App store optimization (ASO)
App store optimization, or ASO, is the work of helping people find and download your app when they search an app store like Apple's App Store or Google Play. Apple says its search results weigh how well your app's name, subtitle, keywords and category match the search, plus how people respond, like downloads, ratings and reviews.
Source: Apple Developer, App Store search, checked October 29, 2026
What App store optimization (ASO) means for your business
Apple's guide gets specific. The keyword field holds 100 characters, and Apple says not to repeat words already in your app's name, subtitle or category. Promotional text doesn't affect search ranking. Search results can also show app tags, which Apple generates with AI from the details you entered in App Store Connect, so those details need to be accurate.
Google Play's store listing guide asks for short, accurate descriptions and warns against long strings of repeated words. It also tells developers to keep ranking claims like "#1" or "App of the year" out of the whole listing, text and images alike.
We'd only bring ASO into the plan when an app is how your buyers reach you, like a booking app for a gym or an ordering app for a restaurant. That's our view. If your customers book or order on your website, we'd spend the time there first. If you're not sure an app store is where your buyers look for you at all, our research on where people search with AI is one place to start comparing.
Source: Google Play Console Help, Best practices for your store listing, checked October 29, 2026
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, ChatGPT called ASO SEO for mobile apps, gave a made-up fitness app example and cited nothing. Google's AI Overview cited Wikipedia and app-marketing firms, and credited a claim about Apple downloads to a vendor blog, not to Apple.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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