AI-Powered Gap Analysis: 5 Ways to Find What’s Missing at Every Stage in the Buyer Journey

Why do visitors who start on service pages convert into leads? Because they have commercial intent. Every SEO learned this on day one of keyword research class. But let’s ask a question less common in SEO school…

Why DON’T visitors who start on service pages convert into leads? It’s usually because the page failed to answer a question (a lack of clarity). Or it failed to address an objection (a lack of confidence). Or it failed to support claims with evidence (a lack of trust). In other words, there are gaps.

So, let’s fire up our gap-finding AI and ask it to tell us what’s missing. But we’ll have to use a multi-prompt process because the AI doesn’t yet know our visitors. Our gaps are specific to our target audience, so we need to begin with a persona.

If you have a battle-tested ideal client profile, you can simply upload it to the AI. If you don’t, you can use the AI to create one for you. Use this handy persona prompt:

If you use ChatGPT, it will probably name your persona Alex. I have no idea why. And naturally, there will be accuracy issues. So, take time to read it closely. What’s incorrect? What’s missing? Fix it first. If you don’t, the subsequent AI responses will be bad.

You fill these gaps yourself by telling the AI to make changes. Here’s your persona-repair prompt:

It won’t be perfect, and it doesn’t have to be. But it has to be good enough to use in an evaluation of your service pages. The more accurate it is, the better the responses will be.

Next, we’ll give it the page we want to optimize. In the same chat with the persona, copy and paste the copy from a key service page (or a full-page screenshot) into the AI with the following prompt:

You are a conversion optimization expert skilled in evaluating pages for their ability to both inform and persuade. The most compelling, highest converting web pages share common traits. The following are best practices for B2B service pages. 1. The header clearly indicates the topic of the page, quickly letting the visitor know they’re in the right place. 2. The copy clearly answers the visitor’s question and addresses their objections 3. The order of the messages generally aligns with the visitor’s prioritized information needs. 4. Subheads for each section are meaningful and specific 5. The page connects with the visitor on a personal level using human elements (faces, quotes, stories) 6. The copy leverages cognitive biases in subtle ways when relevant (loss aversion, urgency, etc.) 7. The page provides compelling calls to action Create a list showing the ways in which the following webpage does and does not meet the information needs of the persona. [paste in the page, or attach a full page screenshot]

Does that look like a long prompt? In my experience, it is not. Some of the best prompts give the AI a little list of best practices so it knows what a successful deliverable will be. The prompt is like a micro-blog post on best practices. Use your best practices and what you know to work well based on your experience, your analytics, and your prospect.

Here’s a screenshot of a ChatGPT response. It starts by listing the ways in which you satisfied your persona’s information needs and ends with a list of the persona’s information needs that were left unmet.