LocalASOASO glossary
Rating count (App Store)
The rating count is the number of ratings an app has received in a storefront. It is public on every product page, which makes it the main signal that ASO tools use to estimate how strong an app is.
Updated
Why tools use it
Apple publishes no organic search counts. So tools look at the apps that rank for a keyword and read their rating counts. LocalASO's volume and difficulty are 0 to 100 estimates derived from the rating counts of the apps ranking for a keyword, not Apple search counts.
- Volume is a rank-weighted mean of log10(1 + rating count) over the top 10, scaled to 0 to 100, plus up to 5 points for the number of results.
- Difficulty combines the median and mean log rating counts of the top 10 with the share of top-10 apps with at least 50,000 ratings.
The log keeps one giant app from hiding the rest of the list. See search volume and keyword difficulty.
Example
Two hypothetical top-10 lists for different phrases:
| List | Rating counts | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| A | six apps above 100,000, four above 20,000 | strong; high difficulty |
| B | two above 50,000, eight under 500 | mixed; room in positions 3 to 10 |
A new app has a better chance on list B.
Why it lags
- Old apps keep ratings long after their search popularity fades.
- A ratings reset drops the count to zero for a strong app.
- Counts are per storefront, so they differ by country.
- Rating counts say nothing about paid ads or seasonality.
How to use it
Compare keywords with each other, not against an absolute truth. Pair the estimate with your own rank checks, as the keyword research guide explains.
Next step
Read how search popularity in Apple Ads offers a different, coarser signal.
Ratings are explained under ratings.
Sources
- Apple: developer.apple.com/help/app-store-connect/monitor-ratings-and-reviews/reset-an-app-overview-rating (checked November 1, 2026)
- Apple: ads.apple.com/app-store/help-glossary (checked November 1, 2026)
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