Competitive Gap Analysis for Positioning (Not Another Feature Table)
Start from the jobs buyers hire for, list every alternative including doing nothing, score who covers each job, and claim only the gap you can prove.
You are about to pick the line that goes on the homepage and the proposal cover. You pulled up five competitor sites and built a grid of ticks and crosses. Now every cell is a tick for you and a mix for them, and you still do not know what to say. The grid answered the wrong question.
Print the competitive gap worksheet and follow it from the top. If the audience is not settled, finish the brand positioning framework first. The gap you find goes into a brand brief.
Why the feature table fails
A feature table lists what exists. It does not say what matters. A cell can be empty for a rival because buyers do not want that feature at all. You then “win” by having it and wonder why nobody cares.
It also hides the real rival. The default your buyer will pick if you disappear is rarely another company in your category. It is a spreadsheet, an assistant, a cousin who knows a bit about websites, or another quarter of waiting.
The flow, in four moves
flowchart TD
J["1. Customer jobs"] --> A["2. Alternatives"]
A --> S["3. Score coverage"]
S --> G["4. Gaps you can own"]
G --> P["Proof needed"]Move 1: List the jobs, in the buyer’s words
Write six to ten jobs your primary buyer is trying to get done around your category. Not features. Jobs. “Show the team where files live on day one.” “Get a quote I can defend to my partner.” “Look as considered as the fees we charge.” Pull the phrasing from sales calls, support tickets, reviews of any provider in the category, and the first email a new lead sends.
- Functional jobs: the practical outcome. Publish a page, get paid, hand over files.
- Social jobs: how they want to look to their own boss, partner, or customers.
- Risk jobs: what they want to avoid. Blame, hidden fees, a surprise at launch.
Rank the jobs by importance to the buyer, 1 to 5, using what they said. Do not rank by what you can do. That bias will bury the gap you need.
Move 2: List every alternative, including nothing
One row per alternative a buyer could pick. Group them so you do not end up with twelve near-identical agencies.
| Type | Why it counts | How to find it |
|---|---|---|
| Direct rivals | Same offer, same buyer | Search the way a buyer would, in their words |
| Adjacent category | Different product, same job | Ask buyers what they tried first |
| DIY or in-house | Buyer does it themselves | Ask who owns it today |
| Freelancer or friend | Cheaper and informal | Ask how the last project was found |
| Do nothing | Cost of change feels higher than cost of the problem | Ask what happened the last time they put it off |
Keep it to five to seven alternatives. If you have more, merge the ones that cover the same jobs the same way.
Move 3: Score coverage from public evidence
For each alternative and each job, score from 0 to 2 using only things you can link and date.
| Score | Meaning | What you need to see |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Not addressed | No mention of the job on their site or materials |
| 1 | Mentioned, not shown | They claim it, with no proof, process, or example |
| 2 | Addressed with evidence | A described process, a product feature, or a real example for that job |
| ? | Unknown | You could not find evidence either way. Do not guess |
Score yourself the same way. It is humbling and useful. If your own site scores 1 on the job you plan to lead with, the gap is a promise, not a position. Fix the evidence before the headline.
Treat scores as a snapshot with a date. Public pages change. Put a review reminder in six months.
Move 4: Find the gap you can own
Sort the jobs by buyer importance. Scan for rows where most alternatives score 0 or 1 and the job ranks high. Those are candidate gaps. Then run each through three filters.
| Test | Question | Fails when |
|---|---|---|
| Demand | Did buyers raise this job unprompted, in their own words? | Only your team cares about it |
| Delivery | Can we do this for most buyers, repeatedly, at our price? | It needs a heroic one-off effort |
| Proof | Can we show it today with something checkable? | It rests on a promise or a borrowed example |
A gap that fails demand is a quirk. A gap that fails delivery is a risk you create for yourself. A gap that fails proof is not claimable yet, so sort what you may say in the meantime (more on that below).
Hypothetical, labeled
Hypothetical. A small studio sells website projects to independent clinics. Buyer jobs from calls: get a site live without the owner writing all the copy; know the cost before signing; avoid a launch that breaks booking; look as considered as the care they give. Alternatives: three local agencies, a template platform, a patient’s relative who builds sites, and doing nothing. Scoring from public pages: agencies mostly show portfolios, so “look considered” scores 2, while “know the cost before signing” scores 0 or 1 because pricing is hidden. The template platform scores 2 on cost and 0 on copy. The gap candidate: a fixed-scope offer with written pricing and a copy workshop included. Demand: three of five calls raised cost uncertainty. Delivery: the studio already runs a fixed-scope process. Proof: a public pricing page and a process document. Position: clear scope, clear price, copy included.
What this example does not prove: that the clinic market wants fixed pricing, or that it will win work. It shows how the gap came from jobs and public evidence, not from a feature tick list.
Turn the gap into a line
Take the gap and the buyer’s own words. Write the sentence: for [buyer], who needs [job], we [specific thing], unlike [the alternative they actually use]. Test it on three people from outside your company. If they can say it back, you have a candidate. Then sort each sentence by what you may say with the Claims, Proof, Risk ladder before anything goes on the site.
Common ways this goes wrong
- Scoring from vibes: a rival “seems” weak at pricing but their page shows a calculator. Link every score.
- Ignoring “do nothing”: the real competitor is inertia. If the gap does not beat it, the buyer stays put.
- Picking a gap nobody asked for: an open space can be empty because it is not worth filling.
- Copying a rival’s language: borrowing their phrasing lets them define your category. Use the buyer’s words.
- Doing it once: markets move. Rerun the scoring when a rival repositions, or twice a year.
A two-week schedule
- Days 1–2: collect buyer language and draft six to ten jobs. Rank by buyer importance.
- Days 3–4: list five to seven alternatives, including do nothing.
- Days 5–8: score from public pages, with URL and date. Score yourself too.
- Days 9–10: run demand, delivery, and proof tests on the top two candidate gaps.
- Days 11–14: draft the positioning line, test it on three outsiders, and list the proof still missing.
If the exercise shows the gap sits in how the whole brand shows up, not just the copy, weigh rebrand or refresh. We run this analysis with clients as part of branding projects. Contact.
Frequently asked questions
What is a competitive gap analysis for positioning?
A way to find a spot in the market that buyers care about and that nobody covers well. You start from the jobs buyers hire for, list every alternative they use, score how well each one covers each job, and look for a low-scoring job you can both serve and prove.
Why not just compare features?
A feature table tells you who has what. It does not tell you what buyers care about, or which gaps are open because nobody wants them. Starting from jobs keeps the analysis tied to demand, not to a spec sheet.
Who counts as a competitor?
Anything a buyer could pick instead of you. Direct rivals, yes. Also a spreadsheet, an in-house hire, a freelancer, a different category of tool, or doing nothing. Doing nothing wins more deals than any named rival.
How do I score competitors without bias?
Score only from public evidence you can link: their site, pricing page, reviews, documentation, and their own marketing. Record the date. Mark anything else as “unknown” rather than guessing. You are scoring what they show, not what you assume.
What if there is no gap?
Then the gap may be in delivery, not offer: faster, clearer, narrower, or with a constraint you keep. Or the market is crowded and the right move is a tighter audience. Both are positioning choices. Do not invent a gap to fill the worksheet.