Glossary
Keyword position
Where your app appears in a store search results list for a given keyword, counted from the top (position 1 is the first result).
Keyword position (also called keyword rank) is the spot your app holds in the App Store or Google Play search results when a user types a specific keyword. Position 1 is the very first result; position 25 means twenty-four apps appear above yours for that term.
Why the position matters, by the numbers
~65%
of App Store downloads start with a search
30-45%
of a keyword's taps go to the #1 result
50-65%
of a keyword's taps go to the top 3 results
Analyzed with AI
Where a keyword's installs go, by rank
Search result rank
Each figure represents a share of the people installing from this keyword.
Analyzed with AI
Position is always tied to a specific context: a keyword, a store (App Store or Google Play), a country, and a listing language. The same app can sit at position 3 for one keyword and position 80 for another, or rank well in one country and poorly in the next, so a single global number is meaningless without that context.
Because store search results change as apps update their listings, gain reviews, or shift in popularity, keyword position is not fixed. It moves day to day, which is why it is tracked as a time series rather than checked once.
Read the guide
What is keyword ranking on the App Store and Google Play?
When someone searches a term, the store returns an ordered list of apps, and where yours lands is its keyword ranking. Here is what it is, what decides the order, and how it differs on the App Store and Google Play.
Why your app's keyword position matters
Almost every organic install starts with a search. If your app is not near the top for the terms people type, it is effectively invisible. Here is why position is the metric that matters.
Related terms
App Store Optimization (ASO)
The practice of improving an app's store listing and signals so it ranks higher in store search and converts more of the people who see it.
Keyword snapshot
A saved record of the top-ranking apps for one keyword in one store, country, and language on a given day, used to reconstruct ranking history.