What is alt text and why should you use it on social media?

Alt text is a short description of an image that helps people with visual disabilities understand its content through screen readers.

But its usefulness doesn’t stop there:

• It also helps assistive technologies and search engines better understand your content.
• Instagram has started indexing images with alt text on Google.

What does this mean? If your Instagram images include alt text, they can appear in Google search results when someone looks for related content. This makes alt text a powerful tool to increase your content’s visibility outside the platform. It's a great way to reach more people and strengthen your social strategy through SEO.

AI-generated alt text in Metricool

Metricool can automatically generate alt text for your images using artificial intelligence.

The AI analyzes the image and creates a clear, social-media-friendly description, saving you time and helping improve content quality.

Which plans include this feature?

• Advanced or Custom plans: feature included with no limits.
• Starter and Free plans: available using AI credits.

How to add Alt Text

To add alt text, follow these steps:

1. Go to Planning and click on ‘Create post’ or select a time slot in the calendar.
2. Choose the network(s) you want to post to.
3. Attach the image (you can upload it from your device, a URL, or use the image bank).
4. Click the three dots on the image and select “Generate alt text with AI”.
5. Review and edit if needed.
6. Click Accept to finish.

Done! You’ll see "Alt" on the image thumbnail. You can delete or edit the alt text by clicking the three dots again.

Images from the image bank include default alt text.

Related articles

• Edit images and videos while scheduling your content
• Mention and tag other accounts
• How to schedule a first comment
• How to schedule content in multiple social networks?
• Content planning: full guide & FAQs

Updated on: 09/07/2025