Text relevance (App Store search)

Search results are based on text relevance, meaning matches for the app title, subtitle, keywords and primary category, and on user behavior, which includes downloads, ratings and reviews. An app is searchable by name, subtitle, keywords and company name. The primary and the optional secondary category are indexed. Special characters do not carry extra weight.

This is the full list of what Apple documents. Apple does not document how it treats plurals, word order, stemming or combinations of words across fields. Do not rely on guides that claim to know; test it yourself.

A hypothetical habit tracker has the name "Streakly: Habit Tracker" and the keyword "routine". A search for "habit routine" has two words that are present, in different fields. Whether that scores better than a single field containing both is not documented. To find out, search the exact phrase in your storefront, note the rank, change one field, wait for the update to propagate and compare.

• Put the most important term in the app name and the next ones in the subtitle and keyword field.
• Do not repeat words across fields. Apple advises against repeating words from the name, subtitle or category in the keywords.
• Stay honest. Irrelevant terms are prohibited, and with keyword stuffing Apple may modify your keywords.

Relevance gets you into the results. Position also depends on behavior, so ratings and downloads matter. Apple states that ratings and reviews can influence ranking. See conversion rate.

The keyword research guide shows how to pick relevant terms, and the cannibalization checker finds duplicates across fields.

Relevance is one half of ASO, and your primary category is one of the indexed fields.

Apple's full list of documented search factors is on the App Store search page.

Apple may also show App Store tags generated from your text.