Define what organic means in your report.
Teams use “organic” to describe different things: a store source category, downloads without a paid attribution match or a manually grouped set of channels. Those definitions are not automatically equivalent.
Write the inclusion and exclusion rules. Name the source system, time window and event type. A reader should be able to reconstruct the number without guessing what the team decided to count.
Keep source classifications intact.
Start with the categories the report actually provides. If you combine them, preserve the underlying breakdown and explain the transformation. Do not silently relabel all search activity as unpaid or all unattributed activity as ASO-driven.
Review search and browse context. A discovery surface tells you something about where an action was recorded; it does not always reveal every influence that led the person there.
Reconcile discrepancies before selecting a favourite number.
Two systems may count different events, dates or populations. Delays, redownload treatment and attribution windows can also produce differences. Investigate the definitions before deciding which chart tells the better story.
Use a metric dictionary and keep a short reconciliation note. If the figures cannot be made equivalent, show them as separate measures rather than forcing a match.
Distinguish reported volume from incremental impact.
An increase in a category labelled organic does not prove that your metadata change created those downloads. Product demand, publicity, paid activity and seasonality may influence people who later discover the app through a store.
Record competing changes in the timeline. Causal evaluation needs a design suited to the question; a before-and-after chart is descriptive evidence, not a controlled experiment.
Report outcomes with their limits attached.
State the measured change and the strongest supported interpretation. If a source offers limited audience detail, acknowledge what cannot be separated. Pair acquisition evidence with relevant product outcomes when available.
Use the report structure to identify the next investigation. A useful report can say that a result is encouraging while still being honest about attribution.
