ImageObject Schema Markup
ImageObject provides structured data about images, including creator information, licensing, and dimensions. While most image SEO is handled by other means, ImageObject is useful for stock photos, news images, and images with specific licensing.
Google Search Features
- Image metadata Creator, credit and license details for an image in Google Images, including the Licensable badge.
- Review snippet Star ratings and a review excerpt for the reviewed item. Local businesses and organizations: only reviews of other businesses, not reviews they collect about themselves.
When to Use ImageObject
Properties
| Property | Type | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| contentUrl | URL | required | Direct URL to the image file. |
| name | Text | optional | Image title or caption. |
| description | Text | optional | Description of the image. |
| creator | Person or Organization | optional | Who created the image. |
| creditText | Text | optional | Photo credit text. |
| license | URL | optional | URL to the image's license. |
| acquireLicensePage | URL | optional | URL where licenses can be purchased. |
| width | Integer | optional | Image width in pixels. |
| height | Integer | optional | Image height in pixels. |
JSON-LD Examples
Licensed Photo
A stock photo with licensing information.
{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "ImageObject",
"contentUrl": "https://photos.com/sunset-beach.jpg",
"name": "Sunset at Venice Beach",
"creator": {
"@type": "Person",
"name": "Alex Photos"
},
"creditText": "Photo by Alex Photos",
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"acquireLicensePage": "https://photos.com/licensing/sunset-beach"
}Common Mistakes
Using ImageObject when a simple image URL would suffice — only use ImageObject when you need to convey metadata.
Complete Guide to ImageObject Schema Markup
ImageObject describes an image as a thing in its own right: who made it, who holds the rights, how to license it and how big it is. Most images need no markup at all, since Google finds them in the page's img elements. ImageObject earns its place in two situations: when you want Google Images to show licensing details, and when another type's image property needs more than a URL.
The Google feature is image metadata. It requires contentUrl, the image file's address, and at least one of creator, creditText, copyrightNotice or license. With license, the page that explains the terms, and acquireLicensePage, where someone can obtain a license, Google Images can show a Licensable badge on the image. Google can also read the same details from IPTC metadata embedded in the image file.
creator is a Person or Organization, creditText is the credit line as it should be displayed ("Photo: Jane Doe / Example Agency"), and copyrightNotice is the notice itself. All three should match what the page and the file say.
As a property value, ImageObject lets you state an image's dimensions where Google has minimums. An Organization's logo can be an ImageObject with url, width and height; Google asks for a logo of at least 112×112 pixels. Article images can be ImageObjects too, and Google recommends images of at least 50,000 pixels (width times height) in 16×9, 4×3 and 1×1 versions.
The common mistakes are a relative contentUrl (use the full https address), a license that points at the image itself rather than at a page describing the terms, and ImageObject markup for decorative images that have no creator or license worth stating.
Related Types
Check Your ImageObject Markup
The generator doesn't have a ImageObject form yet. Paste your markup into the validator to check its types, properties and values, and what Google needs from it.
Open Validator