Can App Store Connect show installs, retention and revenue for each organic search keyword? Apple's current public Analytics documentation does not establish that capability. It documents App Store Search as an acquisition source, alongside dimensions such as territory, device, campaign and product page. Those are useful reports, but a search-source total is not a per-query report. See Apple's available filters and dimensions.
Correction, September 11, 2026: an earlier version of this article claimed that keyword-level retention and revenue launched on July 1 and named specific new API report categories. We could not substantiate those claims in Apple's current documentation and have removed them. The workflow below uses documented reports and keeps organic observation separate from paid attribution.
Which report answers your question?
| Your question | Where to look | Limit |
|---|
| Are downloads from App Store search changing? | App Store Connect Analytics, acquisition source App Store Search | Source-level totals; do not label them organic keyword installs. |
| Which paid search terms generated ad installs? | Apple Ads search-term reporting | Campaign traffic and the ad platform's attribution rules. |
| Where does my app appear for a keyword? | A storefront rank check | A sampled position, not traffic, retention or revenue. |
| Did a custom product page attract downloads? | Analytics filtered by product page | Page-level performance; several keywords or campaigns may feed a page. |
| Do acquired users stay and pay? | Available source/campaign cohorts and your product analytics | Allow users time to return or pay; check privacy thresholds and which users the report covers. |
Start with the decision you need to make. A developer deciding whether to revise a screenshot needs a comparable product-page or experiment view. A developer checking whether a new keyword is discoverable needs the same storefront and query sampled over time. Reading the reports together can help explain a change, but it still cannot tell you how many installs came from each organic keyword.
How to inspect search acquisition in App Store Connect
- Choose the app and date range. Open Analytics and its acquisition/source views. Use a completed reporting window rather than the newest partial day.
- Select App Store Search as the source. Record the metric name and its definition. First-time downloads, total downloads and product-page views measure different events.
- Hold the comparison steady. Use the same territory, device, duration and source filters before and after a change. A new campaign or country mix can move an aggregate rate without any listing improvement.
- Save the listing change date. Note what shipped, when it became visible and which localization changed. Keep a copy of the previous title, subtitle and screenshots.
- Compare with rank observations. Use the free rank checker for one query, store and country. Save repeated observations for the same inputs.
- Keep the report's scope clear. If ranks and search-source downloads improve together, describe an association. Do not allocate the source total among keywords using rank position.
Apple's Analytics overview describes new monetization metrics, cohort capabilities and additional filtering. Those additions make source and campaign analysis more useful; they do not themselves prove that a search-keyword dimension is available.
What Apple Ads keyword reports tell you
Apple Ads provides paid keyword and search-term reporting. A keyword is a targeting instruction; a search term is what the person searched. Depending on match type and campaign setup, those can differ. Read the search-term report when deciding which queries attracted paid installs, and keep spend, attribution window and match type with the result.
Apple documents reporting requests and report types separately from App Store Connect Analytics. A paid search-term result can suggest a phrase worth investigating in organic metadata. It cannot prove that the phrase converts equally well without an ad, or tell you a competitor's revenue.
Analytics Reports API: access and setup
The Analytics Reports API guide describes bulk compressed, tab-delimited files. An Admin role is required to request a new report type initially; Sales and Reports or Finance roles can download generated reports. Initial ONGOING delivery is approximately 24–48 hours after setup. A successful request does not guarantee that every possible report or dimension has data for your app.
- Create or reuse the appropriate analytics report request for the app. Use ONGOING for recurring reports or the documented snapshot option for available history.
- List the report names Apple returns. Build against their documented fields rather than assuming a keyword conversion or retention report will be available.
- Enumerate instances and download their segments. Retain report identity, date and dimensions so retries do not duplicate rows.
- Check completeness and privacy rules before comparing periods. Missing or suppressed rows are unknown, not zero.
- If a request fails, inspect the status and error body, key role, app access and request format. A 403 can indicate an access issue; it is not evidence that a particular keyword report exists.
Our Apple connection guide covers the connection details used by AppDrift. Do not grant an integration broader account permissions solely because a blog promises additional data: first confirm which documented report the integration actually needs.
How custom product pages fit into keyword analysis
Apple allows approved keywords to be assigned to custom product pages so a relevant page can appear instead of the default listing. Its custom product page setup guide also documents page-level metrics and availability requirements. This can make the creative match a particular intent, such as outdoor cycling rather than indoor workouts.
If a page receives traffic from multiple terms or links, its conversion rate belongs to that mixed audience. Keep the keyword assignments and campaign links in your change log. Do not call page-level revenue “revenue per keyword.” For controlled creative comparisons, use the store's native experiment tools and their reported uncertainty.
AppDrift's Search performance view reads two App Store Connect Analytics reports through your connected App Store credentials, at no token cost: App Store Discovery and Engagement, and App Downloads. It shows search and browse impressions, product page views, downloads (first-time downloads plus redownloads) and conversion, by country; Free shows the last 7 reported days and the top 3 countries. Apple's reports have no search-term breakdown, so these numbers are not per keyword.
Apple restates the last few days in each daily file, so recent figures can still change, and a state of no daily file yet is not zero impressions. For keyword questions, pair these source-level numbers with your rank baseline, and with Apple Ads search-term reports if you run campaigns.
Five checks you can make with the available data
- Visibility: are relevant tracked queries appearing consistently within the checker's depth?
- Acquisition: did first-time downloads change for the same territory and supported source?
- Creative fit: does the first screenshot show the task promised by the title?
- Product quality: do supported cohorts reach the first useful action, return or pay?
- Decision: retain, revise or continue observing. Missing data alone does not justify removing a keyword.
The keyword research workflow helps choose a deliberate candidate list. For recurring observation, AppDrift keyword tracking saves daily positions. Free includes five tracked keywords; rank tracking and heuristic scores do not replace acquisition reports.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I see organic installs per keyword in App Store Connect?
The public Analytics documentation reviewed September 11, 2026 does not establish an organic search-keyword breakdown. Use documented source, campaign and product-page dimensions, and check the fields available in your account.
Does Apple Ads show search terms?
Yes. Apple Ads provides search-term reporting for advertising activity. Keep that paid attribution separate from organic rank tracking and App Store Connect search-source totals.
Does keyword rank tell me how much revenue a query generates?
No. Rank is a sampled position. To connect a query with revenue, you need a report that supports that attribution and enough time for purchases to occur.
Does a missing report row mean zero installs?
No. Availability, privacy thresholds, filters and incomplete reporting can all affect visible rows. Record missing data as unknown until you establish its meaning.
