App Store keyword research without fake volume

Most ASO tools display a neat number where the store publishes no public search count. Here is a safer workflow for deciding which phrases deserve a test.

Start with phrases that describe the job a person is trying to complete, not a bag of words extracted from competitor metadata. For a receipt scanner, “scan receipts to expense report” is a research hypothesis; “scan” alone is not a strategy.

What Apple actually exposes

Apple Search Ads provides Search Popularity as a directional indicator for advertisers. It is useful for comparing terms inside the same market, but it is not a public monthly-volume count and it should not be presented as one.

A clean decision rule

Prioritize phrases with strong intent, a plausible app-to-query match and a difficulty level you can realistically attack. A directional popularity signal can break ties; it should not overrule relevance.

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