Discovery comes first
Five AI crawlers and your llms.txt are checked live against robots.txt at scan time. If a crawler is blocked, nothing else matters yet.
Citation Gap TrueTrace keyword gap analysis
See why AI cites your rivals and not you.
Citation Gap reads your real tracking data and live robots.txt checks to find the keywords where AI engines cite competitors instead of you. Each gap gets a reason, a severity score and a recommended fix.
No credit card
Built from your tracking data
Live AI crawler checks
app.linkstonic.com/citation-gap
90-day
Keywords analyzed48
Gaps found11
Avg AI mention34%
Crawlers blocked1
AI crawler accesslive
GPTBot✓
OAI-SearchBot✕
ClaudeBot✓
PerplexityBot✓
Google-Extended✓
llms.txt!
crm pricing comparisonCritical · 82
Unblock OAI-SearchBot in robots.txtQuick
crm for small teamsHigh · 61
Cover team-size questions directlyMedium
Sample gap analysis for illustration
Gaps measured from your tracking across every major engine
ChatGPT
Claude
Gemini
Perplexity
Why Citation Gap
Knowing you're not cited is step one.
Knowing you're not cited is step one.
Knowing why is what fixes it.
Every gap comes from your own tracked mention rates and a live check of your site, with no made-up metrics. You see the cause before you choose the fix.
Every gap has a reason
Gaps are coded Discovery, Authority, Content or Coverage. Knowing the type tells you whether the fix belongs to a developer, a writer or your PR team.
Work the list top to bottom
Critical, High, Medium and Low, with each recommended fix tagged Quick, Medium or Project effort. Start at the top and keep going.
Reason codes
Four reasons AI skips you.
Four reasons AI skips you.
A fix list for each one.
Each gap card carries one reason code and the recommended fixes for it, tagged by effort so you can plan the work.
Discovery
AI crawlers are blocked from your content, so engines can't read it, let alone cite it. These are usually the fastest gaps to close.
Typical effortQuickConfig changes, often same day
- Quick
Unblock GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot and ClaudeBot
Update the robots.txt rules that disallow them
- Quick
Check PerplexityBot and Google-Extended
Make sure the other AI crawlers are allowed too
- Quick
Publish an llms.txt file
Point AI engines to the pages that matter most
- Quick
Submit your sitemap
Help crawlers find new and updated pages
Authority
Engines can read your page but trust a competitor's more. The fix is to strengthen the signals that make a source worth citing.
Typical effortMediumEditorial and outreach work
- Medium
Add named authors with credentials
Show who wrote the page and why they know the topic
- Quick
Cite primary sources
Back claims with links to reputable references
- Medium
Keep brand details consistent
Same name, category and facts wherever you appear
- Project
Earn mentions on trusted sites
Get referenced where engines already look
Content
Your pages don't answer the query as fully or as directly as the pages that get cited. The fix is better topic coverage.
Typical effortMediumWriting and page updates
- Medium
Answer the query directly
Put a clear answer near the top of the page
- Medium
Cover the related questions
Add the sub-topics buyers ask about next
- Quick
Add an FAQ block
Short, quotable answers engines can reuse
- Project
Publish a dedicated page
When no page on your site targets the topic at all
Coverage
Some engines mention you and others don't. The gap is in multi-model reach, measured as platforms tested against platforms that mentioned you.
Typical effortVariesDepends on the lagging engine
- Quick
Find the engines that miss you
Compare mentions by platform for the keyword
- Quick
Audit the page in TrueTrace
See per-engine scores and where they diverge
- Medium
Strengthen the weak signals
Work on the factors the lagging engine scores low
- Quick
Re-track and refresh
Confirm the gap closes on the next lookback
If any crawler is blocked, fix Discovery gaps before anything else. The other fixes can't help until engines can read the page.
Severity scoring
A score from 0 to 100 for every gap.
Three inputs from your tracking data decide how serious each gap is. 75 or more is Critical, 55 or more is High.
What counts as a gap
AI mention rate of 50% or lower, or a blocked crawler with a mention rate under 100%.
Wins, too
Keywords where your AI mention rate is already strong are listed, so you can see what's working.
Confidence note
Summary tiles include a confidence note based on your citation feedback calibration.
crm pricing comparison
SampleAI mention rateFrom tracking, 0 to 10.22
Platforms mentionedVersus platforms tested1 / 4
Competitor citation densityHow often rivals are citedHigh
combine
82
Critical
05575100
Lookback: 30 / 90 / 180 days
Getting started
From tracking data to a fix list.
STEP 01Data
Track keywords first
Citation Gap needs tracked keyword data. Add a brand and run tracking sessions so there are real mention rates to analyze.
STEP 02Scope
Pick brand and lookback
Open Citation Gap, choose your brand and a 30, 90 or 180 day window. Review the summary tiles and the crawler panel first.
STEP 03Fix
Fix discovery, then work the list
If crawlers are blocked, fix robots.txt and llms.txt first. Then work through the Critical and High gap cards using the recommended fixes.
Refresh any time to catch regressionsFind your first gaps →
Works better together
Citation Gap finds the keyword. TrueTrace fixes the page.
FAQ
Things people ask us.
How Citation Gap finds, scores and explains the keywords you're missing.
Still have questions?
See how Citation Gap fits alongside TrueTrace and which plan includes it.
Compare plans →Do I need tracked keywords before using Citation Gap?
Yes. Citation Gap analyzes your actual AI mention rates from tracking results. Run Track Keywords for your brand first, then return here for gap analysis.
What AI crawlers does it check?
GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended, the bots AI engines use to index content. It also checks whether an llms.txt file is present.
What counts as a gap?
A keyword becomes a gap when your AI mention rate is 50% or lower, or when an AI crawler is blocked and your mention rate is below 100%.
How is gap severity calculated?
Your AI mention rate (0 to 1), the platforms tested versus the platforms that mentioned you, and competitor citation density combine into a severity score from 0 to 100. A score of 75 or more is Critical and 55 or more is High.
Which lookback windows can I use?
30, 90 or 180 days. You can refresh the analysis at any time to catch regressions.
What's the difference between Citation Gap and TrueTrace URL audit?
TrueTrace audits a specific URL for AI citability factors. Citation Gap analyzes your tracked keywords to find where competitors win AI citations that you don't. It's keyword-level gap analysis.
How do I fix 'Discovery' gaps?
Discovery gaps mean AI crawlers can't access your content. Fix robots.txt to unblock GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot and ClaudeBot, publish an llms.txt file and submit your sitemap. These are the fastest fixes.
Stop guessing why AI skips you. See the reason, then fix it.
Start free, track your keywords and let Citation Gap turn the results into a ranked list of fixes.
Live crawler checks
Reason-coded gaps
Fixes ranked by severity