> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getcited.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Competitor Gap

> A prompt where a competitor is mentioned by AI platforms but your brand is not — the highest-leverage optimisation target.

**Competitor gap** is a prompt or category where a competitor brand is mentioned by AI platforms in their answers but your brand is not. Competitor gaps represent the highest-leverage [AEO/GEO](/glossary/geo) optimisation targets because they identify specific prompts where visibility improvement would directly displace a competitor.

## Why it matters

A competitor gap is actionable intelligence. It tells you not just that you are invisible, but exactly which question you are invisible on and which competitor is winning instead. Closing a competitor gap — by creating content, earning editorial coverage, or improving technical AI readability for the specific topic — produces measurable [mention rate](/glossary/mention-rate) improvement on that specific prompt. Aggregate gap closure across a prompt library is the mechanism by which brands systematically improve their [share of voice](/glossary/share-of-voice).

## How Cited uses it

Cited's dashboard surfaces competitor gaps prominently in the Competitors tab. For each tracked prompt, the dashboard shows which competitors appear and whether your brand appears. The [competitor gap workflow playbook](/playbooks/competitor-gap-workflow) provides a step-by-step process for identifying, prioritizing, and closing the highest-value gaps. Gap analysis requires [configured competitors](/get-started/configure-competitors) in the brand workspace.

## Offensive and defensive gaps in Impact Scoring

Cited's [Impact Score](/methodology/impact-scoring) treats competitor gaps differently depending on whether the brand is trailing or leading. When the brand trails a competitor (offensive gap), the Competitive Gap factor reflects distance-to-catch-up — larger gaps produce higher urgency. When the brand leads (defensive gap), the factor reflects proximity-to-vulnerability — how close the nearest competitor is to catching up. This means dominant brands with comfortable leads correctly see lower-urgency recommendations, while brands being closely pursued see higher urgency even when they are currently ahead.

## Related concepts

* [Close competitor gaps in AI search](/playbooks/competitor-gap-workflow) — the tactical playbook
* [Share of voice](/glossary/share-of-voice) — the competitive metric gap analysis serves
* [Configure competitors](/get-started/configure-competitors) — how to set up competitor tracking