Geotagging
Also called: geotagged images, geotag
Geotagging is the practice of embedding geographic location data (usually latitude and longitude coordinates) into a file's metadata, most often the EXIF header of a photo or video. In local SEO it is a folk tactic of writing a business's coordinates into images before uploading them.
Geographic metadata holds more than coordinates. Altitude, bearing, a place name, and a timestamp all fit in the same standardized fields (EXIF, XMP, or IPTC) that travel with the file from site to site. A phone with GPS writes them automatically, and you can add them after the fact with a GPSLatitude / GPSLongitude editor.
Does it move local rankings?
Barely, and Google says it does not read it. Google’s own image documentation lists alt text, surrounding page content, structured data, and filenames as the signals it uses to understand an image. It does not mention EXIF or GPS as a ranking factor. Google representatives have said for years they do not currently use EXIF geolocation (Matt Cutts in 2014, Martin Splitt at SMX Advanced in 2024), and Google Business Profile strips EXIF from photos on upload, so the coordinates you embed are gone before anyone searches.
The best public test backs this up. A 10-week study of 27 lawn-care businesses (five weeks without geotags, then five weeks with) found geotagged Business Profile photos moved only one category, “near me” queries in the exact town targeted, while the other categories stayed flat or favored the no-geotag period. Geotagging every service area just to chase that one narrow lift is a poor trade against higher-impact local signals.
Treat geotagging as harmless housekeeping, not a ranking lever. If it is already on your images, leave it. Do not build a strategy around it.
How it affects your traffic
If your local rankings are flat, geotagging is not the missing lever. The signals that actually move the map pack are a fully built Google Business Profile, consistent NAP across citations, steady review velocity, and location-relevant page content. Our Local SEO work puts effort where Google actually reads it, instead of hours spent writing coordinates into image files that Google Business Profile deletes on upload. That is the difference between activity and rankings that bring in calls.
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