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How Larko scores your listing
Deterministic arithmetic, platform policy citations, and byte-exact limits — zero generative guesswork.
Core Scoring Dimensions
Larko weights key metadata dimensions that you can optimize today to directly drive organic search discovery.
Title 28%Desc 22%Visuals 22%Ratings 14%Freshness 8%Signals 6%
Title & Subtitle / Short Description
28%The single highest-impact organic search ranking factor on both Apple App Store and Google Play. We check character capacity utilization and cross-field keyword cannibalization.
Description Optimization
22%Apple does not index the long description; Google Play indexes all 4,000 characters. We measure structure, paragraph rhythm, and Google Play keyword density (1–2% sweet spot).
Visual Assets & Screenshots
22%Screenshots and video previews drive search result conversion rate. We verify screenshot limits (10 on iOS, 8 on Play) and Google Play feature graphic requirements.
Ratings & Social Proof
14%Volume and sentiment floor. Listings below 4.0 suffer severe ranking suppression. New listings with 0 ratings convert strictly on metadata and visuals.
Metadata Freshness & Localization
8%Update cadence and market reach. We check release recency, update notes, and Tier-1 market localization coverage.
Conversion Signals & Monetization
6%Category alignment, install proof, and In-App Purchase search indexing (Apple directly indexes IAP titles in App Store search).
Core Principles
Deterministic Arithmetic Over LLM Guessing
Character counts, byte measurements, keyword repetitions, and policy limits are calculated in TypeScript. A language model never scores your app.
Apple Keywords: 100 Bytes, Not Characters
Apple caps keywords at 100 UTF-8 bytes. Non-Latin scripts (Cyrillic, CJK) cost 2–3 bytes per character, reaching the hard cap at ~45–50 characters.
Larko Guard: Policy Citations
Every blocker cites an exact Apple App Review Guideline or Google Play Policy clause. A false rejection alarm costs more trust than a missed warning.
Unreadable ≠ Zero
When a field is rendered client-side and unreadable in public store APIs, we assign null with an explanation and rebalance the weight — we never give a fake zero.
Audit your listing against these rules
Free. No account required. For App Store & Google Play.