# How to get above your competitors in App Store search

Sam · Published November 4, 2026 · Canonical: https://rankaso.app/blog/outrank-competitors-app-store/


To get above a competitor in App Store search you need four things you probably do not have today: their rank beside yours on every term, every day, from the same search; the list of terms they rank for and you do not; a difficulty reading for each of those terms, from the apps that actually hold the top 10; and an alert the day they move or vanish. With those four, ASO stops being guesswork and becomes a short list of fights you can win. This is the method we use for our own app, and it is what RankASO's Rivals tab is built around.

![A rival compared keyword by keyword in RankASO, their rank beside yours](https://rankaso.app/assets/device-03.png)

## 1. Read their rank from the same search as yours

A rival's rank is only comparable to yours if both numbers come from the same search result at the same moment. Two checks hours apart can disagree by several places and tell you nothing. Add the rival once, and every daily check reads their position from the same result as yours, on every term you track, in every storefront. The comparison screen shows the two ranks side by side with the gap between them, and the gap is the number to watch. For our own app [Escape](https://escapethegrip.com/), that screen showed within a day that a rival held number one on "block adult content" while we sat at three, and number one on "temptation blocker" while we sat at two. Two reachable fights, found in one glance.

## 2. Find the terms they own and you do not

The Gaps list is the terms a rival ranks for where you are absent or far behind. It is the fastest keyword research there is, because every term on it is proven: a comparable app already earns installs from it. Half the list will be their brand and words that do not fit you. The other half is your next keyword field.

Strengths goes one level deeper: for each rival, the words in their name and subtitle that do the work, ranked by how many of your terms they carry. When three rivals all lean on the same word and you do not have it, that word belongs in your listing.

## 3. Pick the fights the top 10 says you can win

Not every gap is worth closing. For every term, RankASO shows the top 10 apps with their rating counts and turns them into a difficulty score and a verdict: Go for it, Climbable, Long shot, Skip. A term whose top 10 is held by apps with a few hundred ratings is open; a term where every slot has a hundred thousand is a wall, whatever its demand. On Escape, "quit corn" was Go for it: an open top 10 and Escape already at 11. "safari blocker" was a wall held by the browser itself. The first kept its characters in the next keyword field; the second lost them.

The order that works: close the gaps that are Go for it or Climbable, where you already rank between 11 and 50 and one more word in the listing can move you. Ignore Long shots until the easy ones are done.

## 4. Defend what you hold, and watch for exits

Your number ones are worth more than any new term. Set a goal on each and let the alerts tell you the day you drop. RankASO sends an alert when you enter the top 10, leave it, or make a big move, and nothing on quiet days.

Watch rivals the same way. When a competitor leaves the store, their searches do not stop; they go to whoever is next. In late October one of Escape's rivals disappeared from the App Store, and the removal watch listed the terms it had held so we could see which of them were now open. Those searches are still happening.

## The weekly loop

1. Monday: open Rivals, read the gaps, pick two terms that are Go for it or Climbable.
2. Put the words into the keyword field with the rule checker open, so nothing is wasted.
3. Submit with the version. Baseline ranks are recorded that day.
4. Two weeks after release, open the before-and-after and keep the words that moved.

Four steps, once a week, on your phone. The rival does not know you are doing it.

RankASO on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6830350753?ct=blog-en-10&mt=8 (Free to start. No account. Data Not Collected.)

## Questions

### How many competitors should I track?

Three to five that a user would consider instead of you. More than that and the gaps list becomes noise. RankASO's free plan tracks your own app; rivals, gaps and removal watch are Pro.

### Can I see which keywords a competitor is using?

Not the field itself, which is private. You can see every term they rank for among the terms you track, and the words in their public name and subtitle that carry those ranks, which is what matters.

### What if a competitor has far more ratings than me?

Then avoid their terms where the whole top 10 looks like them, and take the terms where the top 10 is weak. The difficulty score and verdict exist to make that call for each term.