AppsAI companion and assistant apps playbook
AI companion and assistant apps live between AI directories and app stores, under fast-changing rules on disclosure, safety and minors. Outpost runs the directory, store and community work, and keeps your claims inside the policies.
01 · DISCOVERY
Early adopters find AI apps through AI directories and newsletters (There's An AI For That, Future Tools, The Rundown's Supertools), Product Hunt and X. Mainstream users find them through store search, short demo videos and friends. Companion users gather in communities around existing products, where they talk about what they miss: memory, personality, voice, privacy. More and more people simply ask an AI assistant which app to try.
A free conversation first. Retention depends on memory, consistent personality and response quality. Paywalls usually sit at message limits, voice, or better models. Store review is part of the funnel: a rejected update or a policy strike stalls growth more than any marketing gap.
02 · CHANNELS
Ranked 5 (essential) to 1 (optional) by the research for this industry.
This is where AI early adopters browse. Order matters: There's An AI For That asks that your tool not appear on other platforms before your launch there. Future Tools rejects most submissions and doesn't accept waitlist-only products. The Rundown's Supertools takes recommendations for free.
Most companion usage is on phones. Apple treats AI content creation apps as user-generated content, requiring filtering, reporting and blocking, and requires explicit permission before sharing personal data with third-party AI. Google Play requires in-app reporting for AI-generated content.
AI launches get attention there, and the product page lasts. It has to be usable on launch day, not a waitlist.
A companion or assistant is easiest to understand by watching a real conversation. Show honest, unedited exchanges. Staged demos create churn and complaints.
People increasingly ask assistants which AI app to use. Clear, consistent descriptions across directories and your site make you easier to name.
BUSINESS MODEL · LIVE
The same channel can be a strong fit for a paid game and a poor one for a free one. Each line below is a rule or rating from Outpost's knowledge base, with its source; your own plan is built from your answers.
Apple rejects apps designed predominantly to display ads, limits display ads to the main app binary, requires interstitials to be labelled as ads with easy close/skip buttons and a way to report inappropriate ads, and bars third-party ads and analytics in Kids Category apps (except limited contextual ads from services that human-review creatives).
Google Play bans unexpected full-screen interstitials, full-screen interstitials that cannot be closed after 15 seconds (opt-in or non-interrupting ones, such as after a score screen, may run longer), ads that mimic app or system UI, and lock-screen monetization (unless the app is a lock screen); rewarded ads the user opts into are exempt.
Apple auto-renewable subscriptions must provide ongoing value, last at least seven days, work across all of the user's devices, and clearly describe what the user gets before asking them to subscribe.
On the App Store and Mac App Store, unlocking features, subscriptions, in-game currency, premium content or a full version must use Apple In-App Purchase, and apps may not use their own unlock mechanisms such as license keys.
Since iOS 26.5 (terms published 18 June 2026), Brazilian iOS apps may use alternative in-app payments or link out to the web: App Store commission is 21% (10% for Small Business Program members and for subscriptions after year one) plus 5% if Apple processes the payment, link-out sales within 7 days carry a 15% (or 10%) store-services commission, and alternative marketplaces carry a 5% Core Technology Commission.
Google Play user choice billing (an alternative billing system offered alongside Google Play billing, with a 4% service-fee reduction on those transactions) is available in India, and in Indonesia and Brazil under the pilot.
Since Japan's Mobile Software Competition Act took effect in December 2025 (iOS 26.2), iOS apps in Japan can be distributed through Apple-authorised alternative marketplaces and can offer alternative payment processing or web purchase links alongside Apple IAP; App Store commission is 10% or 21% plus 5% for Apple IAP, web-link purchases pay 15% (10% for reduced programs), and apps outside the App Store pay a 5% Core Technology Commission.
Apple moved to a new age-rating system; developers had to answer the updated age-rating questions by 2026-01-31 to avoid an interruption when submitting app updates.
An App Clip's uncompressed, thinned main bundle may be at most 15 MB for iOS 16 and 10 MB below iOS 16; 100 MB is allowed only for iOS 17+, digital-invocation-only clips used where reliable internet is likely.
App privacy details (the 'nutrition label'), including the data practices of third-party SDKs, are required to submit new apps and app updates to the App Store.
App Review requires final builds with working URLs, and demo account details (with the back end switched on) if the app has a login; incomplete bundles and builds that crash are rejected (Guideline 2.1).
Read from Outpost's knowledge base on Nov 8, 2026; every line links its source.
03 · YOUR FIRST MONTH
A sample month. Your own plan is built from your audit, stage and goal, and paid options only ever appear as optional boosts.
Week 1 · days 1–7
Week 2 · days 8–14
Week 3 · days 15–21
Week 4 · days 22–30
04 · WHERE TO BE LISTED
Costs are as published by each destination when the research was reviewed; check before you pay for anything.
theresanaiforthat.com
A large AI directory with manual review. It asks to be the first platform you launch on.
From $49 one-time (free monthly X thread for indie makers)
futuretools.io
Human-curated by Matt Wolfe. Free to submit, but most submissions are rejected and waitlist-only tools aren't accepted.
Free submission
supertools.therundown.ai
Editorially reviewed directory from The Rundown newsletter. Recommend your tool via the form.
toolify.ai
A paid, fast listing (within 48 hours). Optional, only if the budget exists.
$99 one-time
producthunt.com
Launch moment and a permanent page for AI products that are usable now.
apps.apple.com
Primary mobile storefront. User-generated-content and third-party-AI data rules apply.
$99/year Apple Developer Program
play.google.com
Android storefront. Its AI-generated content policy requires in-app reporting.
$25 one-time registration
05 · SEARCH DEMAND
Primary search
how to market an ai app
Below the provider’s reporting threshold: real demand, too small to report.
DataForSEO Google Ads, US/en, Oct 2026. Primary keyword below reporting threshold; related 'ai companion app' 4,400/mo, 'ai app marketing' 10/mo.
Ready to act: make it easy
Comparing: show why you
Learning: answer with guides
Comparing: show why you
06 · AVOID
California's SB 243 requires a clear notice that a companion chatbot is AI when a reasonable person could be misled. It's also simply bad for trust. Make the AI label part of the product and the marketing.
In September 2025, the FTC opened a 6(b) study of AI companions and children and teens. SB 243 adds break reminders at least every three hours for known minors. Don't market a companion to teens without a real age and safety plan.
Apple's guideline 5.1.2(i) requires you to disclose sharing personal data with third-party AI and get explicit permission first. Fix this before you scale traffic.
Many AI directories are paid, and their rules conflict: There's An AI For That wants to be first, Future Tools rejects waitlists. A sequenced plan beats paying for every directory at once.
The FTC's study asks how companion companies monetize engagement. 'Never leave' messaging invites scrutiny and attracts the wrong users.
07 · WHAT OUTPOST DOES
Sequences AI directory listings around each one's rules, such as TAAFT's launch-first clause and Future Tools' no-waitlist rule, prepares each for you to submit and logs it with a receipt.
Lays out Apple 1.2, 4.7 and 5.1.2(i) and Google Play's AI-generated content policy for your listing before you submit.
Drafts community replies that keep the AI label visible and the claims honest, for you to post.
Tracks how AI assistants describe and rank your app for prompts like 'best AI companion with memory'.
Every action Outpost takes gets a receipt: the live URL, a timestamp and what it drove, or “nothing yet”.See how receipts work
08 · QUESTIONS
Start with the curated ones that send real users and check their rules first. There's An AI For That asks to be your first listing, Future Tools is free but rejects most submissions and all waitlist-only tools, and The Rundown's Supertools is free to recommend. Paid directories are optional; Outpost's plans work without them.
It can, if you meet the user-generated-content rules: filter objectionable output, let users report and block, and publish contact details. Apple says apps used mainly for pornographic content or random anonymous chat don't belong on the store, and personal data sent to third-party AI needs explicit permission.
In short: clearly disclose that the companion is AI when users could think otherwise, have a published protocol for self-harm conversations, and add extra protections for known minors, including break reminders at least every three hours. Obligations phase in through July 1, 2027. Confirm the details with counsel.
Be very careful. The FTC's 2025 study focuses on companions and children and teens, and new state laws add duties for minors. If teens aren't your core audience, make your marketing and age handling say so.
If personal data goes to a third-party model provider, Apple requires you to disclose it and get explicit permission. Beyond that, users care more about memory, privacy and personality than the model's name.
Directory listings and a Product Hunt launch can bring users within days. Store search, comparison content and AI-assistant mentions build over months. Retention decides whether any of it compounds.
Outpost plans and drafts the demo scripts and community posts and tracks results. You record the real conversations, so the demos stay authentic.
10 · EVIDENCE
Every fact on this page comes from one of these sources.
$49 and $437 options, free monthly X thread, manual review, 'must not appear on any other platform before the launch'.
Over 75% of submissions not approved; no waitlist-only products.
Free tool recommendation for the Supertools directory.
AI content creation apps treated as UGC; filtering, reporting and blocking; disclosure and explicit permission before sharing data with third-party AI.
Covers conversational AI chatbots; requires in-app user reporting or flagging.
6(b) orders to seven companies on impacts on children and teens, including monetizing engagement.
SB 243 AI disclosure requirement, three-hour break reminders for known minors, phase-in by July 1, 2027.
New York's enacted companion chatbot law with similar disclosure and safety provisions.
$99 one-time listing within 48 hours.
Last reviewed . Search volume: DataForSEO Google Ads, US/en, Oct 2026. Primary keyword below reporting threshold; related 'ai companion app' 4,400/mo, 'ai app marketing' 10/mo.
FREE WEBSITE AUDIT
Paste your website. Outpost reads it, scores your visibility, finds your competitors and shows the first fixes, free. Then the playbook above becomes your own campaign, measured in installs.
See plans and pricing