Why can I find my app by name but not by keyword?

The name matches, but the keyword is not in your title, subtitle or keyword field, or the competition for it is far ahead of you. Add the search to the listing and check where you sit.

How long does it take for a new app to show in search?

Apple does not publish a time. On one of our apps, impressions dipped 4–5 days after a metadata release and then passed the old level.

Does the description affect whether my app shows up?

Apple lists title, subtitle, keywords and primary category as the text it matches. Do not rely on the description to get found.

Why does my app show for some countries but not others?

Results depend on the storefront and the localization. A language you have not added to App Store Connect is not matched in that country, so add the localization or check availability.

Why is my app not showing up in App Store search?

Updated 14 November 2026

Most of the time the app is in the App Store but ranks far below what you scrolled. Apple matches searches against your title, subtitle, keywords and primary category, then adjusts for downloads and ratings. Search your exact name first, then the words in your listing; if the name finds you and the keywords do not, your listing is missing the words people type.

Test it in this order

Search your exact app name in the storefront you care about. If you are not there, the app is not on sale in that country or the version is not live yet. Check availability and version status in App Store Connect.
Search the words from your title and subtitle. If you show up, indexing works.
Search the words you hoped to rank for. Not found, or on page 5, means those words are missing from your listing or the competition is heavy.
Search on a device set to that country and language, signed out of personalised results where you can. Results differ by storefront and by localization.

What Apple matches

Apple says search results rest on text relevance, meaning matches in your app's title, subtitle, keywords and primary category, and on user behaviour such as downloads and ratings. The keyword field takes 100 characters, comma separated, no spaces. Promotional text does not affect ranking, so words you only put there are not found.

Where the words are	Does it match?
Name, subtitle, keyword field, primary category	Yes
Promotional text	No
Words only on your website or in your app	No

You are probably there, just deep

In our scan, 84% of new apps named with a search sat below #25, where nobody scrolls. A new app with a name that starts with the search reached the top 10 in 5–10% of cases. With the search not in the name, 2–3%. The research.

If your name is your idea ("Starlume") and nobody types that, the store has no reason to show you. The words people type belong at the start of the name.

Just changed the listing?

After one of our metadata releases, search impressions fell about 90% for 4–5 days before climbing past the old level. If the change is a few days old, wait a week before you panic. Apple does not publish how long a metadata update takes to appear.

Fix it

Find searches people really type. Apple's official top-500 list per country is the source: how to see App Store search volume.
Put the best one at the start of the name, the next in the subtitle, the rest in the keyword field. What to put in the keyword field.
Check the name before you commit with the free name check.

Lazy ASO checks your positions every day, so you see where the app sits instead of guessing. Start with the name check.