How To Detect Edited AI Photos Online

AI editing tools in Photoshop, phone galleries and apps make it easy to change a real photo convincingly. Several free online tools help you check, each answering a different question.

Was it edited with a tool that records changes?

Content Credentials Verify reads Content Credentials, a signed history some apps attach. Photoshop and Lightroom can record edits, including AI features such as Generative Fill. Upload the file or paste its address and read the list of actions.

What does the file's metadata say?

Metadata can show the editing software used and, for some tools, AI tags. Google Photos adds a note when Magic Editor was used, and Samsung adds one to Galaxy AI edits. In Chrome, AI Image Detector (made by Patrick Bushe, who runs this site) reads metadata on any image you right-click, listing editing software, camera details and AI signals, without uploading the image anywhere.

Is there an earlier version?

Google Lens, TinEye and Bing Visual Search find other copies of an image. An earlier, different version is the clearest evidence of editing. TinEye lets you sort results by oldest.

Forensic tools, with caution

Sites such as FotoForensics and Forensically offer error level analysis and other tests that highlight areas compressed differently from the rest. They can point to edited regions, but results are easy to misread, especially on images that have been resized or re-saved many times. Use them to decide where to look, not as proof.

Visual checks

• Soft or smudged edges around people and objects.
• Backgrounds that repeat or look painted.
• Lighting or shadows that don't match the rest of the scene.

Putting it together

One clue rarely settles it. An edit record, an earlier version, or several visual signs pointing to the same area make a strong case. Without those, describe the image as unverified.

See a quick routine for AI edits and checking an image's source and metadata.