seo-images

Image Optimization Analysis

Checks

Alt Text

• Present on all <img> elements (except decorative: role="presentation")
• Descriptive: describes the image content, not "image.jpg" or "photo"
• Includes relevant keywords where natural, not keyword-stuffed
• Length: 10-125 characters

Good examples:

• "Professional plumber repairing kitchen sink faucet"
• "Red 2024 Toyota Camry sedan front view"
• "Team meeting in modern office conference room"

Bad examples:

• "image.jpg" (filename, not description)
• "plumber plumbing plumber services" (keyword stuffing)
• "Click here" (not descriptive)

File Size

Tiered thresholds by image category:

Recommend compression to target thresholds where possible without quality loss.

Format

Recommend WebP/AVIF over JPEG/PNG. Check for <picture> element with format fallbacks.

Recommended <picture> Element Pattern

Use progressive enhancement with the most efficient format first:

<picture>
  <source srcset="image.avif" type="image/avif">
  <source srcset

The browser will use the first supported format. Current browser support: AVIF 93.8%, WebP 95.3%.

JPEG XL: Emerging Format

Third-party reporting and Wikipedia describe a Rust-based JPEG XL decoder as shipped in Chrome 145 stable (2026-02-10) behind the chrome://flags/#enable-jxl-image-format flag, not enabled by default; no Google-owned confirmation was retrieved in the fact pack. Because default support is not confirmed, it is not yet practical for production web delivery. Keep serving AVIF/WebP with JPEG fallback and monitor.

Responsive Images

• srcset attribute for multiple sizes
• sizes attribute matching layout breakpoints
• Appropriate resolution for device pixel ratios

Lazy Loading

• loading="lazy" on below-fold images
• Do NOT lazy-load above-fold/hero images (hurts LCP)
• Check for native vs JavaScript-based lazy loading

Detected lazy-loader methods (lazy_method field)

"${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/scripts/claude-seo" run parse_html.py classifies each image's lazy-loading mechanism via the lazy_method field on every image entry. Five values:

When auditing image SEO, report lazy_method alongside loading so users know whether their site is using a JS-driven lazy-loader (in which case the native loading="lazy" attribute is intentionally absent, that is not a regression).

fetchpriority="high" for LCP Images

Add fetchpriority="high" to your hero/LCP image to prioritize its download in the browser's network queue:

Critical: Do NOT lazy-load above-the-fold/LCP images. Using loading="lazy" on LCP images directly harms LCP scores. Reserve loading="lazy" for below-the-fold images only.

decoding="async" for Non-LCP Images

Add decoding="async" to non-LCP images to prevent image decoding from blocking the main thread:

CLS Prevention

• width and height attributes set on all <img> elements
• aspect-ratio CSS as alternative
• Flag images without dimensions

File Names

• Descriptive: blue-running-shoes.webp not IMG_1234.jpg
• Hyphenated, lowercase, no special characters
• Include relevant keywords

CDN Usage

• Check if images served from CDN (different domain, CDN headers)
• Recommend CDN for image-heavy sites
• Check for edge caching headers

Output

Image Audit Summary

Prioritized Optimization List

Sorted by file size impact (largest savings first):

Recommendations

1. Convert X images to WebP format (est. XX KB savings)
2. Add alt text to X images
3. Add dimensions to X images
4. Enable lazy loading on X below-fold images
5. Compress X oversized images

Image SERP Analysis

When DataForSEO MCP is available, enhance the image audit with competitive data.

/seo images serp <keyword>

Cross-reference on-page images with Google Images SERP rankings.

Workflow:

1. Fetch Google Images results via serp_google_images_live_advanced (depth=100)
2. Extract: top domains, image types, alt text patterns
3. Output competitor image SERP landscape

Output:

Analysis includes:

• Domain dominance: which sites own the most image positions (top 10 by count)
• Alt text patterns: common title/alt patterns in top-ranking images
• Format distribution: WebP vs JPEG vs PNG in top results
• Opportunity score: keywords where you have page rankings but no image presence

If DataForSEO MCP is not available, inform user and suggest installing the extension.

Image File Optimization

Optimize image files for SEO: format conversion, metadata injection, compression.

/seo images optimize <path>

Optimize image file(s) for web and SEO. Converts to WebP/AVIF, injects IPTC metadata, compresses, and generates responsive variants.

Tools used (in order of preference):

• exiftool -- EXIF/IPTC/XMP read/write (install: sudo apt install libimage-exiftool-perl)
• cwebp -- WebP conversion (install: sudo apt install webp)
• ImageMagick convert -- Format conversion, resizing (pre-installed on most systems)
• FFmpeg -- Fallback for format conversion (pre-installed)

Before running: Check which tools are available with which exiftool cwebp convert ffmpeg.

Format Conversion

Convert images to modern formats with metadata preservation:

Metadata Injection (IPTC for Google Images Display)

Google Images displays IPTC Creator, Credit Line, and Copyright in search results. This is NOT a ranking factor but can improve Google Images display and brand attribution.

With exiftool (preferred):

With ImageMagick (fallback):

Note: WebP supports EXIF and XMP but not IPTC natively. For WebP files, use XMP fields instead of IPTC. exiftool handles this conversion automatically.

AI-Generated Images: DigitalSourceType (Merchant Center requirement)

For product images produced by generative AI, Google Merchant Center requires IPTC DigitalSourceType: TrainedAlgorithmicMedia metadata. This is an operational policy requirement, not a ranking factor: feeds missing this label on AI-generated imagery can be disapproved.

Primary source (Merchant Center AI-generated content policy): https://support.google.com/merchants/answer/14743464 (the ai-optimization-guide does not document DigitalSourceType/IPTC/Merchant labeling.)

Audit command:

Raw exiftool equivalents (for ad-hoc usage):

Google extracts these IPTC DigitalSourceType values:

• trainedAlgorithmicMedia: fully AI-generated (use this for diffusion-model product imagery)
• compositeSynthetic: mixes captured + AI-generated elements
• algorithmicMedia: created purely by an algorithm, not from sampled training data
• compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia: composite of trained algorithmic media + other media (e.g. AI inpainting/outpainting over a real photo)
• digitalCapture: fully captured photograph (note: digitalCapture is not on Google's extracted-values list, but is a valid IPTC value)

Provenance signals (consumer-facing): SynthID watermarks and C2PA Content Credentials are emerging signals for AI media identification. Treat product-surface coverage as subject to change unless verified from a current Google-owned source. This is detection/transparency, not an extra required Merchant feed field beyond IPTC DigitalSourceType.

Licensable images: to earn the Licensable badge, supply EITHER structured data (ImageObject with the license property + acquireLicensePage for the "Get this image" link) OR embedded IPTC photo metadata (Licensor URL / Web Statement of Rights). Cross-link seo-schema for the ImageObject markup.

Discovery note: image discovery now includes visual search fan-out across Lens / AI Mode / Circle to Search (Gemini multimodal scene/object understanding), so images surface via scene, objects, and materials, not alt text alone. No new published image-SEO lever yet; keep descriptive alt text + clean structured data.

When /seo images optimize is run on AI-generated assets, prompt the user to confirm the source type and inject the matching IPTC value automatically.

For AI-generated product titles and descriptions, Google Merchant Center also requires the AI-generated text to be separately specified and labeled in the feed. This is enforced at the feed layer, not the page layer, flag this in cross-reference with seo-ecommerce.

Metadata Audit

Full Optimization Pipeline

For maximum image SEO, run this pipeline on each image:

1. Audit existing metadata: exiftool -IPTC:all -XMP:all image.jpg
2. Inject IPTC/XMP metadata: Creator, Copyright, Description
3. Convert to WebP: cwebp -q 82 -metadata all image.jpg -o image.webp
4. Generate responsive variants: 400w, 800w, 1200w
5. Verify metadata preserved: exiftool image.webp
6. Generate <picture> HTML: AVIF > WebP > JPEG fallback chain

What Matters vs What Doesn't for Google Images

Error Handling