Articles on: Planning

Why does my link show the wrong image when published

The problem: the image doesn't appear as expected

When you schedule a post with a link to a web page (for example, a news article or blog post), the preview in Metricool may show the correct image. However, when published on Facebook or LinkedIn, a different image may appear, the website logo, or even no image at all.

The good news: this is not a Metricool error. The preview you see in Metricool is an approximation, but the final image displayed depends on the social network and the configuration of the page you're linking to.

Why this happens

Social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn don't "read" the article image directly. Instead, they look for a special tag on the web page called Open Graph image (or og:image).

If that tag doesn't exist or isn't properly configured:

Facebook may show the first image it finds on the page (usually the logo)
LinkedIn may not show any image or display an incorrect one

Metricool also uses the og:image tag to select the image when you publish from an RSS or auto list. If the web page doesn't have it configured, the result may be the logo or the first image in the HTML code.

How to fix it

1. Check if your page has the correct image configured

You can verify if your web page has the correct image configured for sharing. Use the official tools from each social network:

Facebook: Facebook Sharing Debugger
LinkedIn: LinkedIn Post Inspector

These tools show you exactly what image the social network is detecting and if there's any problem.

2. If the image is incorrect, contact your web team

If you see that the image is incorrect or an error appears when using these tools, it means your web page needs to add or fix the og:image tag. This is something the person responsible for your website needs to configure.

The og:image tag is added in the HTML code of the page and should point to the image you want to display when someone shares that link on social networks.

Once the tag is corrected on your website, use the Facebook or LinkedIn tools to "scrape again" the page. This way, the social network will update the image it will display when sharing that link.

If you can't modify the web page, an alternative solution is to manually add your own image to the post instead of using the link preview. This gives you full control over which image is displayed. Learn more in Scheduling content with links.

It's normal for the preview in Metricool not to match exactly what gets published. Metricool generates a preview based on available information, but the final image is always decided by the social network based on what it finds on the linked page.

That's why it's important to use the Facebook and LinkedIn tools to see what image they're actually detecting.

Updated on: 29/04/2026

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