App Store Search Ranking Factors: What Apple Documents and What It Does Not

Apple states that search results are based on text relevance as well as user behavior, with downloads, ratings and reviews named as examples (Apple: App Store search).

Promotional text does not affect search ranking and should not be used to show keywords; see does promotional text affect search. Apple states the description appears on the product page and is used for web engine search results once the app is released, and advises against adding unnecessary keywords to it; see does the app description affect search.

• Localized keywords: users can search with localized keywords in all countries or regions where the localization is shown (Apple). See the localization guide.
• App tags: search results may include tags generated by large language models from the metadata you provide.
• Ratings: Apple states ratings and reviews can influence ranking, with no threshold given.

Apple does not document these, so treat each as a hypothesis:

• That the name outweighs the subtitle, and the subtitle the keyword field
• Exact handling of plurals, stemming or word order
• Whether words in different fields combine into one phrase
• Recency or velocity of downloads and ratings
• How much conversion on your product page matters

For each, the response is a test on your own app rather than a belief. See singular or plural and repeat words for two test designs.

1. Make the name, subtitle and keyword field match what people type; see choosing keywords you can rank for.
2. Do not repeat words across fields, which wastes the limited text.
3. Keep your rating high and answer issues that low reviews name.
4. Improve your product page so visitors download; see the conversion rate glossary entry.
5. Localize for the countries you care about.

Lists of "200 ranking factors" with weights, claims of instant ranking from a keyword swap and promises of top positions. Apple publishes none of that.

Print the two tables and mark each row as something you control, something you influence over time, or something you cannot affect. Spend your effort on the first group until it is clean: unique, relevant text in every searchable field and in every language you serve. Then move to ratings and conversion. This order gives the least wasted work, and every step in it rests on what Apple documents.

LocalASO shows rank, estimated volume and difficulty per keyword and country, derived from public search results and rating counts, so you can see how your changes affect rank. See the keyword research docs and how App Store search works.