Image license metadata: ImageObject markup for credits in Google Images

JSON-LD example

Copy this into a <script type="application/ld+json"> tag and replace the values with your own.

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "ImageObject",
  "contentUrl": "https://example.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/fog-over-point-reyes-lighthouse.jpg",
  "license": "https://example.com/licensing/terms/",
  "acquireLicensePage": "https://example.com/licensing/fog-over-point-reyes-lighthouse/",
  "creditText": "Ana Beltran / Northlight Images",
  "creator": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "Ana Beltran"
  },
  "copyrightNotice": "© 2026 Northlight Images LLC"
}

Properties

Structured data, IPTC, or both

Google reads image metadata from two places, and one is enough for the badge.

IPTC travels with the file, so a photo reposted elsewhere can keep its credit. Structured data wins if the two disagree. Google also reads the IPTC Digital Source Type field, which flags images made or altered with generative AI, using values such as trainedAlgorithmicMedia and compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia.

Earning the Licensable badge

With structured data, the badge requires license. Add acquireLicensePage too when you have one, because it is what turns the badge into a route to a sale or an inquiry. The two links serve different visitors: the license page answers "what am I allowed to do?" and the acquire page answers "how do I get permission?"

The image has to be indexable first. Google asks that pages with the images load without a login, that Googlebot isn't blocked by robots.txt or a robots meta tag, and that you follow its image SEO practices. A lightbox gallery that loads full-size files only through JavaScript, with no plain image URL in the page, gives Google less to work with. More on the basics in image SEO.

What WordPress keeps, and what it drops

When you upload a JPEG, WordPress reads some embedded IPTC and EXIF fields, including credit, copyright, caption and title, and stores them with the attachment. That doesn't put them in your page as structured data; it only saves them in the database.

The resized copies WordPress generates are another matter. Depending on the server's image library and any optimization plugin, embedded metadata may be stripped from thumbnails and medium sizes to save bytes. If you rely on IPTC, download a generated size from your uploads folder and check it in a metadata viewer. For portfolio pages, structured data is the dependable route. Hydrogen SEO's schema screens don't include an image license type, but the hydrogen_seo_schemas filter can add one block per image:

add_filter( 'hydrogen_seo_schemas', function ( $schemas ) {
    if ( is_singular( 'portfolio' ) ) {
        foreach ( get_attached_media( 'image', get_queried_object_id() ) as $img ) {
            $schemas[] = [
                '@context'           => 'https://schema.org',
                '@type'              => 'ImageObject',
                'contentUrl'         => wp_get_attachment_url( $img->ID ),
                'license'            => home_url( '/licensing/terms/' ),
                'acquireLicensePage' => home_url( '/licensing/' ),
                'creditText'         => 'Northlight Images',
            ];
        }
    }
    return $schemas;
} );

Mistakes that cost the badge

• contentUrl pointing to a thumbnail while the page shows a larger file. Match the file actually displayed.
• A license URL that is a home page. It should explain the terms.
• Metadata on one page only. Structured data is per page, so an image used on five pages needs it on all five.
• Claiming work you don't own. Credit and copyright must be accurate; this markup is a statement of rights.

Check the JSON-LD with the JSON-LD checker, then test the page URL in the Rich Results Test.