# Apple Search Ads: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 29 judge labels across 3 categories by 12 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/vendors/apple-search-ads

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Mobile apps](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/mobile-apps/index.md) | 10% | 3 | 0% | 22 |
| [Search and social advertising platforms](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/search-and-social-advertising-platforms/index.md) | 0% | 27 | 0% | 5 |
| [App store optimization tools](https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/marketing/app-store-optimization/index.md) | 0% | 28 | 0% | 2 |

## What the models said for it

- "Apple Search Ads is usually the best starting platform for an iOS app because it reaches users who are already searching for relevant apps and has no minimum spend." (Perplexity Sonar, Mobile apps)
- "The best mobile app marketing platform for a company with a limited budget is Apple Search Ads and Meta App Campaigns." (Llama 4 Maverick, Mobile apps)
- "stick to these primary channels first: Self-Attributing Networks (SANs) / Major Platforms: Apple Search Ads (ASA)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, Mobile apps)
- "I recommend starting with Apple Search Ads (exact match only) and Meta App Campaigns set to value optimization." (Muse Glimmer 30B, Mobile apps)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Grok 4.20 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| Mistral Small | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Apple Search Ads, from 49 of the 55 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- g2.com: 27
- mobileappdaily.com: 20
- arshsingh.com: 16
- wuzzon.com: 15
- guideflow.com: 13
- softwareadvice.com: 13
- reddit.com: 12
- moburst.com: 10
- sourceforge.net: 9
- getapp.com: 8

### Pages cited

- https://mobileappdaily.com/products/best-mobile-marketing-software: 20
- https://arshsingh.com/blog/mobile-app-marketing-platforms: 16
- https://moburst.com/blog/best-mobile-marketing-tools-for-app-success: 10
- https://g2.com/categories/mobile-marketing: 9
- https://softwareadvice.com/mobile-marketing: 9
- https://dotcominfoway.com/blog/top-10-mobile-app-marketing-tools: 6
- https://guideflow.com/blog/paid-search-advertising-software: 6
- https://softwareadvice.com/mobile-marketing/small-business: 6

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/gtm/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/gtm.