Accelerating ASO with the use of ChatGPT

With the growing popularity and evolution of AI tools such as ChatGPT, industries around the world are looking at how they can potentially use AI to streamline their workflow. The gaming industry is ripe for such input, with AI taking the strain on generating repetitive game assets and more, freeing up game makers to focus on gameplay and creatives. 

Here Azur Games ASO manager Zlata Kazantseva, along with ASO lead Rustam Saidrakhmonov, share their findings after using ChatGPT 3.5 to help create keywords and texts for ASO purposes in their mobile game Survive Squad.

And with the advent of the 4.0 version the effects could be even more dramatic.

Until recently, the process of writing texts for primary ASO was entirely manual for us. This involved reading GDDs or playing a build, brainstorming keywords, researching keywords used by other games, selecting the most effective ones, and determining which ones bring in traffic. Then, an engaging game description incorporating these keywords would be written for the store.

An ASO specialist typically spends two to three hours per locale and platform on this task. However, thanks to neural networks, we’ve reduced this time to just 30 minutes. Neural networks can quickly generate texts for the appropriate store category with a high Confidence level of 0.8-0.9, which indicates the likelihood that the app will belong to a specific category on Google Play (anything above 0.8 is considered a good result). To be featured in the list of similar games, it’s crucial for a project to fall within the same category as its competitors.

We use ChatGPT to assist in brainstorming ideas, swiftly selecting and organising keywords, and writing and editing texts. Meanwhile, Notion AI refines and polishes the final options. With up to 30 projects going through these tools each month, we’ve already saved tens of hours compared to the manual writing process.

Creating keywords

We experimented by entrusting ChatGPT with the brainstorming of ideas. It can rapidly generate a list of keywords for a specific genre, theme, or setting. To obtain the best results, it’s essential to provide a detailed request to the bot.

For example:

Write 15 keywords related to a fast-paced casual mobile game with some RPG elements. The players’ primary goal is to build a team and remain alive in the arena full of enemies as long as possible.

Moments later, we get a response:

1. Mobile game
2. Fast paced
3. RPG elements
4. Arena
5. Survival
6. Enemies
7. Action
8. Adventure
9. Battle
10. Strategy
11. Multiplayer
12. Leveling up
13. Skills

The generated list may appear quite ordinary, as one could create a similar selection of words independently. However, ChatGPT accounts for the human factor, as a specialist might forget something while the AI can promptly present suitable options and even suggest ideas that might not have occurred to the specialist.

It’s crucial to note that the neural network almost never provides ready-to-use, high-traffic keywords for ASO. Instead, it primarily offers defining phrases that serve as an additional source of inspiration. Essentially, we receive a prepared list from which we can brainstorm various phrases and combinations or make a second request with more specific conditions.

Next, all keywords and their combinations are transferred to an ASO tool (such as App Tweak) for prioritisation. We search for additional combinations, check the frequency, the number of competitors for the keyword, and other important metrics for prioritising the semantic core. We then eliminate unnecessary phrases.

Writing texts

Once the keywords are selected, we proceed to write the texts. Typically, we start with a short description on Google Play or a subtitle in the App Store.

We formulate a request:

Create a list of 20 short texts about a fast-paced casual mobile game with some RPG elements. The players’ primary goal is to build a team and remain alive in the arena as long as they can. In this survival game, the players should get through the endless waves of aliens that far outnumber them and fight bosses. Players could also collect new equipment and weapons, unlock new perks, and upgrade the heroes’ abilities to deal more damage to the monsters.

Don’t use the game’s title, “Survive Squad”. The text should include keywords: survivor, survival io game, squad, action rpg, roguelike, roguelite, role play games, roguelike or shooting game

The length of the texts is up to 80 symbols each.

You then get a structured list of options:

1. Build your dream team, survive the onslaught of monsters!
2. Battle through the arena, become the ultimate survivor!
3. Unlock new perks, upgrade your heroes and dominate the game.
4. Defend against waves of enemies, test your skills and strategy.
5. Use your squad’s unique abilities to outwit your opponents.
6. Collect new weapons and equipment to gain the upper hand.
7. Experience the thrill of an action RPG game on your mobile device.
8. Challenge yourself in a rougelike game with endless waves of monsters.
9. Fight to stay alive in this fast-paced survival game.
10. Play alone or team up with friends for multiplayer fun.
11. Master the game’s mechanics, become the ultimate survivor.
12. Equip your squad with the latest gear to survive the toughest challenges.
13. Dominate the arena with your squad’s diverse set of skills.
14. Use strategy and tactics to survive against impossible odds.
15. Play a shooting game with RPG elements and addictive gameplay.
16. Upgrade your heroes’ abilities, unlock new alpha ace and vampire survivors.
17. Enjoy the thrill of a roguelite game on the go.
18. Put your survival skills to the test in this intense game.
19. Progress through challenging levels and defeat bosses for rewards.
20. Become the ultimate survivor in this action-packed role play game.

Then, we mix and match and put our own spin on it:

Lead a survivor group, shoot alien hordes & stay alive in the survival io game!

Using ChatGPT to create descriptions

Next, we move on to the full description, which is one of the most time-consuming steps. For ASO, the text must simultaneously:

• appeal to players
• include the required number of keywords
• be understandable to store algorithms

Thus, it’s crucial to maintain a balance in all three aspects.

Tip! There may be situations where a project has been released for a while, has great art, and receives traffic. However, competitive analysis reveals that it could benefit from more keywords. In this case, the text needs optimization in terms of content and keywords. When it seems like you’ve already talked about every little aspect of the game, ChatGPT comes to the rescue by offering new ideas and a variety of constructs.

With the selected keywords, we return to ChatGPT to craft a text that makes players want to try the game, ensures the main features and keywords are mentioned, and adheres to the desired text length (usually 2-4 thousand characters).

We submit the following request to the bot:

Write a description of a fast-paced casual mobile game with some RPG elements. The game’s title is “Survive Squad”. The players’ primary goal is to build a team and remain alive in the arena as long as they can. In this survival game, the players should get through the endless waves of aliens that far outnumber them. They should also fight bosses. Players could also collect new equipment and weapons, unlock new perks, and upgrade the heroes’ abilities to deal more damage to the monsters.

The text should also include keywords: action rpg, action rpg games, alpha ace, arpg, bounty of one, lonely survivor, roguelike, roguelite, role play games, roleplay games, roguelike, rpg game, shooting games, squad alpha, survival io, survival games, survival io, survivor, survivor io, vampire, vampire survivors. Use each keyword 2 times.

The length of the text is up to 3500 symbols.

In just a few minutes, ChatGPT generates a text some ASO managers could’ve spent hours on:

Survive Squad is a thrilling action RPG game that puts players in the shoes of a lonely survivor fighting for their lives in a treacherous arena. In this roguelike game, the players must use all their skills to fight off endless waves of aliens and bosses that outnumber them. With the help of their squad alpha, they must remain alive for as long as possible to progress and become the ultimate survivor.

Players must build their team, equip them with the latest bounty of weapons and tools, and use their arpg skills to defeat the toughest enemies. Upgrades to heroes’ abilities are essential to deal more damage to the monsters that stand in their way. As the players progress, they can unlock new perks, including the alpha ace and vampire survivors. These unique abilities will give players an edge over their enemies and help them reach new levels in the game.

In Survive Squad, survival is not just a matter of staying alive but also of using strategy and tactics to outwit opponents. The game is an intense shooting game that will keep players on the edge of their seats as they fight for their lives. Players can choose to play alone as the lonely survivor or team up with others in a multiplayer mode for a chance to dominate the arena and become the ultimate squad alpha.

Survive Squad is an excellent game for fans of action RPG games, roguelike, and roguelite games, as well as role play games and shooting games. The game combines elements of all these genres to provide players with an immersive experience that is both fun and challenging. Whether playing survival games or survival io games, Survive Squad is a game that players will not want to put down.

In conclusion, Survive Squad is an action-packed RPG game that offers a thrilling and addictive experience for players. With its fast-paced gameplay, unique abilities, and challenging enemies, the game is sure to keep players entertained for hours on end. Whether you are a seasoned RPG gamer or a newcomer to the genre, Survive Squad is a must-play game that is sure to leave you wanting more.

The output may be a somewhat dry description, but it is well understood by Google algorithms. To verify this, we open Google Cloud Natural Language and analyse the completed text for the frequency of phrases and keywords, their categories, and the number of times they are used, among other factors.

We attempted to specify the number of keyword repetitions in the request to prevent spamming, but it didn’t work—the neural network hasn’t yet grasped this concept. Nevertheless, the process is still somewhat simplified. Even if some experts can write quickly and creatively, editing a neural network-generated text is almost always easier than writing from scratch. When working on multiple projects, it’s common for one’s eyes to blur, creativity to wane, and phrases and keywords to be repeated, resulting in spam. Monitoring this becomes increasingly challenging as the semantic core expands. However, reviewing the AI-generated text with a fresh mind, rather than after an hour of writing from scratch, makes the process easier. By using the search function, we can quickly scan the main keywords and achieve near-zero spam in the output.

Adapting the description

Running the text through GNL, we immediately obtain a favourable category with a high Confidence of 0.92.

Naturally, we have workflows and templates for manually writing such texts, which involve adding top keywords, specifying features, and maintaining a certain tone. There’s a catch, though: one can spend a couple of hours crafting an impressive text that receives a Confidence score of 0.7 from GNL or ask ChatGPT to produce a more concise text in 3 minutes with a high probability of achieving a Confidence score between 0.8 and 0.9. Machines seem to have an easier time understanding each other, but human comprehension is a different story.

It’s currently impossible to definitively determine whether texts generated by a neural network perform better than those written by humans, or if they have any impact on the project’s success. For a fair test, identical conditions, games, target audiences, traffic, and creatives would be required, which is nearly unattainable given current market realities. However, during our time working with ChatGPT, we haven’t observed any significant differences in the performance of games with AI-generated texts compared to those written by humans. Although we’d like to conduct such an experiment, the opportunity has yet to arise.

Nonetheless, ChatGPT currently produces high Confidence texts that after a few modifications can be published in app stores. For instance, if you dislike the tone of the generated text, you can rewrite it in a different style:

Rewrite the text in a more casual way. Here’s the same text, but reworded:

Welcome to Survive Squad, the ultimate action-packed game that combines the best of RPG and shooting games! Get ready to fight off endless waves of aliens and bosses that outnumber you and your squad alpha. Your goal? Stay alive as long as possible and become the ultimate survivor!

To survive, you gotta build your team and equip them with the latest and coolest bounty of one weapon and tools. Upgrade your heroes’ abilities and unlock new perks like alpha ace and vampire survivors to give you the edge you need to deal more damage to the monsters.

But it’s not just about surviving, it’s about strategy and tactics too! Outsmart your opponents and dominate the arena. Play alone as the lonely survivor or team up with others in multiplayer mode to become the ultimate squad alpha.

Survive Squad is the perfect game for fans of action RPG games, roguelike, and roguelite games, as well as role play games and shooting games. With its fast-paced gameplay and unique abilities, Survive Squad will keep you entertained for hours on end. Whether you’re a seasoned RPG gamer or new to the genre, Survive Squad is a must-play game that will leave you wanting more!

So what are you waiting for? Grab our weapons and join the fight for survival in Survive Squad!

If any specific part of the text doesn’t meet your expectations, you can turn to Notion AI. Select the paragraph in question and request a more detailed description, a shortened version, or the addition of certain accents. In our case, let’s ask for a revision of the last paragraph and include a call to action.

A newly crafted, casual paragraph is ready in no time compared to the long process it used to take. When handling multiple projects, it’s easy to lose that creative spark. So, we gladly move forward with the version from Notion AI:

With this approach, editing can be completed in just 10-15 minutes. Of course, one could continue editing the text endlessly, but perfection can sometimes be the enemy of good.

The last step is to verify that all the keywords are in place. We run the text through GNL again—Confidence in the Roleplaying Games category drops to 0.87%, while in the Computer & Video Games category, it increases to 0.79%. To achieve such results, an ASO specialist would typically have to go through numerous iterations, but in this case, we’ve accomplished it in just two.

Confidence is a primary metric for evaluating texts for ASO on Google Play, but assessing the text’s uniqueness is also valuable. While it’s not definitively proven to impact algorithms, unique text should function similarly to its role in SEO, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have it.

We run the completed text through a uniqueness checking service (such as Plagiarism Detector) and obtain a 100% uniqueness score.

ChatGPT hasn’t learned to follow the set number of keyword repetitions yet, so the spam counter is a little too high:

It’s an easy fix. We swapped “player” with “gamer” and changed two phrases with the word “game”. The spam issue went away while the GNL score remained high:

In total, with just half an hour of effort, we have a ready-to-use full description with outstanding GNL scores suitable for publishing in app stores.

It’s too early to draw sweeping conclusions about ChatGPT’s impact on ASO, but the neural network has already saved us dozens of hours in text writing, simplified brainstorming, facilitated the search for new ideas, and generally accelerated our work with texts. Tasks that once took 2-3 hours are now completed in just 30 minutes.

We’re not limiting ourselves to descriptions either; we’re gradually exploring ChatGPT’s potential for other ASO tasks, such as translating and creating promotional content for LiveOps, analysing reviews, testing localization, generating prompts for Midjourney, and much more.

Edited by Paige Cook