How to Geotag Photos on Google My Business

Adding a geotag to your photos is one of the most effective, simple ways to strengthen your Google My Business profile's local search performance. It embeds geographical coordinates directly into your image file, confirming your business's physical location to Google and potential customers. This guide will walk you through exactly what geotagging is, why it's a difference-maker for local SEO, and provide clear, step-by-step instructions on how to do it using tools you already have or can access for free.

What Is Geotagging and Why Does It Matter for My Business?

Geotagging is the process of adding geographical identification data to media like photos or videos. This data, typically consisting of latitude and longitude coordinates, is stored within the image file itself. Think of it as a digital thumbprint that permanently ties a photo to a specific spot on the map.

For a local business with a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business or GMB), this is incredibly powerful. When you upload a geotagged photo to your profile, you're sending Google a very clear signal. You’re not just uploading a picture of your storefront, you're uploading a picture that digitally proves it was taken at your storefront. This reinforces your location and helps Google trust that your business is exactly where you say it is.

How Geotagging Boosts Your Local SEO

Google’s job is to provide the most relevant search results. For local searches like “coffee shop near me” or “plumber in Brooklyn,” relevance heavily depends on proximity and location confirmation. Here’s how geotagging helps:

• It Increases Relevance: Geotagged photos tell Google that your content is hyper-relevant to a specific geographic area. A photo of a freshly baked pizza geotagged at your pizzeria’s address in Chicago is a stronger signal than a generic photo with no location data.
• It Strengthens Location Authority: The more consistent signals you send Google about your location, the more authority your business profile builds for that area. This can improve your ranking in the Google Local Pack (the box of three map-based listings at the top of a search page) and on Google Maps.
• It Improves User Experience: When customers browse photos on your profile, seeing images clearly tied to your location builds trust and helps them understand what to expect. Photos geotagged inside your shop show off the ambiance, while those geotagged outside confirm the storefront's appearance, making it easier to find.

A Quick Look Under the Hood: Understanding EXIF Data

You don't need to be a tech expert to geotag photos, but understanding where the information lives is helpful. Every digital photo contains a hidden set of information called EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) data. This metadata includes details like:

• The camera or phone a photo was taken with
• The date and time it was taken
• Camera settings like shutter speed and aperture
• And, if enabled, the GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude)

When you geotag a photo, you are either recording this GPS data at the moment you take the picture or adding it in later before you upload it. The information becomes a permanent part of the EXIF data that Google’s crawlers can read and interpret.

How to Geotag Photos: Three Simple Methods

You can add location data to your images either before, during, or after you take them. Here are three of the most common and accessible methods for getting your photos properly geotagged and ready for your Google Business Profile.

Method 1: The Easiest Way - Using Your Smartphone

The simplest way to geotag photos is to have your phone do it automatically when you take them. Nearly every modern smartphone has a built-in GPS, and the camera app can use it to log the location of every photo. You just need to make sure the setting is enabled.

This is the best method for capturing authentic, on-the-fly photos of your products, team, or location. Taking photos on-site with your phone’s location services active is the most direct way to create locally-relevant content.

For iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap on Privacy & Security.
3. Tap on Location Services. Make sure this is toggled ON.
4. On the same screen, find and tap on the Camera app from the list.
5. Select While Using the App. To be extra precise, you can also toggle on Precise Location.

Now, any photo you take with your iPhone’s camera app will automatically have the location embedded in its EXIF data.

For Android:

The exact steps can vary slightly depending on your phone's manufacturer (e.g., Samsung vs. Google Pixel), but the process is generally similar.

1. Open your phone's Camera app.
2. Look for the camera settings, often represented by a gear icon.
3. Find a setting called Location tags, Save location, GPS tag, or something similar.
4. Make sure this setting is toggled ON.
5. If prompted, grant the camera app permission to access your device’s location.

With this enabled, all future photos will be geotagged.

Method 2: Using a Free Online Geotagging Tool

What if you have photos already taken with a DSLR camera, or you took them on a phone where location services were turned off? You can easily add geotags after the fact using free online tools. This is perfect for professional photos, stock images you've customized, or old photos you want to add to your profile.

A popular and straightforward tool for this is GeoImgr.

Step-by-Step Guide for Using an Online Tool:

1. Go to the Website: Open your web browser and navigate to a tool like GeoImgr.com.
2. Upload Your Photo: Drag and drop your image file into the tool, or use the upload button. You don't need to create an account.
3. Find Your Business Location: On the map displayed next to your photo, type your business name or address into the search bar. The map will navigate to your location. You can drag the pin to get the exact spot, like your front door.
4. Write EXIF Tags: Click the button that says "Write EXIF Tags" or "Add Geotag." The tool will embed the coordinates of the pin's location into your photo’s metadata.
5. Download Your Photo: Click the "Download" button. You will now have a new version of your image with the geotag data saved correctly. This is the version you should upload to your Google Business Profile.

Method 3: Using Desktop Software (For Advanced Workflows)

If you're a marketer or photographer with an established workflow using software like Adobe Lightroom or a professional photo editor, you often have geotagging capabilities built-in. This is ideal for bulk-editing a set of professional photos you had taken for your business.

In Adobe Lightroom Classic, this is handled in the Map module:

1. Import your photos into your Lightroom catalog.
2. Select the photo or photos you want to tag.
3. Go to the Map module in the top-right navigation bar.
4. Search for your business address in the search bar on the map.
5. Simply drag and drop the selected photo(s) from the filmstrip at the bottom onto the correct spot on the map.
6. Lightroom automatically adds the latitude and longitude coordinates. When you export the photo as a JPEG, make sure the metadata settings are configured to include location information.

There are also free desktop programs like GeoSetter (for Windows) that offer more advanced control over geotagging batches of photos.

Best Practices: Making Your GMB Photos Work Harder

Geotagging is important, but it’s just one part of a comprehensive GMB photo strategy. To get the most out of your efforts, combine it with these other best practices.

1. Use Strategic File Names

Before you upload your geotagged photos, give them descriptive, keyword-rich file names. Google can read file names, so this is another small but easy opportunity to provide context.

Instead of uploading IMG_5834.jpg, rename it to something that describes the photo and includes your location and a keyword.
Good Format: service-or-product-city-state.jpg

Examples:

• artisan-latte-andersonville-chicago.jpg
• emergency-furnace-repair-brooklyn-ny.jpg
• custom-hardwood-floors-austin-texas.jpg

2. Focus on High-Quality, Authentic Images

Blurry, dark, or generic stock photos do more harm than good. Your business photos should be well-lit, in focus, and representative of the actual experience a customer will have. Show off your team, your products in action, your tidy workspace, your happy customers (with their permission!), and your storefront’s interior and exterior.

3. Add Photos to the Right Categories

Google Business Profile allows you to upload photos under specific categories. Taking the time to sort them builds a richer, more organized profile.

• Logo & Cover Photo: These are your most important branding images. Make sure they are high-resolution and properly formatted.
• Interior/Exterior: Geotag these photos directly at your location to give customers a clear idea of what your place looks like from the inside and out.
• Team: Help humanize your business with friendly photos of you and your staff.
• Product/Service In Action: Showcasing what you do is far more effective than just writing about it.

4. Keep It Fresh

Continuously adding new photos indicates to Google that your business is active and updating its information. It also gives potential customers a reason to check back and see what's new. A good routine is to add one or two new, geotagged photos every week.

Final Thoughts

Effectively optimizing your Google Business Profile is a mix of art and science, and geotagging your photos is a straightforward technique that leans on the scientific side of things. It's a direct, data-driven way to reinforce your location, build trust with Google, and gain a competitive edge in your local market without any complicated strategies.

Just like fine-tuning your Google profile connects you with local customers, a streamlined content workflow is vital for building a connection with your audience across all your social platforms. At Postbase, we built our platform to bring simplicity and sanity to managing a visually driven social media strategy. We focus on making it easy to plan your content calendar, schedule posts reliably across platforms like Instagram and TikTok, and manage all your engagement in one place so your brand always looks its best. If you want to spend less time fighting with clunky tools and more time creating, give Postbase a try.