Affiliate Disclaimer Technology has made it possible to find someone from just a picture. The process is simple: download their photo and do a reverse image search. However, we found that different online tools deliver different results.
When you may need to find someone with a picture? There are various situations:
- to verify identity to ensure that a person is who they claim to be, useful for dating apps, job applications, and online transactions;
- to identifying unknown people in photos, such as someone you met briefly or an unfamiliar person in a group picture;
- to uncover fake profiles using stolen images;
- to find more information about someone;
- to reconnect with old friends through searching for them with pictures.
So, prepare someone’s photo and be ready to try the reverse image search methods we found out.
Do an AI Reverse Image Search
Effectivity: high
AI brings a different side of image recognition. Instead of the traditional method of comparing photos to those in a database, AI can analyze facial features and identify patterns. This is how it can find the same person in different photos.
There are lots of AI reverse image search tools. However, I found Lenso AI to be the most accurate for finding a person using their photo. When I used my photo with glasses, Lenso AI found my other photos, including those where I was not wearing glasses. It was quite impressive.
To use Lenso AI:
- Open lenso.ai on a web browser.
- You can drop an image from another website, copy and paste it, or upload it from your files.
- Lenso AI will display the exact match for that person and then other related images. However, you need a subscription plan to get the image’s source.
Verdict:
Lenso AI is great at finding other photos of the same person. It can show you all the websites where the photos are being used. For example, you can see if the photo has been uploaded on social media or dating sites.
Lenso AI also lets you see who else has used your photos on the web.
Pros:
- it identifies faces accurately;
- organizes search results according to exact matches and related images;
- subscription is optional.
Cons:
- requires a subscription to see an image’s source.
Search People by Image with TinEye
Effectivity: medium
TinEye is a reverse image search engine with a database of 72.8 billion indexed images. The platform can display identical photos of a person by tracking images across the web and discovering its origin.
To use TinEye:
- Open the TinEye website at https://tineye.com.
- You can upload an image from your files, add the image’s URL, or paste it into the search bar.
- TinEye will do an online image search and give you all the exact matches and the URLs where the photo has been used.
Verdict:
TinEye is most useful for verifying an image’s source. This can help protect copyrights.
It can prove useful if you’re a content creator, photographer, or online designer.
The tool will show you cropped pictures, duplicates, and other image transformations so you can find people who are using your photographs without consent.
Unfortunately, TinEye doesn’t help you find images of an ordinary person.
Pros:
- robust image search capabilities discovers similar and duplicate images online;
- identifies sources of images;
- free to discover images and their sources;
- no need to create an account.
Cons:
- it does not use facial recognition technology;
- does not work with low-quality images.
Search Person by Photo with Facecheck ID
Effectivity: medium
Facecheck.ID is a facial recognition tool. It allows you to upload an image and verify a person’s identity by matching faces across the internet.
Apart from doing a web search, Facecheck.ID can also do a criminal background check and detect scammers.
The platform claims to search millions of databases, including social media sites, inmate photograph repositories, news articles, and other online sources.
To use Facecheck.ID:
- Open the Facecheck.ID website.
- Upload the photo you want to search.
- Click the {Search the Internet] button.
Facecheck.ID will reveal exact matches and similar photos of the person you are searching for. In my case, test results were different for each search. But the service does work.
Verdict:
Facecheck.ID is most useful for searching for influencers and popular faces. Still, it can give you results for average people as well.
Pros:
- scans a vast database to match faces;
- gives a certainity score to show the reliability of the results;
- can identify scammers.
Cons:
- requires credits to unlock the image source.
Find Someone by Picture via PimEyes
Effectivity: medium
PimEyes is an online face tracker that can search for people by photo. The platform uses a powerful algorithm to find online images on non-indexed databases. This means it can find a photo that is not available on Google or Bing images.
To use PimEye’s reverse image search:
- Open the PimEyes website on a browser at this URL: https://pimeyes.com/en
- Upload a photo or use the camera icon to take a photo using your device.
- You can choose search time: any time, past 24 hours, past week, past month or past year. Besides, there is an option to add more photos for better results.
- Click the Start Search feature to obtain results.
PimEyes showed me all the places where the images appear online alongside links to the websites where the photos have been used.
While an image search is free, going to the image URL requires a paid subscription, which costs $14.99.
Advice: For better results, use a photo that clearly shows the person’s face.
Verdict:
PimEyes is good for searching someone’s other images online. You can also use it for verifying whether images are real or stolen.
PimEyes can help you know if someone’s profile is fake. Thus, it can tell you whether someone is on multiple dating apps and if there are duplicates of copyrighted photos.
Pros:
- uses facial recognition technology to identify similar faces;
- searches multiple sources, including websites, blogs, and company websites;
- refines the search by listing all the sources of an image.
Cons:
- does not crawl social media platforms.
Use Social Catfish to Find People by Photo
Effectivity: it depends on social media presence
The Social Catfish website is a background search site for dating. It uses a person’s name, email, phone, username, address, or image in its searches.
Because people often cheat with photos, especially on dating sites. With many online phishing scams, it doesn’t hurt to verify if a person you’ve never met is real.
Social Catfish image search can see if a person’s image appears online and if the photo has been used to catfish people. Nevertheless, the service charges for image searches, while offering a 3-day trial for $6.87 and then a monthly fee of $28.97.
To use Social Catfish reverse image search engine:
- Go to the social catfish website at https://socialcatfish.com/reverse-image-search/.
- Upload an image in the Social Catfish search bar and hit enter.
Social Catfish will process the image and show you results with the person’s online matches. Although the service doesn’t give any report preview without payment, it promises to show you the person’s aliases, associated websites, usernames, relationships, and even find online accounts on Tinder.
Verdict:
Social Catfish reverse image lookup tool is good to confirm a person’s identity before you meet them in person. This method is great at revealing if you’ve been talking to a real person on a dating site, or if you’re being catfished.
It’s even used on the MTV show Catfish to catch people lying about their identity. Thus, if you’ve never met someone in person, you can find out if your online relationship is authentic using this tool.
Pros:
- sources data from social media sites, public databases, and dating sites;
- uses facial recognition technology to match online profiles;
- can find images from databases not indexed by other search engines.
Cons:
- requires a subscription to do a reverse photo search;
- cannot access private social media accounts.
Google Reverse Image Search & Google Lens
Effectivity: low
Google reverse image search is the same as Google search, but with an image instead of text. Around March 2022, Google integrated the AI-enhanced Google Lens tool into its reverse image search functionality.
Thus, the traditional “Search Google for Image” option in Chrome’s context menu is replaced with “Search image with Google Lens.” The service uses AI-technologies that identify objects in an image, analyze them and give you results based on this, rather than just showing you similar images.
Still, the chances of finding an ordinary person with a picture on Google is extremely low.
You can do a Google reverse image search with Google Lens on a desktop or a mobile device.
- Open Google on any browser like Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.
- In the search bar, click the camera icon. You have several options here:
- On mobile phone through Google search bar or via Google Lens app:
– upload the media file from the phone’s Gallery;
– use the camera to take a picture to lookup it.
- On PC:
– upload the image from your computer;
– enter a link from an online image;
– drag a picture from another website.
Advice: if a picture is available online, but you can’t save it or extract its URL, you can try right-clicking the image and choose the “Search with Google Lens” option or take a screenshot and insert it into the reverse image search field.
- On mobile phone through Google search bar or via Google Lens app:
- If you use a group photo, move the edges of the frame to highlight the face of the person you want to find.
- You can add some text to narrow or refine your search.
- Click the search icon and Google reverse lookup will deliver results with exact and visual matches. Depending on the image, it may give more info about it.
Based on my experience, when I used my picture to search on Google, it returned results with photographs that looked similar on other websites but not exact photos of myself.
Obviously, AI does analyze different objects in the image, but it did not turn up exact matches to the photos I used.
The Google Lens tool focuses on some details in the picture: a piece of clothes, glasses, hairstyle, but not the face.
The famous face test was a little better. I chose the infamous Tinder Swindler (and that’s the minimum test every woman should do when dating online). Google showed me exact and similar images through the web.
Verdict:
According to my tests, a Google reverse image search with Google Lens is good for searching for the source of the media file or images of renowned people. It does not produce useful results with a photo of a regular person, even if you download it from their social media account.
Pros:
- well-known reputable platform;
- accessible on desktop and mobile devices + Google Lens app for regular use;
- various options for searching an image, including mobile camera;
- scan an image directly from the camera or a group photo;
- uses Google database to find similar images;
- completely free.
Cons:
- results come from mainstream sources only.
Bing Image Search
Effectivity: low
The Bing search engine by Microsoft can also search the web using an image, from a PC or a mobile device. In addition to similar features to Google, Bing lets you upload an image directly from your camera.
To do a Bing image search:
- Open bing.com website. Choose the Images tab or click on the reverse image search icon in a search field.
- To try visual search, you can browse a certain image on your device, drag it there, copy and paste, insert URL, or take a photo.
- As soon as you give Bing the image, it will start a reverse search and return results with similar images and related content.
Verdict:
The Bing image search option is suitable for searching public image sources or additional pictures of famous people, since reverse lookup of private photos did not turn up any result.
Pros:
- search through copy & paste, link, and camera capture;
- shows related content with links to similar photos.
Cons:
- small database makes it difficult to find similar photos of regular people.
Best Practices for Finding People by Picture
To get the most out of the mentioned reverse image search methods to find someone by picture, follow the best practices listed below.
- Use a high-quality image
Make sure it is clear, well-lit, and in focus. Low-resolution or distorted images may sabotage accurate results. - Be cautious with paid reverse image lookup services
Research the company and read reviews to ensure they’re reputable and provide accurate results. Be wary of services that promise guaranteed results or charge exorbitant fees. - Respect online boundaries
When searching for someone online, respect their privacy and boundaries. Avoid sharing their personal information without their consent. - Verify information
When you find a potential match, verify the information to ensure it’s accurate: check multiple sources like social media profiles, people search websites, or public records. - Stay patient and persistent
Finding someone online can take time and effort. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t find the person right away – try different methods, and be patient with the process.
Conclusion
After comparing various reverse image platforms, I found Lenso.ai to be the most useful when you need to find a person with a photo. In this case, artificial intelligence really does outperform the other tools. However, you need a subscription to see the image sources. The same goes for Social Catfish.
Google images, Bing images, Google Lens, and Facecheck.ID didn’t help with finding ordinary people. You can only see publicly available images.
Lastly, TinEye and PimEyes are more suitable for content creators to find copyrighted media content.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
You are unlikely to find an ordinary person using a reverse image search on Google. It’s better to use a tool like Lenso.ai to do that.
Facebook does not have a reverse image search feature. Instead, use a tool that can search social media platforms, such as Social Catfish.
AI can use algorithms to search a face. Lenso.ai is one such tool for searching for someone by image.
You can search for a person using the selfie feature on Google Photos.
Reverse image search tools can tell you a person’s name using their picture. You can start by doing an image search on Google or Bing.
To search an image to Google search, open google.com and click the camera icon to upload a photo.
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