Gap Finder

Summary#

Gap Finder measures the keyword overlap between your domain and a competitor, then splits it three ways: keywords they rank for and you do not, keywords you both rank for where they rank better, and keywords where you lead. Its internal tool id is keyword_gap.

Purpose#

You cannot plan against a competitor from their homepage. What matters is which searches they win that you never appear for, and how much traffic that costs you.

This tool exists to turn that into a list. The decision it supports is prioritization: of everything you could write next, which pieces close a measurable gap against a specific rival, and which of those are close enough to win quickly.

Overview#

Gap Finder needs two domains: yours and one competitor. It fetches the keyword sets both domains rank for, the keywords they share, and each domain's overall ranking profile, then computes the intersection and the exclusives.

From that it produces the gap list, an estimate of the monthly traffic value sitting in that gap, an overlap breakdown, a position-bucket comparison, a split of the gap by search intent, and a quick-wins list of the keywords where you are closest to overtaking.

Two domains are mandatory. A single domain returns nothing, because there is no overlap to measure — the screen says so directly in a note above the fields.

Benefits#

• Converts "we should do more content" into a specific, ranked list of keywords.
• Puts a monetary figure on the gap, which makes it easier to argue for resources.
• Separates the gap into missing, improvable and already winning, so effort goes where it moves the needle.
• Quick wins surface the keywords where you are one or two positions away.
• Costs 3 credits — cheaper than a full competitor teardown.

Use Cases#

Building a quarterly content plan. Run against your closest rival and take the top gap keywords by volume as the backlog.

Finding fast wins before a review. The quick-wins list is where a small edit can move a page from position 12 to page one.

Defending share. The shared-keyword view shows where you and a competitor are both present — those are the SERPs you lose first if you stop maintaining them.

Justifying a new section. If the gap is concentrated in one intent or one theme, the answer is a section, not a post.

Checking a competitor claim. Someone says a rival is "everywhere". This tells you exactly how many keywords they have that you do not.

Requirements#

• A signed-in account and a paid plan.
• Two domains. The competitor field is not optional.
• Enough monthly credits — at 3 credits this run is metered against the quota.
• Both domains need to actually rank for something. A brand-new site returns a thin or empty gap.

Permissions#

Any workspace member on a paid plan can run it. Free accounts see This tool needs a paid plan. Free includes the 10 technical SEO tools; upgrade to Pro to unlock the rest. Recommendations under the result require Pro or above — see Get Recommendations.

Cost#

3 credits per run. At 3 credits this counts as a premium report and is deducted from your monthly allowance. Both the Find Gaps · 3 reports button and the From Manager · 3 reports button run the same analysis at the same price. A shared-cache hit still charges. See How credits work.

Navigation Path#

Dashboard → Keyword & Content Research → Gap Finder

Inputs#

The two main fields are joined into a single you vs competitor value behind the scenes, which is why a domain-swap or a hand-off from another tool fills both fields correctly.

An explanatory note sits above the fields: Enter two domains: your site and one competitor, because the tool measures overlap and a single domain returns nothing.

Step-by-Step Guide#

1. Open Keyword & Content Research and choose Gap Finder.
2. Type your domain into yourdomain.com.
3. Type the rival into competitor.com. Try sample fills nike.com and adidas.com if you want to see the shape first.
4. Click Find Gaps · 3 reports, or press Enter.
5. Wait for Analyzing… this can take a few seconds for live data. to clear.
6. Read the four KPI tiles, then work down to Quick Wins.
7. Export or send the chosen keywords into a brief.

Reading the Results#

The four KPI tiles.

What this means. Plain-language insight lines derived from the numbers above. Read them as a summary, not as additional data.

Recommended action plan. An ordered set of next steps built from the same figures.

Gap Keywords Analysis — they rank · you don't. The core table: Keyword, Your Position, Their Position, Volume, Difficulty. Your position column is empty by definition. Sort your attention by volume first, then discard anything with a difficulty you cannot realistically reach. A row with high volume, a competitor position outside the top five and a difficulty under 40 is the best kind of row on this screen.

Keywords to Improve — you rank · they rank better. The same columns, but here you already have a page. These are almost always cheaper than the gap list, because improving an existing page beats creating a new one. Look at the size of the position difference: a page at 14 against their 4 needs work; a page at 6 against their 5 needs almost nothing.

Your Strong Keywords — you lead. Where you beat them. Two uses: confirm that your best pages are the ones you think they are, and identify what you must not break during a redesign.

Keyword Overlap — shared vs unique. A proportional bar plus a Venn diagram of your total, their total and the shared middle. A small overlap with a large competitor means they operate in a wider market than you — the gap number will be inflated by keywords you never wanted.

Position Buckets · You vs Them — rank distribution. A grouped bar chart comparing how many keywords each of you holds in each position band. This is the clearest picture of relative strength on the page. If their bars are taller in the top-three band while yours are taller further down, you have coverage but not quality — the fix is depth on existing pages, not more pages.

Gap by Intent — where the gaps sit. The gap split across informational, commercial, transactional and navigational. A gap concentrated in commercial intent is a revenue gap and should be handled first. A purely informational gap is a reach gap, valuable but slower to convert.

Quick Wins — fastest gains. Keywords with You, Them, Vol and Uplift columns. These are the shortest paths to more traffic — usually keywords where you are just off page one. Work this list before the gap list.

Recommendations. Written suggestions tied to the specific findings.

What to do with it. Take the quick wins this week, take the top ten gap keywords by volume-under-difficulty into briefs for this quarter, and record your strong keywords as things to protect.

Examples#

Screenshots#

Tips#

• Pick a rival of similar size. Comparing a small site to a market leader produces a huge, unusable gap.
• Run the same pairing quarterly. The change in Shared keywords and the position buckets is your progress.
• Read Keywords to Improve before Gap Keywords Analysis — the cheapest wins are there.
• If the gap is dominated by one intent, that tells you what kind of page is missing, not just which keywords.

Best Practices#

• Treat Gap traffic value as a directional estimate for prioritization, never as a revenue forecast.
• Filter the gap list by difficulty before it becomes a backlog.
• Cross-check a promising gap keyword in Keyword Overview to see the real SERP before writing.
• Save the winners into Keyword Vault so the plan survives the tab being closed.
• Run against two or three different rivals separately; keywords that appear in every gap are the ones the whole market has and you do not.

Common Mistakes#

• Entering one domain. With only one field filled the analysis has no overlap to measure and returns nothing.
• Adding a second and third competitor and expecting a three-way comparison. The extra fields are accepted by the form, but the analysis compares the first two domains. Run separate pairings instead.
• Treating every gap keyword as a target. Many will be irrelevant to your business; the competitor ranks for them because they sell something else.
• Skipping Quick Wins and starting with new content, which is the slowest possible route.

Limitations#

• Two domains per run. Extra competitor fields do not produce a multi-way gap; run them as separate pairings.
• Ranking data comes from Google's United States, English-language index.
• Row counts are capped for speed: the shared-keyword set and each exclusive list are sampled from the top results by search volume, not returned in full.
• The competitor keyword sample is limited to positions in roughly the top 30.
• Gap traffic value is an estimate built from volume and cost per click.
• Both domains must have organic rankings. A brand-new site produces an empty or one-sided result.

Troubleshooting#

FAQs#

Why does it need two domains? Because a gap is a comparison. The analysis works out which keywords sit in one domain's set and not the other's, so one domain gives it nothing to subtract.

What do the extra competitor fields do? They are part of the form and their values are carried into the query, but the comparison itself is between the first two domains. For a genuine multi-rival view, run each pairing separately, or use Competitor Battle.

How is Gap traffic value calculated? From the search volume and commercial value of the keywords in the gap. It estimates what that traffic would be worth monthly if you captured it — a prioritization figure, not a forecast.

Why is my position blank in the gap table? Because that is what a gap means: the competitor ranks and you do not appear.

Can I use a subdomain or a subfolder? Enter a bare domain. Deeper targeting is more reliable through Organic Research.

Does this cost the same as Keyword Overview? Yes — both are 3 credits, and both count against the monthly quota. See How credits work.