When someone searches for "bakery near me", Google shows the businesses around them and, next to each one, their photos. For a local business, photos are the shop window: they show the place and the work before the customer walks in.
Each of those photos can carry one more piece of data inside: the exact spot where it was taken. That is a geotag.
What geotagging is
A geotag is the location saved inside a photo file: the latitude and longitude of the spot, in the same format your phone's GPS uses. It travels with the image in a block of data called EXIF, and you cannot see it in the picture.
Your phone already geotags on its own when the camera has location permission. That is why your gallery can show your photos on a map.
Geotagging means adding or fixing that location. It is useful for photos taken with location off, for photos someone else sent you and for photos that went through WhatsApp, which lose almost all their data along the way.
What data a geotagged photo carries
| Field | Example |
|---|---|
| GPS coordinates | -25.33612, -57.50988 |
| Description | Sunrise Bakery, bakery in Austin |
| Keywords | bakery, Austin, bakery Austin |
| Author and copyright | © 2026 Sunrise Bakery |
| City and country | Austin, United States |
What matters most are the coordinates: the description, keywords and author complete the photo's record, and any photo app, Windows or a Mac shows that data.
Why geotag your business photos
Every photo confirms where you are
Google builds a local business listing from everything it finds: the name, the address, the phone number, the website, the reviews and the photos. The more of that data lines up, the clearer it is where you work and who should see you. A photo with your business location is one more piece of data pointing to the same place.
It helps with "near me" searches
"Near me" is the search where location matters most. Many local SEO agencies geotag their clients' photos for exactly that reason, and a 10-week study with 27 lawn care companies found an improvement in "near me" searches inside the areas marked by the photos' coordinates.
We geotag every client's photos too, before they go up on their Google profile and their website. With the tool below, it takes two minutes per batch.
Your website: file name, alt text and location
Google understands an image through its file name, its alt text and the text around it. A photo named bakery-austin-1.jpg, with its alt text, a description and the business geotag, says the same thing everywhere: a bakery in Austin.
Your photos stay signed
The description, the author and the copyright live inside every photo. If someone shares or reuses the image, your business name travels with it. Google Images, for example, shows a photo's creator and credit when that data is stored in the file.
Your work archive stays sorted by area
For a business that works in different places, like a builder or an air conditioning installer, every geotagged photo stores where the job was done. That lets you build your portfolio by neighborhood or city, and show each new customer work near their home.
How to geotag your photos for free
Geotag photos, free
Search the address, drop the pin on the map and download your photos with your business location.
- Open Geotag photos on your phone or computer.
- Search your business address, paste a Google Maps link or tap the exact spot on the map.
- Fill in your business name, the city and what you sell.
- Add the photos and tap Geotag.
- Download everything in a ZIP or save the photos to your gallery with the Share button.
The tool runs in your browser: the photos are processed on your own device and stay with you. It also handles iPhone HEIC photos, PNG and WebP, and MP4 and MOV videos.
If you work in several areas, choose Several places: drop one pin per job or neighborhood and the tool spreads the photos across the pins.
How to copy exact coordinates from Google Maps
On a phone
Open Google Maps and press and hold the exact spot until a pin appears. The coordinates show up in the search bar or in the card at the bottom: tap them and they are copied.
On a computer
Right click the exact spot. The coordinates are the first item in the menu: one click and they are copied.
The full Google Maps link works too. The tool takes the coordinates of the pin, which is the exact spot of the business.
How to turn on location in your phone's camera
That way your new photos come out geotagged from the start.
- iPhone: Settings, Privacy and Security, Location Services, Camera, and choose "While Using the App".
- Android: open the camera, go to its settings and turn on "Save location" or "Location tags", depending on the brand.
Good practices for your business photos
- Use the real location of the business, or the spot where you did each job.
- Name the files after what the photo shows and the city:
bakery-austin-1.jpg. - Write a short, real description: what is in the picture, which business it belongs to and in which city.
- Upload new photos steadily to your website and your Google Business Profile: the place inside and out, and the finished jobs.
- Check photos taken at home before you post them online: they carry the location too, and See and remove the metadata of a photo removes it in one tap.