# Cross-localization indexing: the App Store's hidden extra keyword budget

> A storefront can index metadata from more than one localization into the same search pool. Used deliberately, that is up to 160 extra characters per storefront — the least-known lever in App Store metadata.

## The mechanism

Every storefront (country) has a primary localization, and many index at least one more. Words from **all indexed localizations join one combined pool** for that storefront — the same pool the title, subtitle, and keyword field feed. Provide Spanish (Mexico) metadata and its title, subtitle, and keyword field can rank in **United States** searches: 30 + 30 + 100 additional characters on top of the English (U.S.) budgets.

## Well-attested pairs

Apple publishes no official table, and pairings have shifted over the years — treat any pair you have not verified as a hypothesis. These are the widely reproduced ones:

| storefront | primary localization | also indexed |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | English (U.S.) | Spanish (Mexico) |
| Canada | English (Canada) | French (Canada) |
| Japan | Japanese | English (U.S.) |
| Korea | Korean | English (U.S.) |

Community tables also report English (U.K.) or English (U.S.) as a secondary in several European and Asian storefronts. The pattern is real; the specific rows drift — which is why the verification probe below matters more than any table.

## Verifying a pair empirically

Put a distinctive word *only* in the candidate localization's keyword field, ship it, and search the target storefront once the release has indexed:

```json
{
  "keyword": "fotocalc",
  "storefronts": [
    { "country": "US", "appName": "PhotoCalc", "rank": 4,
      "totalResults": 11, "prev": null, "change": "new" }
  ]
}
```

Ranking in the US for a word that exists only in Spanish (Mexico) metadata is the mechanism demonstrated, not inferred. One [rank](https://openaso.ai/tools.md) call per candidate pair settles what forum threads argue about.

## Using the extra budget well

- Treat the secondary localization as overflow for the primary storefront: the keywords that did not fit the first 100 characters, minus anything already in the pool — [coverage](https://openaso.ai/tools.md) accounting applies across the combined pool the same way.
- Keep the visible fields honest in their own language. Localizations are real listings: a Spanish-language device in the US is shown the Spanish (Mexico) title and subtitle if you provide them, so a keyword-stuffed fake localization is user-visible damage, not a free field.
- Localize demand, not just supply: the words worth ranking for differ by storefront, so research with [suggest](https://openaso.ai/tools.md) and [volume](https://openaso.ai/tools.md) per country before copying a keyword set across markets.

## FAQ

### Is there an official Apple list of which localizations each storefront indexes?

No. Apple documents that storefronts support multiple localizations but has never published the indexing table. The community-maintained pairs are reverse-engineered and drift over time — verify a pair with a rank probe before spending budget on it.

### Will adding a Spanish (Mexico) localization change what US users see?

Only for users whose device language matches it: a Spanish-language device in the US sees the Spanish (Mexico) listing. English-device users still see English (U.S.). That is why the secondary localization has to work as a real listing, not a keyword dump.

### Does cross-localization indexing exist on Google Play?

Google Play indexes differently (including the long description) and openaso does not cover it. Do not transplant App Store localization tactics there unverified.

## Terms

- **storefront** — One country's App Store, with its own search index, rankings, charts, and set of indexed localizations.
- **localization** — One language variant of an app's listing — title, subtitle, keyword field, description — submitted per locale code such as en-US or es-MX.
- **cross-localization indexing** — A storefront indexing the metadata of additional localizations into the same search pool as its primary one.