Gap Types & Classification

The gap analysis is the core engine of the diagnosis. It classifies every target keyword into one of 10 gap types based on two perspectives: whether the keyword is present on your website, and whether AI systems mention your company for that keyword. Each gap type implies a different root cause and a different set of actions to resolve it.

How classification works

For each target keyword, the diagnosis evaluates:

1. Website presence -- was the keyword found on your website during the crawl?
2. AI visibility -- do AI providers mention your company when asked about this keyword?
3. GEO readiness -- if the keyword is on your website, what is the page's GEO readiness score?
4. Keyword source -- was the keyword added manually or derived automatically?
5. Prompt mapping -- is there a matching prompt in the analysis for this keyword?

The combination of these signals determines the gap type.

The 10 gap types

1. visible -- Fully optimized

Definition: The keyword is present on your website AND AI systems mention your company for it.

What it means practically: This is the ideal state. Your content is indexed, AI-readable, and AI systems actively recommend or reference your company when users ask about this topic. You have achieved AI visibility for this keyword.

Severity: None -- this is not a gap but a success indicator.

Action steps:

• Monitor this keyword over time to ensure visibility is maintained.
• Check provider-level detail: are all providers mentioning you, or only some? If only some, consider targeted optimization for the missing providers.
• Review competitor mentions: even though you are visible, competitors may be mentioned more prominently.

GEO/SEO advice: Maintain your content freshness. AI systems favor up-to-date information. Regularly update statistics, dates, and references on pages that rank for visible keywords.

2. partial_visible -- Optimization opportunity

Definition: The keyword is present on your website AND some (but not all) AI providers mention your company for it.

What it means practically: Your content is good enough for some AI systems to pick up, but not all. This is a strong signal that small improvements could unlock full visibility. The gap between partial and full visibility is often the easiest to close.

Severity levels:

• Medium -- if more than half of providers mention you.
• High -- if fewer than half of providers mention you.

Action steps:

• Identify which providers are NOT mentioning you and review their known content preferences.
• Improve the GEO readiness of the page: add statistics, source citations, structured data, and clear authoritative statements.
• Ensure Organization schema is present and complete.
• Check if external signals (backlinks, directory listings, Wikipedia mentions) may be influencing certain providers more than others.

GEO/SEO advice: Partial visibility often indicates that your content is at the edge of the visibility threshold. Focus on content quality improvements rather than creating new pages. Adding structured data (FAQPage schema, Organization schema) can tip the balance for providers that rely heavily on structured signals.

3. surprise_visible -- Existing brand equity

Definition: The keyword is NOT present on your website, but AI systems still mention your company for it.

What it means practically: AI systems have learned to associate your company with this topic from external sources -- news articles, directory listings, social media, Wikipedia, industry publications, or other third-party references. This represents existing brand equity that you are not actively cultivating on your own website.

Severity: Low -- this is a positive signal, not a problem. However, it represents an opportunity.

Action steps:

• Consider creating dedicated content on your website for this keyword to strengthen and control the narrative.
• Investigate where AI systems learned this association -- it may reveal valuable external signals you can amplify.
• Monitor whether this visibility is stable over time or if it fluctuates.

GEO/SEO advice: Surprise visibility is fragile because you do not control the source. If a third-party article is updated or removed, your visibility may disappear. Creating your own content for these keywords converts fragile external visibility into durable owned visibility.

4. content_gap -- Critical: create content

Definition: The keyword is NOT present on your website AND AI systems do NOT mention your company for it. The keyword was added manually by the user.

What it means practically: This is the most actionable gap type. You have identified this keyword as important (by adding it manually), but you have no content for it and AI systems do not associate you with it. Without content, there is nothing for AI systems to reference.

Severity levels:

• Critical -- for high-priority keywords.
• High -- for medium-priority keywords.
• Medium -- for low-priority keywords.

Action steps:

• Create a dedicated page or section on your website targeting this keyword.
• Write authoritative, fact-based content that clearly positions your company as an expert or provider for this topic.
• Include structured data (FAQ schema, Service schema) where appropriate.
• Use the keyword naturally in headings, body text, and meta descriptions.
• After publishing, trigger a new analysis to verify that the content is being picked up.

GEO/SEO advice: When creating content for content gaps, prioritize AI readability from the start. Use clear headings, include statistics with sources, write in an authoritative tone, and structure content using the inverted pyramid (most important information first). These are the GEO criteria that the website analysis evaluates.

5. strategie_gap -- Strategic opportunity

Definition: The keyword is NOT present on your website AND AI systems do NOT mention your company for it. The keyword was derived automatically (from your company profile or AI keyword generation).

What it means practically: Similar to a content gap, but the keyword was not explicitly chosen by you -- it was suggested by the system based on your industry, offering, or target audience. This represents a strategic opportunity to expand your content footprint into areas that are relevant to your business but not yet covered.

Severity levels:

• High -- for high-priority derived keywords.
• Medium -- for medium-priority derived keywords.
• Low -- for low-priority derived keywords.

Action steps:

• Evaluate whether this keyword is truly relevant to your business before creating content.
• If relevant, follow the same content creation steps as for content gaps.
• If not relevant, consider removing or deprioritizing the keyword.
• Use derived keywords to identify content themes you may have overlooked.

GEO/SEO advice: Strategy gaps often cluster around themes. Look for patterns -- if multiple derived keywords relate to the same topic area, creating one comprehensive page may address several gaps at once. This is more efficient than creating separate pages for each keyword.

6. geo_gap -- Content exists but poorly formatted for AI

Definition: The keyword is present on your website, the page's GEO readiness score is below 5 (out of 10), AND AI systems do NOT mention your company for it.

What it means practically: You have content, but it is not structured or written in a way that AI systems can easily extract and reference. The content exists but is effectively invisible to AI because of poor formatting, lack of structured data, or unclear language.

Severity levels:

• High -- for high-priority keywords with very low GEO scores (below 3).
• Medium -- for medium-priority keywords or moderate GEO scores (3-4).

Action steps:

• Review the GEO readiness criteria for the page in the website analysis.
• Improve content structure: add headings, lists, tables, and FAQ sections.
• Add statistics with source citations.
• Use authoritative, clear language that makes definitive statements about your offering.
• Add structured data (FAQPage schema, Organization schema).
• Ensure the keyword appears in prominent positions (title, H1, H2).
• Check readability: is the content accessible to a broad audience?

GEO/SEO advice: GEO gaps are often the most efficient to fix because the content already exists. You do not need to create new pages -- you need to restructure and enhance existing ones. Focus on the GEO readiness criteria: statistics, source citations, authoritative tone, chunking, lists and tables, inverted pyramid structure, and FAQ sections. Each criterion you improve increases the likelihood of AI systems picking up your content.

7. seo_geo_gap -- Good content but lacking external signals

Definition: The keyword is present on your website, the page's GEO readiness score is 5 or above (out of 10), AND AI systems do NOT mention your company for it.

What it means practically: Your content is well-structured and AI-readable, but AI systems still do not mention you. This suggests the issue is not content quality but rather external signals: domain authority, backlinks, brand mentions in external sources, or competitive saturation (too many stronger competitors for this keyword).

Severity levels:

• High -- for high-priority keywords.
• Medium -- for medium- or low-priority keywords.

Action steps:

• Build external signals: pursue backlinks, directory listings, guest articles, and industry publications.
• Strengthen your entity identity: ensure consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) across all platforms.
• Consider Wikipedia and Wikidata presence if your company qualifies.
• Review competitor content for this keyword: are competitors doing something different that makes them more visible?
• Monitor over time: some SEO/GEO gaps resolve as domain authority grows.

GEO/SEO advice: SEO/GEO gaps highlight the difference between on-page optimization and off-page authority. Traditional SEO backlink strategies are directly relevant here. AI systems (especially those that use search engine results as an input) rely on the same authority signals that search engines use. Building domain authority through legitimate link building, PR, and industry participation will improve both search rankings and AI visibility.

8. unmeasured -- No matching prompt found

Definition: No analysis prompt maps to this keyword, so no AI visibility data is available.

What it means practically: The keyword exists in your keyword list but has no corresponding prompt in the analysis. Without a prompt, the system cannot evaluate whether AI systems mention you for this keyword.

Severity: Low -- this is a configuration issue, not a visibility problem.

Action steps:

• Create a prompt that targets this keyword. Good prompts ask questions that a potential customer might ask about the topic.
• Ensure the prompt is enabled for the next analysis run.
• After the next analysis, the keyword will be classified into one of the other gap types.

GEO/SEO advice: A complete keyword-to-prompt mapping is essential for accurate diagnosis. Each target keyword should have at least one corresponding prompt. Use the prompt suggestions feature to generate relevant prompts for unmapped keywords.

9. visible_no_web -- Reduced mode: AI visible only

Definition: In reduced mode (no website crawl data), the keyword is mentioned by AI systems.

What it means practically: The diagnosis is running without website crawl data, so only the AI perspective is available. AI systems do mention your company for this keyword, which is positive, but without website data the diagnosis cannot determine whether you have supporting content.

Severity: Low -- positive signal, but incomplete data.

Action steps:

• Enable website crawling in your project settings to get the full diagnosis.
• Once crawl data is available, the keyword will be reclassified into a more specific gap type.

GEO/SEO advice: Reduced mode diagnosis gives you a quick view of AI visibility but cannot provide the content and technical insights needed for a complete GEO strategy. Enable website crawling for actionable recommendations.

10. unknown_no_web -- Reduced mode: no data

Definition: In reduced mode (no website crawl data), the keyword is NOT mentioned by AI systems.

What it means practically: Neither website presence nor AI visibility can be confirmed. This is the least informative classification.

Severity: Medium -- AI is not mentioning you, but the root cause cannot be determined without website data.

Action steps:

• Enable website crawling to get a complete diagnosis.
• Ensure prompts are mapped to this keyword for the next analysis.

GEO/SEO advice: Without both data sources, the diagnosis cannot provide specific recommendations. Prioritize enabling website crawling and ensuring complete prompt coverage.

Severity assignment summary

Prioritizing gaps

Not all gaps are equally urgent. Use this prioritization framework:

1. Fix technical blockers first. If AI crawlers are blocked, nothing else matters. Check the technical findings.
2. Address content gaps for high-priority keywords. These are your most important terms with no content at all.
3. Optimize GEO gaps. Content exists but needs restructuring -- this is typically the fastest path to improvement.
4. Build external signals for SEO/GEO gaps. This takes longer but addresses the remaining visibility gaps.
5. Capitalize on surprise visibility. Create content to anchor and sustain AI mentions you are already receiving.
6. Expand with strategy gaps. These represent growth opportunities rather than urgent fixes.

Relationship to other diagnosis components

• The gap classification directly feeds the health score calculation.
• Each gap type generates specific recommendations with tailored action steps.
• The perspective flow visualizes how keywords move through the classification pipeline.
• Technical findings can influence gap severity and generate additional penalties.