Our question today follows well from the one I addressed previously, which is all about metadata for images.
This time, it focuses specifically on one aspect of metadata: “Is there any SEO benefit to image geolocation data?”
Before I answer this question, it’s important that we all get on the same page about what geolocation data is.
What Is Image Geolocation Data?
Essentially, it’s code embedded in an image that gives details about where that image was taken or created.
The most common way of expressing this information is through EXIF or exchangeable image file format.
EXIF is a data format that includes information about how an image was captured. It can include aspects such as the size of the image in pixels, the settings the camera was set to when it took the image, and when the photo was taken.
EXIF data can also provide information on where the image was taken.
How You Can Find The Image Location Data
Not every photo you take or download will have metadata. If, for example, you have set your phone’s camera to not share the location of the images you take, then that data will be missing.
However, if you go to the file information of a photo, usually through a right-click on the image or tapping the menu accessible via the image, you should be able to see if a location has been recorded.
This will often be in the form of coordinates and may have a rough town or city based on those coordinates.
A warning, though: the location data can not only be deleted but also edited. Therefore, even if you find the location data for the image, its accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
In Theory, What Benefit Could Geolocation Data Have?
If we think about this logically, understanding what we’ve deduced about how search engines work, there are several areas where we could expect geolocation data to help with SEO.
Understanding The Image
In a similar way to structured data markup, we could expect the geolocation to give the search engines more contextual clues about the nature of the image.
For example, if the photo is of a mountain and the geolocation data puts the photographer at the base of Mount Everest, the search engines might deduce that the photo is of Mount Everest.
Relevancy For Landscapes/Location Imagery
By giving the search engines more context about the image, it may help them to identify its relevance to searches.
For example, understanding that this photo of a mountain was taken near Mount Everest may make it more relevant to image searches like “Mount Everest photo” and “base camp at Mount Everest.”
This would make logical sense, especially given what we know of how the search bots often use an image’s title and alt text to determine relevancy.
Local Search And Location Profiles
Location information would, in theory, be most important for local searches and location-specific business profiles like Google Business Profile and Bing Places.
Images are often uploaded to these profiles, and as such, geolocation data could enhance the local relevancy of the profiles.
A photo of the outside of a shop in Seattle with the geolocation data suggesting the photo was taken in Seattle would theoretically help to reinforce that the shop was relevant to searchers in Seattle.
What Evidence Do We Have That Geolocation Data Makes An Impact On SEO?
When we are considering how optimizations might impact ranking, crawling, indexing and other aspects of SEO, we need to ask ourselves if we have any evidence of it being impactful.
In the case of geolocation data impacting SEO, I can say that, no, unfortunately, there is none – beyond anecdotal, that is.
In fact, there have been a lot of studies into whether geolocation data impacts local rankings and the performance of Google Business Profiles. One study to take a look at is by Sterling Sky.
It appears that Google actually strips out the EXIF data from images posted through Google Business Profile, at least from public display. Whether it still uses the EXIF data it removes from the image is to be determined.
Google Claims It Does Not Use Exif Data
As far back as 2014, Google representatives, including Matt Cutts, claimed they did not currently use EXIF data but that they may well in the future.
However, reports from the SMX Advanced conference in September 2024 suggest that Martin Splitt of Google reiterated this 10 years after Cutts.
Can We Trust Google?
A lot of SEO pros will claim that Google lies. I prefer to think of it as us SEO professionals, perhaps not understanding the nuances enough to see that what a Google representative has said is technically true, but not necessarily accurate to the context we perceive it in.
However, in line with Google’s assertions, we really don’t have anything beyond occasional, unverifiable anecdotes that geolocation data like EXIF impacts Google’s crawling, indexing, or ranking in any meaningful way.
What About The Other Search Engines?
Bing does not mention geolocation data at all in its photo guidelines. I can’t find any evidence that Baidu or Yandex use it either, although this is purely through armchair research.
Given that, though, we do know that there are waves of new search platforms coming online and, indeed, other ways of searching that could arguably fall under an SEO’s purview.
Large language models (LLMs) may well use additional data points than the traditional search engines.
What we don’t know yet is if they use geolocation data as part of their ways of selecting which pages and brands to display in their answers or search results.
So, Is Geolocation Data Something We Should Take Note Of?
I would suggest that adding geolocation data to your images is not something that should find its way into your task list. We don’t really have the data to back up claims that it is impactful.
In fact, we have more studies and communications from search engine representatives that suggest it isn’t useful in SEO.
Whereas I don’t think it is worth the time and energy to implement geolocation data, I don’t think it’s harmful to include it. Don’t go to the extent of altering it or deleting it. Just leave it if you have already included geolocation data in your images.
Perhaps, in time, it will become useful. As Google has said, it reserves the right to use it. We still don’t know if emerging search platforms will use it.
Essentially, if you are really keen to understand its impact, I would suggest testing it with your own images.
Add EXIF data to a set of images and measure their rankings against a control group that doesn’t use EXIF data.
Measure the change in rankings before and after adding the EXIF data and compare it to the control group.
If there are similar changes in the rankings, then it is possible the EXIF data had no impact.
If there are significant increases (or decreases!) in the rankings of the images with EXIF data, but not the control group, that would suggest they are impactful.
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Featured Image: maxbelchenko/Shutterstock
