Every rule, with its source.

Search ranks on text relevance (title, subtitle, keywords, primary category) and user behavior (downloads, ratings and reviews, and more). Keyword field: 100 characters, commas without spaces, no words already in the name or subtitle, plurals count as duplicates, skip “app” and “game”, no competitor or trademarked names. Promotional text does not affect ranking. App tags are generated by large language models from your metadata. Custom product pages can be assigned keywords.

Name and subtitle up to 30 characters each; the subtitle explains value instead of repeating the name. Up to 10 screenshots; the first one to three appear in search results when there is no preview. App previews autoplay muted. Promotional text (170) can change any time. The first sentence of the description matters most; don’t add keywords to it. Localize per market.

App name: 2 to 30 characters. Subtitle: up to 30 characters.

Keywords: up to 100 bytes, each keyword longer than two characters; app name and company name are already searchable. Promotional text 170 characters, no new version needed. Description and What’s New: 4,000 characters. Up to three app previews per localization and device size. The summary rating can be reset with a new version.

At least one and up to 10 screenshots per device size. iPad apps need a 13-inch iPad set.

Up to three previews per device size and language, 15 to 30 seconds each; previews show before screenshots.

The system prompt can be shown up to three times in a 365-day period; ask when people are most likely satisfied. You can reply to any review; the reviewer is notified. The summary rating can be reset with a new version, sparingly. Review summaries are generated by large language models.

No checklist: editors weigh user experience, design, innovation, uniqueness, accessibility, localization and the product page. Submit plans through Featuring Nominations in App Store Connect, at least two weeks ahead and up to three months for wider consideration.

Apps → Featuring → Nominations → “+”. Types: New Content, App Enhancements, App Launch. Recommends at least three weeks of lead time; no outcome is promised.

Test up to three treatments of icon, screenshots and previews against your page, one test at a time, for up to 90 days. Alternate icons must ship in the app binary.

Up to 70 extra versions of your product page. Assign keywords and the matching page can appear in search results for them instead of your default page.

Announced keyword assignment for custom product pages in search results and up to 70 custom pages at a time.

Events show on your product page, in search results and in editorial picks on Today, Games and Apps; people can search for events. Up to 10 published at a time; each runs up to 31 days and can be promoted 14 days ahead.

2.3.7: a unique name, accurate keywords; no trademarked terms, popular app names, pricing or irrelevant phrases to game the system; app names up to 30 characters; no prices in names, subtitles, screenshots or previews. 2.3.12: What’s New describes significant changes. 5.6.1: use Apple’s API to ask for reviews.

Creative assets (rich images and video) in search results and product page headers; LLM review summaries in the US plus eight English storefronts; Personalized Collections on the Apps, Games and Search tabs in select regions.

Personalized Collections based on user interests, with App Notes that explain why an app is recommended; rolling out in English in the US first.

Apps are ranked on a combination of ratings, reviews, downloads and other factors; the weights are proprietary. Store listing text helps discovery; avoid keyword spamming. Regular updates and replies to users are part of a great experience.

Title up to 30, short description up to 80 (no “free”, “discount”, “#1” or “Best”), full description up to 4,000 and succinct, since people may read only the first sentences; don’t repeat the short description; avoid repeated or unrelated word lists.

Title 30 characters or less. No emoji, ALL CAPS (unless the brand), store-performance or ranking claims (“#1”, “App of the year”), price or promo text, or Play program names in title, icon or developer name. Avoid repetitive or unrelated keywords; no unattributed testimonials.

App name 30, short description 80, full description 4,000 characters; repetitive or irrelevant keywords can lead to suspension.

At least 2 and up to 8 screenshots per device type; recommendation formats need at least four at 1080 px or more. One YouTube preview video; only the first 30 seconds autoplay, muted. Icon 512 × 512, feature graphic 1024 × 500.

Up to two variants against your current listing; one default graphics experiment or up to five localized experiments (which can also test descriptions). Experiments stop on their own after six months.

Up to 50 custom store listings, targeted by country, pre-registration, past users, ads traffic or search keywords.

Bad behavior thresholds: user-perceived crash rate 1.09% overall (8% per phone model), user-perceived ANR rate 0.47% overall (8% per phone model). Above them, Play may reduce your app’s visibility and show a warning on your listing. Measured over 28 days.

A time-bound quota limits how often the review card appears (the number isn’t published). Ask after people have used the app enough; don’t ask a question first; don’t put the API behind a button.

Your Google Play rating is calculated from recent ratings. You can post one public reply per review and edit it any time. Review summaries may appear on your listing.

Ask Play: an AI overlay that turns Play search into a conversation and recommends apps. Gemini can turn a keyword recommendation into a custom store listing.

Ask Play now builds side-by-side app comparisons by summarizing your store listing and user reviews. Gemini matches requests to store listings and drove over 6 million installs in about two months (Google internal data, 19 May–31 July 2026). Advice: keep listings fresh and upload high-resolution media.

OAI-SearchBot surfaces sites in ChatGPT search; sites that block it are not shown in ChatGPT search answers. GPTBot is for training.

No special files or markup are needed to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode; a page must be indexed and eligible for a snippet.

461 non-brand keywords tracked for 9 apps in 12 storefronts: 13 at #1, 62 in the top 3, 108 in the top 10 at the latest check.

Dated rank readings behind the rules we use: exact phrase in the name in soft niches, plural and hyphen variants, why we wait two weeks before judging a change.