Content gap analysis tool: find the topics rivals cover that your ranking pages miss

A content gap analysis tool shows which topics competing pages cover that your page does not, for searches where you already rank. XeoRank runs this per query for your pages in positions 4 to 30, comparing each one with the rival pages it has read, and lists the missing topics, a click-through flag, the position bucket, the number of competitors compared and the word count on both sides.

The point is to find pages that are close. A page at position 8 that skips topics every rival covers already has rankings to build on, while a new article starts from nothing.

Who it is for

• Site owners with pages stuck on the lower half of page one or on page two who want to know what is missing.
• Content leads deciding whether to refresh an existing page or write a new one.
• Agencies that need a concrete, per-page reason to propose a content update to a client.

What the analysis returns

For each page and query pair, XeoRank stores:

Missing topics come from the headings on rival pages. When there are enough rival pages to compare, a topic only counts as a gap if at least two of them cover it, so one competitor's odd section does not end up on your list. If several rival pages have a section on pricing, setup time or a comparison table and yours does not, that shows up.

The CTR flag answers a different question. A page can cover everything and still earn few clicks because the title and meta description do not match what searchers want. That is a snippet problem, not a content problem, and the fix is different.

How it picks pages

You do not need to choose pages by hand. XeoRank looks for pages that:

1. Rank in positions 4 to 30 for a query in your Search Console data.
2. Have rival pages on file for the same query, which XeoRank has already fetched and read through competitor research.
3. Rank on page one but earn almost no clicks, which it puts first.

The automatic selection only picks pages in that range with rival pages on file, so pages already in the top three and pages far down the results do not appear. The CLI and API compare any page you name for a query you give.

How to run it

Content gap analysis runs when you ask for it. There are three ways in:

• From your AI assistant through the XeoRank MCP server. Ask it to compute content gaps for a site. A dry run first shows which pages would be analysed, so you can confirm before anything runs.
• From the terminal with the XeoRank CLI: xyle gaps --page <url> --query <query> (without --query it returns gaps already stored).
• From your own code through the REST API, using the /gaps endpoint.

Results are stored, so your assistant can read them again later without re-running the analysis.

What happens after you find a gap

A gap list is only useful if it turns into a page change. In XeoRank it feeds two places:

• Content opportunities. Gaps are one of the signals that rank what to write or improve next.
• Content briefs. When you open a brief for a keyword, its gaps are part of the evidence, next to related Search Console queries, rival headings and your own pages to link from.

On WordPress, your AI assistant can then edit the existing page to add the missing section. Writes are off for each site until you enable them, every change to a page's content keeps a snapshot you can restore, and new pages are created as drafts.

Refresh the page or write a new one?

A gap list helps with a decision every content team faces. If your page already ranks for the query and the gaps are a few missing sections, refreshing that page keeps the links and history it has earned. If the missing topics point to a different intent, for example rivals answer a comparison question your how-to guide was never meant to cover, that usually calls for a separate page. Your Search Console data shows which of your pages Google already shows for the query, which helps you avoid two of your own pages competing for it.

What it does not do

• It does not analyse every page. The automatic selection only compares pages ranking 4 to 30 with rival pages on file.
• It does not compare whole domains. It works page by page for queries you already rank for.
• It does not rewrite the page. It lists the gaps; you or your assistant decide which to close.
• It does not treat every rival topic as required. If the rival pages all cover something your readers do not need, a gap is not a reason to add it.
• It does not promise a ranking change. Closing a gap makes the page more complete; whether it moves depends on everything else Google weighs.

Try it from a chat

"Compute content gaps for example.com as a dry run first. Then run it, and for the three pages with the most missing topics, tell me which sections to add and which gaps to ignore."

The assistant shows which pages it will analyse, runs the comparison, and turns the stored gaps into a short list of changes for you to approve.

Pricing

Content gap analysis is available on every plan. Starter is $19 a month for one site, with a 14-day free trial and no card to start. Pro is $49 a month and Growth is $109 a month. See pricing for what each plan includes.