App Store Listing Auditor

---
name: app-store-listing-auditor
description: Use when auditing or optimizing an App Store or Google Play listing. Triggers on "ASO", "app store optimization", "audit my app listing", "app store ranking", "why is nobody downloading my app", "app install conversion", or a shared apps.apple.com / play.google.com URL.
---

# App Store Listing Auditor

App store search and web search reward different things, and most listing mistakes come from treating them alike. This audit fetches a live listing, scores it on a weighted rubric, and returns fixes specific enough to apply the same day.

## Step 1 — Fetch and extract

Detect the store from the URL (apps.apple.com vs play.google.com; search the store site if only a name is given) and extract every available field.

**Apple:** app name (30 chars), subtitle (30 chars), long description, promotional text (170 chars, updatable without a release), category, screenshots and captions, preview video, rating average and count, recent reviews, price and in-app purchases, last-updated date, localizations, in-app events.

**Google Play:** app name (30 chars), short description (80 chars), full description (4,000 chars), category and tags, feature graphic, screenshots, video, rating, reviews, downloads range, what's-new text, data safety section, localizations.

Stores render much of this client-side. Note what could not be extracted and ask for a screenshot of the listing rather than guessing — visual assets in particular cannot be judged from scraped HTML.

## Step 2 — Classify brand maturity before scoring

| Tier | Signals | Consequence for scoring |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Dominant | Household name, 1M+ ratings, users search the brand itself | Brand-only title is valid; description scored on conversion, not keywords; lifestyle imagery and no video can be deliberate choices |
| Established | Known in category, 100K+ ratings | Brand-first titles fine but should still carry one or two keywords; other dimensions scored normally |
| Challenger | Under 100K ratings, needs discovery — most apps | Scored strictly against textbook practice; every character and screenshot matters |

The guiding question before docking points: is this a mistake, or a deliberate choice by a team with data you do not have? An app with 1M+ ratings and an ASO team has usually tested the thing you are about to flag.

## Step 3 — Score six dimensions

| Dimension | Weight | Covers |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Title and subtitle | 20% | Character usage, keyword presence, brand/keyword balance |
| Description | 15% | First three lines, keyword density (Google only), CTA, promotional text |
| Visual assets | 25% | Screenshot count, captions, messaging, video, icon, feature graphic |
| Ratings and reviews | 20% | Average, volume, recency, developer responses |
| Metadata and freshness | 10% | Category fit, update recency, localizations, data safety |
| Conversion signals | 10% | Price positioning, IAP transparency, social proof |

Weighted sum out of 100: 85+ is optimized (shift to A/B testing), 70–84 has clear opportunities, 50–69 means prioritized fixes will move numbers, below 50 means the listing needs an overhaul.

## Platform facts the scores rest on

**What gets indexed for search:**

| Field | Apple | Google Play |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Title | Yes | Yes (strongest signal) |
| Subtitle / short description | Yes | Yes |
| Hidden keyword field (100 bytes) | Yes | Does not exist |
| Long / full description | No | Yes, heavily |
| Screenshot captions | Yes (since 2025) | No |

**Apple:** never repeat a word across title, subtitle, and keyword field — each word is indexed once. Keyword field takes commas without spaces. The long description is conversion copy, not search copy. Up to 10 screenshots; roughly 90% of browsers never scroll past the third, so the first three carry the message. Preview video autoplays muted and typically lifts conversion 20–40%.

**Google Play:** target 2–3% keyword density in the full description and keep it natural — Google detects stuffing semantically and penalizes it. Title rules are enforced: no emojis, no ALL CAPS, no "best", "#1", or "free". Minimum 2, maximum 8 screenshots. The 1024x500 feature graphic is required for featured placements. Video does not autoplay and only about 6% of users tap play, so it earns less than on iOS. Android Vitals gate visibility directly: crash rate above 1.09% or ANR above 0.47% reduces ranking regardless of listing quality.

## Step 4 — Report

1. Scorecard — six dimensions, weighted total, grade
2. Three quick wins — under an hour each, highest impact first
3. Per-dimension findings — every recommendation names the exact change ("change subtitle from X to Y", with character counts), never "improve the subtitle"
4. Keyword suggestions with the reasoning for each
5. What could not be assessed without paid tooling (search volume, live ranks), stated plainly

If competitor URLs are provided, run the same rubric on each and add a comparison table plus the keyword gaps.

## What to ask before starting

1. The listing URL, and whether the app is yours or a competitor's
2. The category it competes in
3. Whether the goal is search visibility, install conversion, or both
4. Whether App Store Connect or Play Console data is available — actual impression and conversion numbers sharpen every recommendation