
ASO in 2026: What Actually Moves the Needle for Indie Apps
App Store Optimization changed twice in two years - first by Apple's Search Tab redesign, then by LLMs eating organic discovery. Here is what still works for solo founders shipping in 2026.
Practical guides on App Store Optimization, LLM citation visibility, Reddit pain mining, and indie app marketing. Written for solo founders shipping iOS, Android, and web SaaS apps.

App Store Optimization changed twice in two years - first by Apple's Search Tab redesign, then by LLMs eating organic discovery. Here is what still works for solo founders shipping in 2026.

LLMs decide which apps to recommend based on a small set of source sites they trust. Here is how to find them, get mentioned in them, and measure visibility growth across the major models.

Reddit is the highest-signal source for unmet pain points - the kind of problems users describe in their own words, with examples and frustration. Here is the workflow for turning that into shippable ideas.

Both push your app up the App Store, but they work on different timelines and economics. Here is a clear framework for deciding when to invest in Apple Search Ads vs when to grind on ASO.

The keyword field is the most underrated asset on your iOS App Store listing. Most indie apps waste 30-40 characters on words Apple already extracts elsewhere. Here is how to use every byte.

When you ask ChatGPT for the best app in a category, it confidently picks 3-5 names and skips dozens of equally good apps. The selection process is not random - here is how it actually works.

A real walkthrough: how a single Reddit thread led to a shipped feature, a 40% retention bump, and 12 organic blog mentions. The full workflow from signal detection to launch.

AppTweak costs $80/month, Sensor Tower is enterprise priced, and most ASO consultants charge $2k+. Here is the actual stack you can run as an indie founder for nothing - and what is genuinely worth paying for.

We analyzed 4,200 LLM responses to app recommendation queries across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. Here is the data on which sources actually drive LLM citations - and what it means for indie apps.

We built Sentarys because the existing ASO tools cost $80-2000/month and are built for marketing teams, not indie founders. Here is the honest side-by-side - including where the incumbents are still better.