Frequently Asked Questions

Search

• How do I perform a search?

  Select from one of our free membership plans. After you have created an account, upload an image by clicking on the white search bar at the top of the home page. It will prompt you to select a file. Click the file you wish to use and select "upload" or the small magnifying glass icon next to the search bar. Be patient as we search through 800 million images to find what you are looking for.

• Why does it take so long for reverse searches?

  We are scanning over 800 million images all over the internet. Sometimes it may take time in order to give you your search results because our database is so immense.

• What should I do if I find someone using my image?

  First, document everything. Screenshot the page, note the URL, and save the date you discovered it. This evidence matters if you later pursue legal action or file a DMCA takedown.

  Next, decide your approach. You have several options: send a DMCA takedown notice to the website host, contact the site directly and request removal, negotiate a licensing fee for continued use, or consult a copyright attorney for significant infringement. The right choice depends on who's using your image and how.

• How do I read my search results?

  Each result shows: the URL where your image was found, a thumbnail preview, the match confidence percentage, and when we first detected the match. Results are sorted by confidence score—highest matches appear first.

  Click any result to see more details, including the page title and a larger preview. You can also visit the source page directly to see your image in context.

• What does the match percentage mean?

  The match percentage indicates how similar the found image is to your original. A 100% match means an exact duplicate—same pixels, same dimensions. Scores between 80-99% typically indicate your image with minor modifications: resizing, cropping, compression artifacts, or slight color shifts.

  Scores between 60-79% often mean more significant changes: heavy cropping, color filters, or watermark removal. Below 60%, the match might be a false positive or a heavily transformed version. Always verify lower-confidence results manually.

• Can I search using a URL instead of uploading?

  Yes. If your image is already online, you can paste the URL instead of uploading. We'll fetch the image and search for matches. This is useful when you want to check an image you found somewhere and track where else it appears.

• How many images can I search at once?

  You can search one image at a time through the website. However, if you have a large portfolio to check, our batch upload feature lets you queue multiple images. They'll process sequentially, and you'll receive results for each.

  For high-volume needs—hundreds or thousands of images—our API offers programmatic access. Contact us for API pricing and documentation.

• Why am I getting results that don't match my image?

  False positives happen, especially with generic subjects. If you search a photo of a sunset, beach, or common product, you might see similar-looking images that aren't actually yours. Our algorithm finds visual similarity, not ownership.

  Check the match percentage—lower scores are more likely to be false positives. You can also use filters to exclude certain domains or focus on specific regions of your image.

• Can I export my search results?

  Yes. From your results page, click the export button to download a CSV or PDF report. The export includes all URLs, match percentages, and detection dates. This documentation is useful for DMCA filings, licensing negotiations, or legal proceedings.

• How often should I search for my images?

  For most users, monthly searches catch new infringement before it spreads. If you regularly publish new work or have experienced theft before, weekly searches make sense. High-profile images—viral photos or popular artwork—benefit from more frequent monitoring.

  Instead of remembering to search manually, consider setting up automatic monitoring. Berify will search on your schedule and alert you to new matches.

• Why didn't Berify find a match I know exists?

  Several reasons why a known copy might not appear: the page isn't indexed by search engines yet (new pages can take weeks to index), the site blocks search engine crawlers, the image is behind a login or paywall, or the image was modified enough to fall below our detection threshold.

  If you know a specific URL contains your image, try searching with that URL directly—it may surface related matches we missed through general search.