Why app store listings stop working
Most app listings are written once, in the week before launch, and then left alone. The app keeps improving, competitors arrive, and the words people search with change, but the title, subtitle, and screenshots still describe the version you shipped on day one. Meanwhile, most people find new apps by searching the store, so a listing that doesn't match their searches leaves the app invisible to them.
Improving a listing is called app store optimization, or ASO. It covers two kinds of work:
- Getting found. Each store decides which apps to show for a search partly from the words in your listing. If "habit tracker" appears nowhere that the store reads, your app is unlikely to rank for it, however good the app is.
- Getting downloaded. Once your app appears in the results, the icon, the first few screenshots, and the star rating do most of the persuading. Many people decide from the search results without opening the full listing.
The work is a loop: check where you rank, study the apps that rank above you, rewrite the listing, ship it, and check again. Each round involves a lot of reading and comparison, and the payoff comes from repeating it every few releases. That makes it a good fit for an AI agent that can do the research, write to tight character limits, and keep checking the results without being reminded.
Kite is an AI marketer. It researches your business, builds a growth strategy, and ships the work that brings you new customers. For an app, much of that work happens on the store listing. Here's how Kite approaches it.
How Kite improves your app store listing
Kite starts by reading your listings the way a store visitor sees them. It looks at your app's name, subtitle, description, screenshots, rating, and recent reviews in the App Store and Google Play, then does the same for the apps that rank above you for the searches you care about. That comparison shows where your listing is losing: the words the store can't find, the screenshots that don't explain the app, or the rating that turns people away.
From there, Kite chooses the keywords worth targeting, rewrites each field for each store, and designs new screenshots. You approve the new listing and publish it in App Store Connect and Google Play Console. Kite then checks your rankings for the same keywords on a schedule, so you can see whether the changes worked and decide what to change in the next release.
- Why is your app not showing up in app store search?
- Choose the keywords worth ranking for
- What should you change in your app title, subtitle, and description?
- Design screenshots that sell the app at a glance
- Track your keyword rankings in the App Store and Google Play
Why is your app not showing up in app store search?
Your app usually fails to show up in store search because the words people search with aren't in the parts of the listing that the store reads. A meditation app whose subtitle says "Find your calm" will struggle to rank for "sleep sounds" or "anxiety relief," even if the app is full of both. Kite's audit starts by finding those gaps.
Kite opens your App Store and Google Play listings and records what each field says today. For an iPhone app, it can also find the app from your website's domain and read its current rating, the number of ratings, the current version, when that version was released, and its most recent reviews. A listing that hasn't changed since launch and a rating below the apps around it are often visible here at a glance.
Next, Kite runs the searches you want to rank for in each store and opens the listings of the apps that appear above yours. It notes which words those apps put in their names and subtitles, what their first three screenshots show, and how their ratings compare with yours. The result is a plain explanation of why each competitor ranks where it does and what your listing is missing.
The audit also catches problems that cost you visibility without anyone noticing. For example, your listing may repeat the same word in the app name and the keyword field, which wastes characters on Apple, or use a word like "best" in a Google Play title, which Google's policies don't allow.
Choose the keywords worth ranking for
A good keyword for an app listing is one that people actually search, that describes what your app does, and that you have a realistic chance of ranking for. Kite weighs all three before it puts a word in your listing.
Kite builds the starting list from what it already knows about your app, your customers, and your competitors. It adds the words your reviewers use to describe the app, because reviews often reveal searches you hadn't considered. A review that says "finally a budget app that splits bills with my roommate" points to "split bills" as a keyword worth testing.
For each candidate, Kite checks who already ranks for it in each store. When the top results are household names with hundreds of thousands of ratings, Kite looks for a more specific phrase where your app can compete. "Habit tracker" may be out of reach for a new app, while "habit tracker for ADHD" is a search the app can win if that's who it serves.
Kite ends with a short list for each store, ranked by how much it expects each keyword to matter. That list becomes the set of keywords it tracks from then on.
What should you change in your app title, subtitle, and description?
Put your most important keyword in the app name, put the next most important keywords in the subtitle or short description, and write the rest of the listing for the person deciding whether to download. Kite writes each field to fit the rules of its store.
On the App Store, Kite writes these fields:
- App name. Up to 30 characters. Kite pairs your brand name with the keyword that matters most, such as "Tally: Habit Tracker."
- Subtitle. Up to 30 characters. Kite uses it for the next most valuable keywords and a clear reason to download.
- Keyword field. Up to 100 hidden characters, separated by commas. Kite fills it with keywords that don't already appear in the name or subtitle, because Apple gives no extra credit for repeating a word.
- Promotional text and description. Apple's search doesn't read the description, so Kite writes it to persuade the reader. Promotional text can change without a new app version, so Kite uses it for timely messages such as a new feature or a seasonal offer.
On Google Play, Kite writes these fields:
- Title. Up to 30 characters, with your brand and your most important keyword.
- Short description. Up to 80 characters. It appears near the top of the listing, so Kite makes it the clearest one-line reason to install the app.
- Full description. Up to 4,000 characters. Google reads this field for search, so Kite works your keywords into natural sentences about what the app does. Google's policies discourage stuffing the description with repeated keywords, so Kite writes for a reader first.
Every field is written in your brand voice and checked against the character limits before you see it. Kite also lines the listing up with what your reviewers praise most. If reviews keep mentioning how fast the app is to set up, the subtitle and first screenshot should say so.
On Apple, changes to the app name, subtitle, and keyword field go live only with a new app version. Kite plans the listing changes around your next release so they ship together, and it keeps any update that can go out sooner, such as promotional text or Google Play copy, separate.
Design screenshots that sell the app at a glance
Your first few screenshots appear in search results, so they need to explain what the app does before anyone opens the listing. Kite designs screenshot sets that lead with the app's main benefit, add a short caption to each image, and follow your brand's colors and fonts.
Kite usually prepares more than one version. One set might lead with the main screen of the app, and another might lead with the result a customer gets, such as a finished budget or a streak of completed habits. Both stores let you test versions against each other. Apple calls this product page optimization, and Google Play calls it store listing experiments. Kite prepares the variants for those tests, and you set the tests up in each store.
For more on this part of the work, see Design app store screenshots Coming soon .
Track your keyword rankings in the App Store and Google Play
Kite tracks your rankings by running each keyword on your list through App Store and Google Play search and recording where your app appears. It records the competitors' positions in the same results, so you can see whether you moved up or someone else moved down.
The first check, taken before the new listing goes live, becomes your baseline. After the release, Kite runs the same keywords again and compares the results with that baseline. It shows which keywords improved, which ones didn't move, and which competitors changed position. It also notes changes to your rating and number of ratings, because both affect where you rank and how many people download.
Rankings move for a few weeks after a listing change, so one check isn't enough. Kite can run the ranking check on a schedule, such as every Monday, and send you the results in the Kite web app, in a Slack channel, or by email. When a keyword stalls, Kite suggests what to try in the next release, such as moving it from the keyword field to the subtitle or replacing it with a more specific phrase.
Kite measures your rankings and ratings from the stores' public search results and listings. Impressions, product page views, and downloads appear in App Store Connect and Google Play Console. If you share those numbers with Kite, it adds them to the comparison, so you can see whether better rankings turned into more downloads.
What you get
A listing audit
For each store, you see what your listing says today, how it compares with the apps that outrank you, and what's holding it back in search and on the page.
A keyword list for each store
These are the searches worth targeting, with the reason Kite chose each one and how strong the current competition is.
A rewritten listing for each store
You get the app name, subtitle, keyword field, promotional text, and description for the App Store, plus the title, short description, and full description for Google Play, all within each store's character limits and ready to paste.
Screenshot variants
These are new screenshot sets in your brand style, ready to upload or to test against your current ones.
A ranking report
It shows where your app ranks for each keyword in each store, how that compares with your baseline and with competitors, and what Kite recommends changing next.
How to get started
Tell Kite which app you want to improve and where it's listed. You might say, "Our app is hard to find in the App Store. Audit the listing and tell me what to change," or, "Track our Google Play rankings for these five keywords." Links to the App Store and Google Play listings help Kite find the right app quickly.
Kite uses what it knows about your business to propose the keywords and competitors it plans to compare against. It sends you that list so you can adjust it before the audit runs. When the audit is done, Kite brings back the rewritten listing and screenshots for you to review and approve.
You publish the approved listing yourself in App Store Connect and Google Play Console. If you tell Kite when your next app version ships, it can plan the Apple changes around that release and start the ranking checks once it's live.
You can work with Kite in the Kite web app or in Slack.
Integrations used to improve your app store listing
Kite reads your public store listings and your competitors' listings with its own research tools, so the audit and the rewritten listing need nothing connected. Search data providers add the store search results Kite uses to choose keywords and track your rankings.
Look up store search results and rankings
Common questions
Does the App Store description affect search rankings?
No. Apple's App Store search reads your app name, subtitle, and keyword field, along with a few other details such as your developer name, but not your description. The description still matters because it persuades people who open your listing. Google Play is different: it has no keyword field, and it reads your full description when deciding where to rank you. That's why Kite writes the two listings separately.
How long does it take for app store listing changes to affect rankings?
On the App Store, changes to the app name, subtitle, and keyword field appear after Apple approves the new app version that carries them. On Google Play, listing changes go through Google's review and don't require a new app release. In both stores, rankings usually take a few weeks to settle after a change. Kite compares each check with your baseline, so you can see the trend rather than reacting to a single day.
Can Kite publish the new listing to App Store Connect or Google Play Console?
Kite prepares the finished listing and screenshots, and you publish them. Each field arrives labeled with the store and the field it belongs in, within that field's character limit, so publishing is a matter of pasting the text and uploading the images. Kite then confirms the change from the live listing when it runs the next ranking check.
Should I use my competitors' names as keywords?
No. Apple's guidelines don't allow other companies' trademarked names in your keyword field, and Google Play's policies don't allow them in your listing in a misleading way. Kite targets the words people use to describe the problem your app solves instead, such as "split bills" or "sleep sounds." Those searches bring in people who are still choosing an app.
Can I optimize my listing for other countries and languages?
Yes. Both stores let you write a separate listing for each country or language. On the App Store, each localization has its own name, subtitle, and keyword field, which gives you more room for keywords in markets you serve. Kite can choose keywords and write the listing for each market you want to reach, then track rankings in each country's store.