App store optimization checklist: what Apple and Google actually say

Apple names two groups of factors: text relevance, meaning matches in your app’s title, subtitle, keywords and primary category, and user behavior, meaning downloads, ratings and reviews and more. That is the whole public answer. The text part you control directly; the behavior part comes from people finding and keeping your app, which is why promotion outside the store matters too. Google does not publish an equivalent list for Play search, so treat any exact weighting you read online as a guess.

Separate terms with commas and no spaces; a space inside a phrase is fine. Do not repeat words already in your app name, subtitle or category, and skip plurals of words you already use, since Apple treats them as duplicates. Leave out filler words and broad terms like “app” or “game”. Apple is explicit that competing app names, unauthorized trademarks and celebrity names do not belong there, and that improper use of keywords is a common reason for App Store rejections. Your app is already searchable by its name and company name, so do not spend keyword space on those.

Apple asks for a simple, memorable name that hints at what the app does and is not too close to existing app names, and a subtitle that explains the value rather than repeating the name, avoiding phrases like “world’s best app”. Google Play is stricter about the title: no performance or ranking claims such as “#1”, “Best of Play” or “Popular”, no promotional words such as “Free” or “No Ads”, no price or discount text, no caps unless your brand is capitalized, and no irrelevant emoji. Google also warns that repetitive or irrelevant keywords in the name or description can get an app suspended.

On the App Store the first one to three screenshots appear in search results when there is no app preview, so they do the work of an ad: lead with what the app does, not a splash screen. App previews autoplay with the sound off, so the first seconds need to make sense without audio. On Google Play the icon is 512 by 512 pixels, the feature graphic 1024 by 500, and the video is a public or unlisted YouTube link with ads turned off.

In App Store Connect the name, subtitle, keywords and description are set per localization, so each language gets its own 100 characters of keywords. If your app speaks a language, fill that store listing natively rather than leaving it on English. Our data study on how many popular apps speak Ukrainian shows how often big apps skip this, and App Store niche attention 2026 looks at how crowded the top of store search is by niche.

The App Store description is also used for web search results once the app is released, per App Store Connect help, so write it for people, not for keyword density. Outside the stores, a listing in directories and rankings gives people another way to find you; our guide to free app promotion sites checks which of them give a followed link. Censuus ranks apps by real visit traffic: listing is free on the submit page, and sponsorship raises placement.