How to find out which apps outrank you on the App Store

Knowing you rank 9th for a keyword tells you half the story. The other half is the 8 apps above you: who they are, whether they are climbing, and which keywords they rank for that you do not. You find that by recording the full list of results for every keyword you care about, every day, and comparing it over time.

Why your rank alone is not enough

A rank is a position in a list, so it moves when anyone in the list moves. If you fall from 6 to 8, there are only two possibilities: you got weaker for that search, or two apps got stronger. The fix is very different in each case, and your rank alone cannot tell you which.

The full list can. Record the top results for each keyword and you can see that "SwellWatch" and "Tide Atlas" both climbed past you on Tuesday, right after one of them shipped a new subtitle.

Step 1: decide which apps are your competitors

Your real competitors are not always the apps you think of. They are the apps that keep showing up above you for the searches that matter to you.

1. Take your 20 to 50 most important keywords.
2. For each one, note every app ranked above you.
3. Count how often each app appears. An app that sits above you on 30 of 50 keywords is a competitor whether you have heard of it or not.

Usually 3 to 10 apps cover most of the list.

Step 2: record the whole top list, not just your spot

Search the App Store for each keyword and write down the order, at least the top 10, ideally deeper. Doing this by hand works for 5 keywords. For 50 keywords every day, it needs a tool: Altitude records the top 200 for every keyword on each check.

With that history you can answer:

• Who passed me, and when? Look for the day an app moved from below you to above you.
• Who is climbing? An app that rose on many keywords in the same week probably changed its listing or had a download spike.
• Who is fading? Apps sliding down can be passed with a modest improvement.

Step 3: find the keyword gaps

A gap is a keyword where a competitor ranks well and you rank poorly or not at all. Line up your keywords as rows and your competitors as columns, and fill each cell with the rank:

The rows where they sit far above you, like "wave height app" here, are your gaps. Rows where you lead, like "swell tracker", are your strengths to protect.

Step 4: share of search

Share of search sums up the whole picture: of all the top spots across your keywords, what share do you hold compared with each competitor? Track it weekly. If it climbs while a competitor's falls, you are winning the category even on weeks when one keyword dips.

Step 5: check what changed

When a competitor jumps, look at their listing: name, subtitle, screenshots, ratings count and when they last updated. You cannot see their keyword field, but you can see which words they now rank for. Ranks move a little every day on their own, so compare weekly averages, as covered in why your App Store rank moves every day.

Doing it without the busywork

Altitude does all five steps when you add your app: it picks your competitors from the apps that keep outranking you, records the top 200 for every keyword, and shows the rank race, the gaps and share of search on one page. Free covers one app and 3 competitors; Pro covers 10 competitors per app for $5 a month. Add your app or see pricing.

Questions

How many competitors should I track?

Start with the 3 to 5 apps that appear above you most often. Add more only if they keep showing up.

Can I see a competitor's keyword field?

No. Apple does not publish it. You can see which searches they rank for, which tells you most of what you need.

Should I copy a competitor's subtitle?

No, and do not use their name in your metadata either; App Review Guideline 2.3.7 rules it out. Use what you learn to choose your own words, as in how to use your 30 character subtitle.