Start with the claim
If someone says a picture documents a particular event, trace its source and surrounding publication. If you are evaluating whether a supplied portrait accurately represents you, compare it with your own originals. A detector score does not replace either task.
Keep evidence separate
- Record known source pages and dates as source evidence.
- Record detector output as a tool estimate, if used.
- Check captions and any available creation history.
- State uncertainties rather than combining numbers into a false certainty.
A real photograph may have been heavily edited. A generated image may have no prior searchable copy. An empty reverse search therefore does not establish that a file is AI-generated, and a match does not establish that its caption is true.
Choose a proportionate next step
For a consequential claim, ask for the original file or a credible publisher's explanation. Avoid accusing a person based on a single automated output. The useful result is a better-supported account of the picture's source and limitations.
Continue with copy search and face search explained.
Written by Facehunch with AI assistance and checked against the cited sources. Our editorial policy.