Guide

App Store keywords by country: why one keyword field isn't enough

By Gajendra Singh Rathore · October 29, 2026

Same app, same words, different ranks

These are real ranks for Orate, our teleprompter app, on October 27, 2026. One English listing, checked in three App Stores.

"Not ranked" means outside the top 200 results. Ranks come from Apple's public search results for each country and can differ slightly from what an iPhone shows. Full data in the Orate keyword report.

"Rehearse speech" ranks #16 in India and nowhere in the US or UK, with the same listing. If you only check the US, you'd never know you have a foothold anywhere else, or that the same words could work in two more markets.

Why: the competition is different

Apple doesn't publish search volumes, but you can see what you're up against: how many ratings the apps in the top 10 have. That number is the bar you have to clear, and it changes a lot between countries.

For a new app with a few dozen ratings, "teleprompter" in the US is out of reach for now. In India the leaders have about 30 times fewer ratings. A keyword that's hopeless in one country can be realistic in another, so choose keywords per country, not once for the world.

Which listing each App Store reads

Each country's App Store has a default language and, in many countries, additional languages it supports. This is Apple's own table, for ten common storefronts:

Source: App Store localizations, Apple Developer documentation, checked October 29, 2026.

Three things in that table surprise most developers:

• India reads English (U.K.). If your listing only has English (US), you have no listing written for India's default language. Adding an English (U.K.) localization lets you choose keywords for India and the UK.
• English (U.K.) appears almost everywhere. It's an additional language in Australia, Germany, France, Brazil, Spain and most other storefronts, so it's often the most valuable localization after your primary one.
• The US supports ten languages. Each one has its own 100-character keyword field.

Using the extra keyword fields

Apple's table describes which languages customers can see. ASO practitioners have also tested which ones search reads. In a 2022 test, AppTweak and Phiture put made-up keywords in one localization at a time and tracked where they ranked. Keywords from the additional languages above were indexed in those storefronts. For the US, that included Spanish (Mexico), French, Portuguese (Brazil) and the other languages in the table.

That's why ASO tools call this "cross-localization": if your app isn't translated into Spanish, you can add a Spanish (Mexico) localization and use its keyword field for 100 more characters of English keywords that count in the US. Three cautions:

• Keywords aren't combined across localizations. "rehearse" in one field and "speech" in another won't reliably rank for "rehearse speech". Keep the words of a phrase in the same field, or in your name and subtitle.
• Customers can see that listing. Someone whose iPhone is set to Spanish may see your Spanish (Mexico) name and subtitle. Only mix languages in the keyword field, which is never shown.
• It's a grey area. Apple hasn't documented that additional languages are indexed, and the behaviour can change. Check your ranks after every change instead of assuming it worked.

A simple plan for an indie app

1. Check where you rankin your three to five biggest countries, for the same keywords. Your best foothold is often not the US.
2. Add English (U.K.)and tune it for India and the UK: their keywords, and British spelling where it differs (favourite, colour, organiser).
3. Pick by competitionA keyword whose top 10 have a few hundred ratings is worth more to a new app than one where they have tens of thousands.
4. Change one at a timeRecheck your ranks after one to two weeks, so you know which change moved what.

Questions