AI citation gap tool: Pages AI cites for rivals, not you
This free AI citation gap tool runs your prompts on ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, opens every page they cite, and lists the ones that name your competitors but not you. That list is where to pitch next.
Who the answers name
Counted across every answer that came back. "Site cited" means the answer linked at least one page on that brand's website.
Cited pages that name competitors but not you
These are the pages to pitch first. Each one was cited in at least one answer and names at least one competitor, but not your brand. The most-cited pages come first.
Cited pages that already name you
A page that names you without linking to your site is an easy ask: request the link.
The rest of the cited pages
Each prompt, engine by engine
What an AI citation gap is
An AI citation gap is the set of pages AI answers cite for your topic that name your competitors but not you.
When ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini answer a question with web search on, they read pages and link some of them as sources. If those sources are lists, reviews and threads that recommend your competitors, the answer is built from pages that leave you out. Each of those pages is a concrete place to earn a mention, and the AI citation gap tool finds them for the prompts you care about.
How the AI citation gap tool works
The AI citation gap tool works in four steps, and you could check each one by hand.
- It asks the engines. Each prompt goes to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini with web search on. These are the same calls our query fan-out tool makes, so an answer either tool fetched in the last 24 hours comes back free.
- It collects every cited page. The pages each answer links to are merged across prompts and engines, with a count of how many answers cited each one.
- It opens each cited page. Our server reads every page once, like a browser, and looks for each brand's name, its other spellings, its website written out, and links to that website.
- It sorts the pages. Pages that name a competitor but not you come first: that is your outreach list. Pages that already name you, name no one, belong to you or a competitor, or couldn't be read are listed separately.
What to do about an AI citation gap
What to do about an AI citation gap depends on the kind of page, because a roundup, a review and a forum thread each call for a different ask.
Best-of lists and roundups
Best-of lists and roundups that name three competitors and not you are the first pitch. Write to the author with what sets your product apart and why the list is more useful with it, and keep the email short.
Reviews and comparisons
Reviews and comparisons that cover your competitors usually come from writers who test products. Offer a trial or a demo account and facts they can check for themselves.
Forum threads and Q&A pages
Forum threads and Q&A pages show up most in Gemini's answers. In our fan-out queries study, Gemini cited YouTube on 22 and Reddit on 20 of the 54 prompts where it searched, and neither ChatGPT nor Claude cited either site. Answer openly as the company, say who you are, and help with the question asked; hidden promotion gets removed.
Pages that name you without a link
Pages that name you without a link are the quickest win. Ask the owner to link the mention to your site.
Competitors' own pages
Competitors' own pages that the answers cite show what the engines wanted and found on their sites. If a competitor's comparison or pricing page gets cited and you have no page like it, that page is the one to write.
How to read citation gap results
To read citation gap results well, treat each check as a sample of what the engines do, not a fixed ranking.
- One check is a sample. AI answers change from one run to the next, so the cited pages change too. Run the same prompts again on another day and compare the two lists.
- Common-word names. A brand named after an everyday word can match pages that use the word. Each page in the results shows the text where the name was found, so you can tell.
- Pages that turn servers away. Some sites refuse requests from servers, and Reddit often does. Those pages are listed as couldn't read, with a link to open them yourself.
- Pages built with JavaScript. Our reader sees the HTML a site sends without running its scripts, so a page that fills in its text with JavaScript can look nearly empty.
- Names in the answer. An engine can name a brand that none of its cited pages name, from what the model already knows. The answer counts and the page counts are kept apart for that reason.
AI citation gap tool questions
These AI citation gap tool questions come up most: what it costs, what it asks and what it keeps.
Is the AI citation gap tool free?
Yes, the AI citation gap tool is free. Without signing in you can check 2 prompts a day, and with a Google sign-in, up to 25 prompts a day.
Each engine's answer to a prompt counts as one AI answer, and opening the cited pages costs nothing. An answer saved in the last 24 hours comes back free and doesn't count.
Which AI engines does the citation gap tool ask?
The citation gap tool asks three AI engines: the ChatGPT app with search, Claude through Anthropic's API with web search on, and Gemini through Google's API with Google Search grounding.
None of them is Google AI Mode or an AI Overview, whose sources stay inside Google Search. You can untick any engine before a check.
How does the tool decide that a page names a brand?
The tool decides that a page names a brand when the brand's name, one of the other spellings you typed, or its website written out appears in the page's title, description or visible text.
Matching ignores capital letters and allows a space, a hyphen or nothing between the words of a name. A link to the brand's website counts too, and the results say whether each page links or only mentions.
Why couldn't the tool read some cited pages?
The tool couldn't read some cited pages because their sites turned our server away, took too long, sent a file that isn't a web page, or build the text with JavaScript.
Those pages are listed with the reason and a link. Open them yourself, because many still name your competitors.
What does the citation gap tool keep?
The citation gap tool keeps each AI answer and each page check for 24 hours, so a repeat check costs nothing. From a page it keeps only what the page says about the brands you entered, not the page itself.
Without a sign-in, checks are counted per connection and the counts are deleted after a few days. A Google sign-in keeps your email address and name. The About page lists everything the site keeps.
How is it different from paid AI visibility trackers?
It is different from paid AI visibility trackers such as Peec AI and AirOps, which run a fixed set of prompts on a schedule and chart the results over time; some of them also list the sources that cite competitors.
This tool runs your prompts once, when you ask, and opens every cited page to build the outreach list. Use it to find the pages to pitch, and a tracker if you need daily history.
AI citation gap tool sources
The AI citation gap tool sources below are the providers' own pages on how each engine searches the web and cites what it finds.
- OpenAI Help Center. Searching the web with ChatGPT: how ChatGPT search decides to search and shows its sources.
- Claude Docs. Web search tool: Anthropic's web search tool, whose citations are always on.
- Google AI for Developers. Grounding with Google Search: how the Gemini API grounds an answer in Google Search results and lists the sources it used.