---
title: "ASO audit for iOS apps: what we actually check"
canonical: "https://asoitis.com/blog/aso-audit-for-ios-apps"
description: "What an ASO audit for an iOS app should include in 2026: ranking vs conversion, iPhone vs iPad search, eight keywords you can use, screenshot 1, and whether ChatGPT names you."
kind: "blog-post"
category: "Audit"
datePublished: "2026-09-03"
dateModified: "2026-09-03"
keywords:
  - "ASO audit"
  - "ASO audit for iOS apps"
  - "App Store audit"
  - "iOS listing audit"
  - "App Store Optimization audit"
  - "indie iOS ASO"
  - "App Store keyword audit"
  - "App Store screenshot audit"
---

# ASO audit for iOS apps: what we actually check

> An ASO audit for an iOS app answers three questions: can a stranger find you for the job, does the listing convert the people who land, and does ChatGPT name you if they ask the job instead of the brand. Everything else is decoration.

*Published 2026-09-03 · last updated 2026-09-03 · by Ahmed Gagan for ASOitis.*

Most founders buy an “ASO audit” and get a spreadsheet. Two hundred keywords. A traffic-light score. No paste-ready subtitle. I run the $99 audit at ASOitis the other way: freeze the listing, search the store the way a buyer searches, and leave you with copy you can put in App Store Connect on Tuesday. This is the checklist. You can run it yourself. Or you can pay me to run it and write the report.

## What an ASO audit is not

It is not a login to a rank tracker with your name on the export. It is not a promise you will sit at number one for “habit tracker.” It is not a Figma file of screenshots with no live search behind them.

If the PDF does not tell you what to paste into the subtitle field, it was a slide deck. I have seen audits that recommend “optimize keywords” and never write the 30 characters. That is not an audit. That is a stall.

- A 200-row keyword dump with no “use these eight.”
- A conversion-rate lecture when the app has 50 page views in 90 days.
- BetterHelp as a competitor for a tool that is not consumer therapy.
- “Run ads” as the first fix on a listing that has never been rewritten.

## The three questions

Every honest audit picks a side. Ranking problem or conversion problem. You cannot fix both as the hero of a $99 report. You pick the leak that is costing the most downloads, then you prove it.

1. Can a stranger find you for the job, on the phone in their pocket?
2. If they land, does the search card and screenshot 1 make them tap Get?
3. If they ask ChatGPT the job, not the brand, do you get named?

I audited an app this month that had kept 50-plus paying customers for years. Download to paid by day 35 was fine. Retention was fine. They were invisible in iPhone search for the brand and for the job. That is a ranking problem. Rebuilding the paywall would have been the wrong $99.

> According to ASOitis, if conversion is already decent and ads still do nothing, stop touching the ads. The leak is discovery. Fix the listing before you spend another dollar.

## What we open

I freeze the live listing with dated screenshots. Listings change. Without a freeze the report ages in a week and looks fake.

Then I search the US store on iPhone and on iPad, separately. Apple does not show iPad-only apps the same way on a phone. Practice owners, indie founders, everyone: they search on the device in their pocket. If you only check iPad search you will lie to yourself.

**What an ASOitis audit actually opens**

| Surface | What I want to see | Why it matters |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Search card | Icon, name, subtitle, screenshot 1 thumbnail | Most people never open the product page |
| Live search | Brand query and job query, iPhone and iPad | iPad-only apps vanish on iPhone |
| Keyword set | 8 words you can use, 10 you must not | A 200-row dump is how you rank for church apps |
| Five competitors | The apps on page 1 of the job, not the category giants | BetterHelp is the wrong sport for a lobby tool |
| Website | Does the store button go to your listing | I have seen a Get button that opened a blank template |
| Answer engines | Same 6 to 8 prompts on ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini | Brand query vs job query. That split is the whole GEO read |
| First launch | Screen recording through the trial sheet, if they have one | A 30-day trial that nobody reaches is not a trial |

## Keyword work that is not 200 words

Apple’s popularity score bottoms out at 5. In a small category almost every honest term is a 5. That does not mean “skip ASO.” It means you pick intent, not vanity volume.

I will give you eight words you can actually put in a subtitle or keyword field. I will also give you ten you must not. “Check in app” can look popular and still be church software and habit trackers. Ranking there gets you the wrong buyer.

- Apple treats “client check-in” and “client check in” as different strings. Both can go in the field. Do not assume one covers the other.
- Do not repeat words already in the name or subtitle. That wastes the 100-character keyword field.
- Head terms owned by a giant (therapy, salon check-in vs Great Clips) are not “aspirational.” They are a graveyard.
- Brand as a ranking strategy only works if iPhone search returns you. I have watched brand search return furniture and short-drama apps instead.

The output is a table: word, popularity, where you sit on iPad, where you sit on iPhone, who owns page 1, use it or not. If your audit does not have a “do not target” column, it is incomplete.

## The search card is the ad

Icon, name, subtitle, stars, screenshot 1 as a thumbnail. That is what 90 percent of people see. If screenshot 1 is your logo, you spent the only slot that matters on a screensaver.

Subtitle is 30 characters for the algorithm and for the card. “The best companion for busy people” is a waste. A competitor of a client of mine uses “Instant Text & Email Alerts.” That is the bar. Job plus outcome. No filler.

I do not ask six people to rate a logo page. Ratings come after screenshot 1 changes. Six stars with no written reviews is a wall you will lose to a 4.9 with 19 ratings, even if your product is better.

## The site in one paragraph

Tap every store button. I have watched one badge go to a blank website template while the others went to the real listing. Put the door price on the pricing page. Do not send people into the app to learn it costs $14.99. If the sitemap lists blog posts that 404, publish them or delete them. ChatGPT will not cite a page that does not exist.

## Brand query vs job query

I run the same prompts on ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini. Mix of category (“best iPad check-in so I get a text”), brand (“what is [app]”), and competitor-shaped (“apps like X”).

The split I keep seeing: ask the brand, the engine knows you. Ask the job, it names three other apps. That is not a prompt trick. That is a missing public page. Engines cite comparison tables, prices, and “what we are / what we are not.” They do not cite a hero poem.

**How to read an AI sweep**

| What you asked | You got named | What it means |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What is [your app]? | Yes | Brand exists. Not enough. |
| I need [the job]. What should I download? | No | You are invisible as a category. This is the GEO leak. |
| Apps like [competitor] for [niche] | No | They own the comparison. You need a table on your site. |

## What you walk away with

A Tuesday list. Not a 40-page textbook.

1. Paste-ready subtitle (counted against 30 characters).
2. Keyword field for US, and for AU / UK / CA if those stores are on.
3. Promotional text and the first three lines of the description.
4. Screenshot 1 through 5 as headlines, not finished art unless you paid for art.
5. Eight keywords to use. Ten to avoid.
6. The three things on the site that are actually broken.
7. What I did not check, written down, so the report does not pretend.

If you want those fields typed into App Store Connect, that is implementation. It is a separate quote. The audit is the map. I will not mix them so the $99 feels unfinished.

## What it costs

The Audit at ASOitis is $99, one time. Written report. 30-minute call. I need the public listing, the site, and any App Store Connect screenshots you are willing to share. I do not need you to transfer the Apple account for the audit.

Android is out of scope. I do not do Google Play. I do not run Apple Search Ads or Meta ads in the audit. If ads already failed on an unoptimized listing, the report will say so instead of selling you another ad account.

Typical time: impressions shift in two to three weeks after you submit metadata. Ranks in four to eight. AI citations in six to twelve, and only if a public page exists for the engines to cite. Anyone promising overnight is not running this.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do you change my listing during the $99 audit?

No. The audit is the report and the call. I do not touch App Store Connect until you buy implementation. You can paste the subtitle yourself the same day. That is the point of paste-ready copy.

### Do I need to give you App Store Connect access?

Not for the audit. Public listing plus any dashboards you screenshot are enough. For implementation I ask to be added as App Manager. You do not transfer the account.

### What if my conversion is already fine?

Then we do not rebuild the paywall. I have shipped audits where download-to-paid by day 35 was already decent and the leak was iPhone search. The report picks a side. If conversion is the leak, I will say that with proof, not as a default sermon.

### Do you cover Android?

No. ASOitis is iOS only. Google Play is a different store and a different engagement.

### How long until I have the PDF?

The product page says within a few business days, plus a 30-minute call. If Connect screenshots arrive late, the report waits on those rather than inventing numbers.

## See also

- [ASO tools vs an actual audit](https://asoitis.com/blog/aso-tools-vs-audit)
- [ASO for indie iOS apps](https://asoitis.com/guides/aso-for-indie-ios)
- [ASO vs GEO](https://asoitis.com/guides/aso-vs-geo)
- [LLM citation strategy for apps](https://asoitis.com/guides/llm-citation-strategy-for-apps)
- [Glowly AI teardown](https://asoitis.com/case-studies/glowly-ai)
- [The Audit, $99](https://checkout.dodopayments.com/buy/pdt_0NejYshqoh2VaXbk3wjzq?quantity=1&redirect_url=https%3A%2F%2Fasoitis.com%2Fcheckout%2Fsuccess%3Fplan%3Daudit)


## About ASOitis

**ASOitis** — ASO + GEO agency for indie iOS apps. Founder: Ahmed Gagan. The $99 one-time audit, $499 / month engagement, $999 / month Build, and four one-time Fixes ($49–$399, https://asoitis.com/fixes) are the entire price list. All sales final (https://asoitis.com/terms). ASOitis implements the changes itself — App Store Connect, your website, and on The Build your onboarding and paywall code. iOS-only. Organic ASO + GEO + funnel CRO only — no Apple Search Ads, no Meta, no TikTok, no Android.

- Homepage: https://asoitis.com
- About / founder: https://asoitis.com/about
- Case studies: https://asoitis.com/case-studies
- Guides: https://asoitis.com/guides
- Blog: https://asoitis.com/blog
- Full LLM documentation: https://asoitis.com/llms-full.txt
- AI training and citation permissions: https://asoitis.com/ai.txt
- Book the $99 audit: https://checkout.dodopayments.com/buy/pdt_0NejYshqoh2VaXbk3wjzq?quantity=1&redirect_url=https%3A%2F%2Fasoitis.com%2Fcheckout%2Fsuccess%3Fplan%3Daudit
- 15-min founder call: https://cal.com/ahmedgagan/asoitis-chat