Rental listing photo checker

What the checker can and can't tell you

It tells you whether a listing photo shows signs of AI generation or editing, which detector fired, and why. It can't tell you whether a listing is a scam.

Many dodgy listings use ordinary photos copied from other listings, and an AI detector won't flag those. And many honest agents use software to add furniture to empty rooms, which it may flag. Treat the verdict as one signal among several.

Checks that matter more

• Reverse image search every photo. The same apartment under another name, another city or another price is a strong warning sign.
• Don't pay a deposit, fee or first month's rent before you've seen the place, in person or on a live video tour you direct. Ask them to open a particular cupboard or show the view from a particular window.
• Check that the person can actually rent it out: confirm who owns or manages the building through a source you found yourself, not one they gave you.
• Look up the address on a map and compare the street with the photos.
• Be wary of pressure to decide today, stories about being abroad, and requests to pay by wire transfer, gift cards or crypto.

Staged rooms are common

Virtual staging, adding furniture and decor to photos of empty rooms, is a normal part of renting out and selling property, and much of it is done with AI now. A flag on a staged room isn't a sign of a scam by itself. Ask for unstaged photos, or better, a viewing.

Getting a good check

• Check every photo in the listing, not just the first one.
• Open each photo full size and save it, or copy the image's address and paste the link.
• Listing sites shrink and compress photos. Images under 256 pixels on the short side are refused, and a refusal doesn't use a free check.
• Screenshots add compression. The original file works best.

Where it can miss

• Photos of a different apartment aren't AI, so they won't be flagged. Reverse search catches those.
• Small edits, such as a bluer sky or a removed stain, can slip under the threshold.
• Heavily compressed photos are harder to judge and get flagged by mistake more often than clean ones.
• New generators appear all the time. Some AI photos slip under the threshold.

Questions