Your competitors have already done years of keyword experimentation. Their current metadata reflects what works in your category. Ignoring it is leaving free intelligence on the table.

This framework walks through the process of extracting competitor keyword data and turning it into actionable updates for your own metadata.

Step 1: Define your competitor set

Start with direct competitors — apps your target users would consider as alternatives to yours. Limit this to 5–7 apps. You're looking for competitors who are actively investing in ASO (update their metadata regularly, have strong keyword ranks) not just apps in your category.

Signals that a competitor is doing serious ASO: frequent metadata updates (check version history), high keyword diversity across their listing, strong ranks for mid-difficulty terms.

Step 2: Extract their keyword footprint

For each competitor, pull their full keyword rank profile using Marteso's competitor analysis view. You're looking for:

  • All keywords where they rank in the top 10
  • Keywords where they rank 11–25 (these are their "almost there" terms — they're investing here)
  • Keywords they rank for that you don't track at all yet

Step 3: Build a gap matrix

A gap matrix maps your current keyword performance against your competitors'. The goal is to find keywords where:

  • Multiple competitors rank well, but you don't — indicates demand without your presence
  • You rank better than competitors — indicates opportunities to protect and expand
  • Nobody ranks well — indicates potential untapped whitespace
Focus first on the first bucket: keywords where 3+ competitors rank in the top 10 but you're not in the top 25. This is proven demand with a clear gap to fill.

Step 4: Prioritize by realistic rank potential

Not every gap keyword is worth pursuing. Filter by: volume (minimum 500 monthly searches), difficulty relative to your app's authority (don't chase keywords where all top-10 apps have 100k+ ratings if you have 2k), and relevance (only keywords where users finding your app via that keyword would convert well).

Step 5: Map gaps to metadata fields

Once you have your priority gap keywords, map each one to the most appropriate metadata field. High-priority terms go in title or subtitle. Medium-priority go in your keyword field. Support terms go in your description for Google Play.

Avoid keyword cannibalization: don't use the same keyword stem in both your title and keyword field. You get no additional ranking benefit, and you waste character budget.

Ongoing monitoring

Competitor keyword strategy isn't a one-time exercise. Set up alerts in Marteso to notify you when a competitor makes a significant metadata change. When they update their title or subtitle, they're telling you what they think is worth optimizing for right now.