Image Sitemaps and License Metadata: Get Your Images Found and Credited

An image sitemap is an XML sitemap that also lists the images on each page, so Google can find pictures it would otherwise miss, such as images loaded by JavaScript. Image metadata is the second half of the job: license and credit information that tells Google who made an image and how others may use it.

What is an image sitemap?

It is a normal sitemap with an extra namespace and one <image:image> block per picture inside each <url>:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
        xmlns:image="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap-image/1.1">
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/sourdough-guide/</loc>
    <image:image>
      <image:loc>https://example.com/img/sourdough-crumb.webp</image:loc>
    </image:image>
    <image:image>
      <image:loc>https://example.com/img/sourdough-starter.webp</image:loc>
    </image:image>
  </url>
</urlset>

Google’s documentation allows up to 1,000 images per <url> tag. The required tags are <image:image> and <image:loc>.

Which image sitemap tags did Google drop?

In 2022 Google deprecated the optional <image:caption>, <image:title>, <image:geo_location> and <image:license> tags. They no longer appear in the documentation and Google does not use them. Old sitemap generators and tutorials still print them. Leave them out, and put the same information where Google does read it: on the page next to the image, in alt text and in license metadata.

Why do image sitemaps matter for SEO?

Google finds most images by crawling <img> tags in your HTML. An image sitemap helps when:

• Images load through JavaScript, galleries or sliders the crawler may not trigger.
• Images sit on a CDN on another domain. The sitemap can list URLs from other domains. Verify the CDN domain in Search Console so you receive crawl errors for it.
• Images are the product, as with photographers, stock sites, recipe sites and shops, where Google Images is a real traffic source.

A blog with 20 normal <img> tags and good internal links gains little from one. That is why the impact here is Low for most sites.

What is image license metadata?

It marks an image with its creator, credit line, copyright and license, and it makes the image eligible for the Licensable badge in Google Images. The badge links to the license and to how someone can obtain the image.

Google supports two ways. You can use either one, and if they conflict, Google uses the structured data.

An example in JSON-LD:

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org/",
  "@type": "ImageObject",
  "contentUrl": "https://example.com/img/sourdough-crumb.jpg",
  "license": "https://example.com/license",
  "acquireLicensePage": "https://example.com/licensing",
  "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jane Doe" },
  "creditText": "Example Bakery",
  "copyrightNotice": "Jane Doe"
}
</script>

Google says it does not guarantee the metadata will show. IPTC has one big advantage: the data travels inside the file, so it stays attached when others copy the image to another page.

How do you set it up, step by step?

1. Decide if you need it. Check Search Console, Performance report, Search type Image. If images bring real traffic, or you sell or license pictures, continue.
2. List the images that matter. Product photos, original photography and diagrams. Skip logos, icons and stock images you do not own.
3. Generate the image sitemap. WordPress plugins (Yoast SEO, Rank Math) add images to the standard sitemap. Static sites can extend their sitemap generator. Screaming Frog creates image sitemaps from a crawl.
4. Use only supported tags. <image:image> and <image:loc>, nothing else.
5. Submit it. Add it in Search Console under Sitemaps, or list it in robots.txt with a Sitemap: line.
6. Add license metadata for images you own. Write ImageObject JSON-LD on the page, or set the IPTC Web Statement of Rights and Licensor URL in the file with ExifTool or your photo editor.
7. Validate. Test the page in the Rich Results Test, and check the sitemap status in Search Console.
8. Fix the basics around it. Descriptive filenames, alt text and light files matter more than the sitemap.

How do you measure the result?

• Sitemaps report: status Success and the number of discovered URLs.
• Performance report, Search type Image: impressions and clicks over 3 months, compared with the previous period.
• Google Images itself: search for your image topics and look for the Licensable badge on your pictures.
• Rich Results Test and the structured data reports: no errors on the license markup.

What mistakes should you avoid?

• Using the deprecated tags. They do nothing now.
• Blocking images in robots.txt, which stops Google from indexing them.
• Listing images that are not on the page. Match each image to the page that really displays it.
• Claiming a license you do not hold. Mark only images you own or may license.
• Expecting the sitemap to rank images. It helps discovery. Relevance comes from the page text, alt text and filename.

Where can you learn more?

Google’s image SEO guide covers filenames, placement and supported formats. The free digital marketing module of the Fe/male Switch startup school covers sitemaps for new sites. For video files use video SEO, which has its own sitemap format.