and click-through charge as new satisfied goes live.

How to Measure Progress Over Time

The genuine value of tracking an AEO keywords gap comes from observing the numbers move complete weeks, months, year-over-year, and seasonally.

Visibility

Visibility trending upward throughout tracked prompts indicates that latest satisfied and citation-building efforts are working. A flat or declining trend, equal alongside new content published, is a indication that item in the method needs to change, whether it’s the prompts being tracked, the satisfied format, or the citation sources being pursued.

Citations

Citations inform a additional particular narrative than visibility alone. A rising visibility mark paired alongside flat or declining citations suggests a brand is being mentioned in AI-generated answers but not cited as a source, which points to a awareness issue fairly than a satisfied gap. Watching which domains and satisfied types acquire citations complete period shows whether satisfied efforts are really being recognized as authoritative or whether competitors and third-party sites are motionless doing the influencing.

Prompt Coverage

Prompt safety matters fair as much as any sole score. Buyer tongue shifts, new competitors act a category, and the questions group ask answer engines alter accordingly. Reviewing and expanding the tracked immediate set on a regular cadence keeps the general measure attempt aligned alongside what buyers are currently asking.

Revenue Impact

Visibility, citations, and immediate safety have no strategic value unless they create measurable leads, deals, or income attributed to AI-referred traffic.

Assisted endeavor impact, leads, deals, and income that can be traced rear to AI-referred traffic or citation-driven visibility rotate AEO from a trend row into results value reporting to leadership. Visibility and citations are foremost indicators; pipeline and income are the metrics that validate continued investment.

Pro tip: Benchmark against the industry, too. A visibility mark that’s flat for two months could indicate a stalled scheme or an industry-wide change in how a stated answer motor cites sources throughout the board. Comparing brand-level trends against industry-level data is the lone way to inform the difference.

AI Search Sensor is a free, beta dashboard that tracks volatility in how ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity citation brands and exterior content, alongside alongside industry-level visibility benchmarks. Paired alongside a team’s own AEO data, it adds environment for judging whether a change in their numbers reflects a market-wide movement or a issue alongside their own strategy, before they react to the incorrect one.

Frequently Asked Questions About AEO Keywords Gaps

What is the fastest way to validate an AEO keywords gap?

Outside of a complete audit, operating a fistful of category-relevant prompts through ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity manually and noting whether a brand or its competitors are cited helps verify whether a gap apt exists before committing period to a deeper analysis.

How is AEO keyword investigation distinct from SEO keyword research?

SEO keyword investigation prioritizes hunt quantity and ranking difficulty for particular terms. AEO keyword investigation shifts the concentration to the prompts, questions, entities, and answer formats rearward those terms, since that’s what determines whether satisfied gets cited fairly than fair ranked.

Which types of pages finest near an AEO keywords gap?

Pages that answer one particular inquiry directly, alongside supporting evidence and accordant being naming, lean to execute best, particularly difference pages, definitional content, and FAQ-style pages. Vague or broadly scoped pages rarely get cited equal whenever they technically shield the topic.

How frequently should you revisit your AEO keywords gap?

Revisiting AEO keywords gap quarterly is a sensible baseline for most teams, although categories alongside fast-moving competitors or common buyer-language shifts may justify a monthly check. The immediate set and citation landscape the two alter faster than a representative SEO keyword catalog does.

Can you measure AEO effect without ranking data?

Yes. Visibility, citation, and share-of-voice metrics are autonomous of traditional hunt rankings, since they measure whether and how frequently a brand appears in AI-generated answers fairly than anywhere a leaf appears on a hunt results page.

Don’t underestimate the value of AEO keyword gaps.

Buyers are already asking answer engines to create shortlists for them, and all unanswered immediate is a chance for a competitor to be the name that comes rear instead.

Closing an AEO keywords gap method operating a repeatable audit, prioritizing by endeavor relevance and answerability, rebuilding satisfied so it leads alongside a straightforward answer, and tracking visibility and citations complete period fairly than treating any of this as a one-time project.

I’ve seen what’s on the another flank of getting this right. Clients of quarry are sending out six-figure proposals originated from leads that began alongside a immediate in Gemini or another AI tool, fairly than a Google search.

HubSpot AEO is built for exactly this shift: Tracking visibility, comparing against competitors, and surfacing citation gaps continuously, so decision an AEO keywords gap becomes a measurable KPI and a promotion target.