The ultimate ASO guide, based on 350,000 App Store results in 87 countries

Updated 8 November 2026

You built an app. You shipped it. 10 downloads

I've been there, with more than one app

So I stopped reading ASO advice and measured everything

You think it all comes down to luck. I'll prove it doesn't

Here's an example. US App Store, the search "sky map":

An app with a single 1-star rating beat a giant with 19k ratings, in the most competitive market

That's rare, but it's not luck. By the end of this guide you'll know what it depends on and how to raise your app's odds

How I know this. I took Apple's official lists of the most popular searches, up to 500 per country and category, in 87 countries. For each search I pulled the results, about 350,000 in total. Then I looked at every new app in those results, released in the last 6 months

About 42k of them made a top 10 somewhere. 67% have fewer than 10 ratings

Then I looked at what helped them get there. But let's go in order, starting with the simplest part

1. The fields the App Store reads

Your listing has four places for text, and they work differently

Name. 30 characters. The strongest place you have

Subtitle. 30 characters. It moves your position less, but it can still help you reach the top

Keyword field. 100 characters. Nobody sees it, but it counts: its words combine into searches with each other, with the subtitle and with the name

Description. It doesn't affect your App Store position, so stop stuffing it with keywords. But ChatGPT reads it, and that matters more than you'd think. More in section 5

The name is the strongest place. So let's start there

2. Put the keyword first in your name

Most people put their beautiful brand first

I get it. You spent days on that name. But nobody searches for it yet

Here's the chance of a new app with under 100 ratings reaching the top 10

Look at "Brand: search"

It's about the same as leaving the keyword out

So write this:

Sky Map - Star Tracker

Not this:

Stellar: Sky Map

A word after the colon gets you into the results. It won't lift you to the top. I checked it on 4.9M other position observations: search first, median #5. Search inside the name, #11. No search in the name, #11

An exact name works even better, but it ties you to one search. The winners I saw use search + difference: Calorie Counter by Numify, Sleep Tracker by Remly

3. Pick a keyword with a free name and real demand

Now you know the search goes first. The question left is which search to take. This is the main thing in this guide

The ideal case: take a search with real demand and a free name. That's when your chance of reaching the top is high

Here's what lifts a new app into the top 10

Competition matters as much as the name. The more apps start their name with your search and the stronger the leader, the lower your chance. But a giant doesn't shut you out: with few rivals on the name, about 5% of new apps make the top 10 even when the leader has over 300,000 ratings

And check that people actually search your name. Don't go by the popularity number in Apple Search Ads: everything below 5 looks the same there, and real searches hide under that number. Use Apple's official list instead: up to 500 of the most popular searches per country and category, the Search Term Popularity report in the Apple Ads Platform API. That's where the searches in this guide come from. If a search isn't on the list, it just didn't make the top 500. That doesn't mean nobody types it

Want to check your name right now? I made a free tool for it, on the home page

4. Use your subtitle and 100 keyword characters

That's the name, but your listing has two more fields. Each field should carry different real searches. First list the searches in your niche and check demand and competition for each. The rest is simple

In the name, put the search halfway between demand and competition. The most popular one usually has rivals that are too strong. An empty one nobody types is no use either

The subtitle and keyword field get the rest. The stronger ones go in the subtitle. The weaker ones go in the keyword field

Just don't expect much from the keyword field. It wins small results and won't carry you through big ones

A few rules worth knowing:

• Don't repeat words across fields. It wastes characters
• Apple builds phrases from separate words, but it won't join them into one. If people search it as one word, put that whole word in
• Different forms of a word can count as different words. Use the form people type

5. Write your description for ChatGPT

Keywords are done. One text is left, the description. It doesn't affect App Store search, but it works somewhere else

ChatGPT recommends apps based on their App Store description, and having few ratings didn't stop my app. That surprised me the most

ChatGPT gave my Bible app 351 impressions and 256 downloads, a 73% conversion. App Store search on the same app gives 5%. That's one app, so test it on yours

So try rewriting your description:

• First lines: what the app is and who it's for
• Your unique features, in concrete words
• Think about what people will ask ChatGPT, and what your description needs to say so it recommends you and not a competitor

6. Screenshots won't lift you in search, but they sell

That's it for text. Now the part people see

Many people add screenshots and ship weekly updates to climb in search. It barely affects your position

Here's how many new apps reached the top 3:

• with 3–4 screenshots 12%, with 9 or more 8%
• updated under 2 weeks ago 9.4%, over 4 months ago 10.5%
• released a month ago 9.5%, six months ago 11%

Screenshots do a different job: they convince the person who found you to download. Put your effort into the first three, because they show right in search, and improve conversion with A/B tests

7. Get your first 10 ratings

Screenshots barely affect your position, but ratings do. The more ratings a new app has, the better its chance:

With 10 ratings your chance is almost twice what it is with 1–9, though part of this runs backwards: a high position brings ratings by itself

If you have no ratings yet, the name decides, so start there. If you already have some, look for a free name or results where the apps have few ratings

And expect ratings to come slowly, and separately in each country. In my Quran Widget about 1,600 prompts gave about 21 ratings, that's 1.3%

8. Localize how people search

All of this was about one country so far. But there are many

Of course everyone wants the US top. But there are countries with demand for your app and far less competition

Don't translate your listing word by word. People search differently from country to country, because of language and culture. The direct translation of your name may be something almost nobody there types

So in each country, look for keywords again: what do people type in your field, including related searches. Then run sections 2 to 4 for those

9. Track the results

Here's the sobering part

84% of new apps named with a search sit below #25

A free name is not a guarantee of success. It's a bet with good odds, and you can place it in 87 countries

So track your positions and installs, and experiment with new keywords and combinations

10. ASO won't save a weak app

Even a great position isn't everything

ASO gets you installs. It doesn't guarantee that people stay or that you make money

It's only the first part. The rest depends on the app: what value it gives people, how good your onboarding is, and whether people buy your subscription. That's not about ASO anymore

One important thing: all of this works for a new app, when you want to compete on the App Store without huge marketing investment. If you're already strong at marketing, with UGC and your own audience, the bet is different: a brand is easier to promote, because people remember it

One last thing

If you take one thing from this guide, make it this: find a search people type that almost nobody starts their name with, and put it first in your name

Sounds simple. But even with AI, collecting the data takes weeks

I already did all of it for you

Lazy ASO is a Mac app with everything from this guide inside: Apple's official demand in 87 countries, up to 500 searches per category in each, 350,000 results pages, and the top 10 chance for every keyword

Connect your AI in one click, and it finds searches with a free name in every country and writes your name, subtitle, keywords and description. You say yes, and it's all in App Store Connect

Stop guessing. Know your real odds and place the right bets with Lazy ASO