Playbook: run a clean keyword gap analysis (Ahrefs vs Semrush)

Playbook: run a clean keyword gap analysis (Ahrefs vs Semrush)
I ran the same 3-competitor gap on a real account in both tools. Here's the exact sequence that avoids junk output.

The 5 steps (both tools):
— Pull your own domain + exactly 3 competitors, not 5. More than 3 floods the list with off-topic terms.
— Filter to KD under 30 AND volume over 100 first. Do this before reading a single row.
— Add an intent/SERP-feature filter to kill brand and navigational noise.
— Set position bucket to 'they rank 1-20, I rank 21+ or nothing'. That's your real gap.
— Export, then dedupe by parent topic so you don't write 6 posts for one cluster.

Ahrefs:
➕ Content Gap lets you require 'all competitors rank' — tighter list
➖ Caps export rows on lower plans
Semrush:
➕ Keyword Gap intent column is cleaner out of the box
➖ Volume skews high vs reality

Best for: tight clusters → Ahrefs. Fast intent sort → Semrush.
Price-vs-value: either pays off only if you actually apply the KD/intent filters above. Affiliate-neutral: I pay for both.
Pick this if you run gap analysis monthly. Skip if you just want one keyword.