Branded keyword (App Store)

Apple states that an app is searchable by its app name and company name. Those values should not be duplicated in the keyword field, because they already count and the bytes would be wasted. If people search for your brand, you will normally already match with your app name. Brand searches also tend to convert well, since the searcher already knows you.

Names of other apps or companies are not allowed in the keyword list. Apple's prohibited content includes unauthorized trademarked terms, celebrity names and competing app names. Guideline 2.3.7 asks for a unique name and says not to pack metadata with trademarked terms or popular app names. Apple's subtitle rules also say a subtitle should not reference other apps. Putting a competitor's name into any of your fields is a route to rejection or to Apple changing your listing, see keyword stuffing.

A hypothetical habit tracker called Streakly:

• streakly in the keyword field: wasted bytes, the name already matches.
• A well-known competitor's name in the subtitle: not allowed.
• habit streak as a generic phrase: fine, if it describes the app.

Competitor brands remain useful for research. A branded search shows who people compare you with, and you can study how those apps rank for generic terms. Then target the generic terms, using long-tail keywords where the head terms are too strong.

Use the keyword research guide to separate generic from branded terms, and compare tools in the alternatives overview.

Your studio name is the developer name, which Apple already treats as searchable.