aeo-citation-gap-finder

name

aeo-citation-gap-finder

description

Compare what different AI models cite for the same prompts. Runs prompts through Gemini 3 Flash with grounding to get Google's citations, then uses web search to approximate what ChatGPT and Perplexity would cite. Identifies gaps: sources cited by Google but not others, by others but not Google, or by all. For a target domain, shows where it appears vs where it's missing across AI citation landscapes. Use when a user wants to: find citation gaps between AI models, understand why they rank on one AI but not another, discover cross-platform AEO opportunities, or compare their visibility across Google AI, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.

AEO Citation Gap Finder

Source: github.com/psyduckler/aeo-skills Part of: AEO Skills Suite

Compare what different AI models cite for the same prompts. Find gaps in your cross-platform AI visibility.

Why This Matters

Different AI models cite different sources for the same query. Google's AI Overviews (Gemini 3 Flash) use Google Search grounding. ChatGPT uses Bing. Perplexity uses its own search stack. A page that dominates Google AI citations may be invisible in ChatGPT, and vice versa.

This skill identifies those gaps so you can optimize content for cross-platform AI visibility.

How It Works

1. Google AI citations — Runs the prompt 20 times through Gemini 3 Flash with google_search grounding. This simulates real AI Overviews and gives reliable citation frequency data.
2. Web search citations — Searches the same prompt via Brave Search API (or web_search tool). The top organic results approximate what ChatGPT (Bing-powered) and Perplexity would cite, since they all draw from similar web indexes.
3. Gap analysis — Compares the two source sets:
   • Google-only: Cited by Gemini but not in top web results → Google's AI has unique source preferences
   • Web-only: In top web results but not cited by Gemini → traditional SEO winners that AI overlooks
   • Both: Cited everywhere → strong cross-platform authority
4. Domain tracking — If you specify a domain, shows exactly where it appears vs where it's missing.

Requirements

• Gemini API key (free) — set as GEMINI_API_KEY env var
• Brave Search API key (optional) — set as BRAVE_API_KEY env var. If not set, web search comparison is skipped.
• Python 3.9+
• No pip dependencies (stdlib only)

Usage

# Full gap analysis with domain tracking
GEMINI_API_KEY="$GEMINI_API_KEY" \
BRAVE_API_KEY="$BRAVE_API_KEY" python3 scripts/find_gaps.py "best SEO tools for content optimization" --domain acme.com

# Without Brave (Gemini-only analysis)
GEMINI_API_KEY="$GEMINI_API_KEY" python3 scripts/find_gaps.py "best SEO tools for content optimization" --domain acme.com

# JSON output
GEMINI_API_KEY="$GEMINI_API_KEY" \
BRAVE_API_KEY="$BRAVE_API_KEY" python3 scripts/find_gaps.py "best SEO tools for content optimization" --domain acme.com --output json

Run from the skill directory. Resolve scripts/find_gaps.py relative to this SKILL.md.

Options

Option	Default	Description
prompt	(required)	The query to analyze
--domain	(required)	Domain to track across citation sources
--runs	20	Number of Gemini grounding runs
--model	gemini-3-flash-preview	Gemini model to use
--output	text	Output format: text or json

Output

Text Output

Citation Gap Analysis: "best SEO tools for content optimization"
Domain: acme.com
================================================================

GOOGLE AI CITATIONS (Gemini 3 Flash, 20 runs):
  85% — acme.com
  70% — surferseo.com
  55% — semrush.com
  40% — ahrefs.com

WEB SEARCH RESULTS (Brave, top 20):
  #1 — g2.com/categories/seo-content-optimization
  #2 — surferseo.com/blog/best-seo-tools
  #3 — acme.com
  ...

GAP ANALYSIS:
  Google AI Only (not in web top 20):
    - contentharmony.com (cited 25% in AI)
    - frase.io (cited 20% in AI)

  Web Only (not cited by Google AI):
    - g2.com (web rank #1, 0% AI citation)
    - backlinko.com (web rank #5, 0% AI citation)

  Both (cross-platform authority):
    - acme.com (85% AI citation, web rank #3)
    - surferseo.com (70% AI citation, web rank #2)

DOMAIN REPORT: acme.com
  Google AI: ✅ Cited in 85% of runs
  Web Search: ✅ Appears in top 20
  Status: STRONG — cross-platform visibility
  
RECOMMENDATIONS:
  → Your domain has strong Google AI visibility (85%). Maintain current content.
  → Consider targeting web-only sources' topics to strengthen Bing/ChatGPT presence.

Tips

• Run against your top 5-10 target prompts to find patterns across queries
• "Google AI Only" sources reveal what Gemini specifically values — study their content structure
• "Web Only" sources that rank well but aren't AI-cited often lack extractable, direct answers
• Pair with aeo-content-free to fix content gaps identified by this analysis
• Pair with aeo-ai-overview-simulator for deeper single-prompt analysis

Notes

• Gemini API key in macOS Keychain under google-api-key
• Brave Search API key in macOS Keychain under brave-search
• If Brave API key is not available, the tool runs Gemini-only analysis (no web comparison)
• Retries with exponential backoff for API failures