🚀 Grok vs. ChatGPT on the App Store: Data Reveals the Truth Behind Musk’s Bias Claims

Elon Musk has accused Apple of bias against Grok and X, claiming the App Store unfairly promotes ChatGPT. But does the data back this up? We used APPlyzerChat to pull a comprehensive set of market data — covering category rankings, keyword impressions, and search performance — to uncover the real story.

📊 Category Rankings: Grok is Climbing Fast

• ChatGPT: Rock solid at #1 in Productivity (US iPhone) since June.

• Grok: Climbed from outside the top 10 in June to multiple #2 peaks in July & August, now consistently top 5.

Takeaway: Grok isn’t being suppressed — it’s thriving and competing head-to-head with ChatGPT.

🔑 Keyword Popularity: Grok Wins on Brand Demand

• Grok: Search Score 88, ~34.7k daily impressions.

• ChatGPT: Search Score 84, ~27.1k daily impressions.

👉 Grok actually has higher brand-driven search volume than ChatGPT. Users are actively looking for Musk’s app.

🌐 Keyword Coverage: ChatGPT Owns the Generics

Here’s where the difference really lies:

• Grok

  • #1 for “grok ai”, “elonai”, “powerful ai”.

  • Strong on brand and niche terms.

  • ~659 AI-related generic keywords.

• ChatGPT

  • #1 for “artificial intelligence”, “ai apps”, “chat ai chatbot”, “GPT-4”.

  • Dominates generic, high-volume AI searches.

  • ~1,422 AI-related generic keywords.

⚖️ Result: Even though Grok’s brand term is hotter, ChatGPT’s breadth of coverage across generic AI queries drives more overall installs — helping to keep it at #1 in category rankings.

💰 Paid Activity Factor

Category rankings are based on download velocity, not just search.

• Although we don’t know what ChatGPT and/or Grok are spending on paid media, this of course can easily sway category rankings regardless of app store visibility on search.

• Paid media accelerates category dominance, so if Grok really does want to win in the category charts, it surely needs to up its game in the paid media space…

🧠 The Big Picture

• No evidence of algorithmic suppression. Grok ranks well in charts and dominates its brand searches.

• Possible editorial bias. Apple features ChatGPT in “Must-Have Apps” and integrates it into Siri — this visibility is outside rankings.

• The real edge: ChatGPT’s broader keyword reach and potential paid activity mean it’s simply converting more generic AI searches into installs.

✅ Final Verdict

Elon Musk is right that Apple promotes ChatGPT through editorial features and platform integration. But the hard data shows Grok is not being buried — it’s a top-5 Productivity app with higher brand search demand than ChatGPT.

Where ChatGPT still wins is in breadth and conversion: owning thousands of generic AI terms, and likely boosting installs with paid campaigns.

📌 If Grok wants to dethrone ChatGPT, it must expand beyond brand-led searches and compete on generic AI queries — organically or with paid support.

🔥 Headline takeaway:
Apple isn’t suppressing Grok. ChatGPT’s dominance comes from keyword breadth + paid velocity, while Grok surges on brand power.