Understand negative reviews after an app update, from ChatGPT or Claude

The problem: the rating drops, but why?

A release ships and the rating goes from 4.3 to 3.8. The consoles show the curve and a few recent reviews. To understand, you have to read dozens of reviews across two stores, sort them by topic and check they are about the new version. Support often knows before product does, with no numbers to show it.

An AI assistant does this sorting in one conversation, as long as it can read the reviews.

What the assistant does, step by step

With Persyst’s Google Play and App Store Connect connectors, the question “What’s wrong since 4.2?” runs this reasoning:

1. Measure the gap (get_play_review_stats by version, get_app_store_review_stats by week): review count, average rating and star distribution, before and after.
2. Read the negative reviews of the period (list_play_reviews, list_app_store_reviews, filtered on one and two stars) to spot the topics.
3. Count each topic with a targeted search (search_play_reviews, search_app_store_reviews): “sync”, “login”, “navigation”, with several wordings.
4. Quote the most representative reviews, on each store.

The answer separates what both platforms share from what only affects one of them.

Asking the right question

• Name the version and its release date: the version is known for Google Play, not for the App Store.
• Ask for numbers and quotes: “how many reviews per topic, with two examples each”.
• Compare with a reference period: “against the previous four weeks”.

Three questions to try

• “Have reviews mentioning crashes increased since the update?”
• “On iPhone, does the drop affect every country or only France?”
• “Draft a standard reply for reviews about sync, for support to review.”

Setup

1. An administrator connects Google Play and App Store Connect in Data sources: the Google Play and App Store Connect guides cover the steps.
2. They add the apps, then open them to product, support or leadership.
3. Each member adds Persyst to their assistant (getting started) and asks their question.

Limits to know

• Without the Play Console review reports address, Google only returns the last 7 days of reviews: set it to compare with an older period.
• The latest hours of reviews may be missing: they are refreshed every 6 hours.
• Reviews only: no crashes, installs or sales. A crash nobody reviewed does not show up.