Image verification and geolocation playbook

Verified publisher

Check a photo's metadata, find earlier copies, and work out where and when it was taken

intermediateabout image, url5 toolslicence CC-BY-4.0
Contents 1/5
  1. 1 Image verification and geolocation playbook
  2. 2 Scope and legal
  3. 3 Read the metadata
  4. 4 Find earlier copies
  5. 5 Place and time
Tools (5)

Tools used in this guide

  • exif-meta Reads an online image or document's metadata with ExifTool: GPS, camera, authors, datesot install osintverse-community/exif-meta
  • reverse-image-links Builds reverse image search links for an image URL: Google Lens, Bing, Yandex, TinEye and moreot install osintverse-community/reverse-image-links
  • image-hash Computes perceptual hashes of an online image to match copies and near-duplicatesot install osintverse-community/image-hash
  • geo-links Turns coordinates into map, satellite, street-level and sun-position links for checking a placeot install osintverse-community/geo-links
  • gallery-dl Lists the images and metadata of posts and galleries on Reddit, Flickr, Imgur, Tumblr and 300+ sitesot install osintverse-community/gallery-dl

Install them all:

ot guide tools osintverse-community/image-geolocation

Given a photo, answer three questions: is it what it claims to be, where was it taken, and when?

Steps

  1. Scope and legal
  2. Read the metadata
  3. Find earlier copies
  4. Place and time

Tools used (ot guide tools osintverse-community/image-geolocation):

Tool Used for
osintverse-community/exif-meta EXIF, XMP and IPTC metadata: GPS, camera, software, dates
osintverse-community/reverse-image-links Reverse image search on seven engines
osintverse-community/image-hash Comparing copies with perceptual hashes
osintverse-community/geo-links Maps, satellite history, street-level photos and sun position for a spot
osintverse-community/gallery-dl Original files and post metadata from galleries and social sites

The examples use a public Wikimedia Commons photo of the Eiffel Tower and a sample camera image from the ExifRead test set.

Published 20 Oct 2026. Read it in a terminal: ot guide read osintverse-community/image-geolocation; offline: ot guide get osintverse-community/image-geolocation · Source · Markdown

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