2.3 Body content, quality & non-commodity ✦HighVerified
Important facts only in images
If key facts live only inside an image, text-based crawlers and AI cannot read them. Anything that matters needs to exist as real text.
What it is
Key info embedded in graphics, not text.
Why it matters
Googlebot reads text, not text-in-images; the info is invisible.
How to fix it
Provide the facts as real HTML text.
How to find it on your site
- Find images carrying important text or data, charts, infographics, screenshots of specs.
- Check whether the same information exists as text on the page.
- Add the key facts as real text, with the image as support.
- Use alt text and captions as well, not instead.
Cross-reference to ranking and citation factors
Text-only crawlers and AI cannot extract facts trapped in images. Expressing them as text makes them indexable and quotable.
Impact
Medium-high. Direct.
Evidence
Express visual content in text; image text is invisible. Google Search Central, SEO Guide for Web Developers