How is the Extractor different from the Alt Text Checker?

The Checker focuses on Pass/Fail verification — "does this image have alt text?" The Extractor pulls the actual alt text strings out into a structured list. Use the Checker for compliance audits where you need a yes/no per image. Use the Extractor when you want to read or export the alt text content for review, migration, or competitor analysis.

Can I use this for competitor research?

Yes, that is the most common power-user case. Run the top 5 ranking pages for your money keyword through the extractor. Export the CSV and read what alt text successful competitors use. Their patterns (length, keyword inclusion, tone) inform your own image-SEO strategy. Cheaper than enterprise SEO suites for one-off competitor work.

Does it pull image URLs as well as alt text?

Yes. The CSV export includes both the image src URL and the alt text, so you can match each alt to its image. Useful for content migration, reviewing your asset library, or building searchable image catalogs for large teams.

How many URLs can I process at once?

Up to 50 URLs per scan in standard mode. With Batch Processing toggled on, the tool processes pages in parallel groups of 10, comfortably handling 100+ URLs in a single session. For very large crawls (1,000+ URLs), use a desktop tool like Screaming Frog.

Will it find images loaded by JavaScript?

It catches images with src in the server-rendered HTML, including standard data-src lazy-load patterns. Pure JavaScript-driven image injection (where src is set only after window load by client code) may be missed. Most modern lazy-load libraries work; very custom implementations may not.

Can I filter by Missing vs Good alt?

Yes. After scanning, click the Missing tab to see only images without alt text, or Good for images with alt text. The All tab shows both. The accordion view groups results by page so you can see which specific URLs have problems.

How do I export the data?

Click "Export CSV" after a scan completes. You get a CSV with columns: Page URL, Image Source, Alt Text, Status (Good/Missing). Open in Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet tool. Sort by Status to focus on Missing items.

Will it work on pages behind a login?

No. The extractor fetches public HTML the same way an anonymous browser would. For authenticated pages, manually inspect via your browser's DevTools (Inspect > Elements tab > search for alt) and copy the data into a spreadsheet yourself.

Does it preserve the order of images on the page?

Yes — images are returned in DOM order. The first image in the source HTML is first in the output. This matters for context: the first image is usually the hero/featured image, the rest are body images. The order in CSV reflects this.

How is the data privacy?

We fetch the URL server-side and parse it. We do not store your URLs, your alt text, or your CSV exports beyond the immediate request lifecycle. The output CSV downloads to your device only. There is no account, no tracking link, no analytics on the alt text content.

What if a page has no images?

You see "No images found on this page" in that page's accordion. The summary counts that page in the URL count but contributes zero to the image total. This is normal for text-only pages, terms-of-service docs, or simple landing pages.

Can I track alt text changes over time?

Not directly — this is a snapshot tool. To track changes, run an extraction monthly, export to CSV, store in a Drive folder dated by month. Diff the latest two exports in your spreadsheet tool to see what changed. For automated tracking, use a paid SEO suite or write a script using the same approach.

Free SEO Tool

Free Image Alt Text Extractor

Pull every alt text and image src from up to 50 URLs into a clean exportable list. Filter by Missing or Good, export CSV. Free, no signup.

4.6on G2

4.8on Trustpilot

Used by 50,000+ SEO and content teams

What the Image Alt Text Extractor does

Where the Alt Text Checker gives you a Pass/Fail count per image, the Extractor pulls the actual text content out into a structured list. You see every alt string in your asset library, sorted and filterable, exportable to CSV. It is the right tool when you need to read what alt text exists, not just whether it exists.

Run a single page or up to 50 at once. The output groups by page, with thumbnail previews and Missing/Good badges. Export as CSV for migration prep, competitor research, brand-voice audits, or WCAG compliance documentation. Free, unlimited, no signup — the bulk version of "View Source > Ctrl+F > alt=" that scales to a real workflow.

How to extract alt text

Five steps from URL list to CSV export.

Paste URLs (one per line)

Add 1-50 URLs in the textarea, or upload a CSV file with a list of URLs.

Toggle batch mode (optional)

For 10+ URLs, enable Batch Processing to fetch in parallel groups of 10.

Click Check Alt Text

The extractor pulls every <img> tag and its alt attribute from each URL.

Filter and review

Use Missing / Good tabs and the Website filter to focus on what matters most.

Export CSV

Download the structured data. Import to spreadsheet for analysis, migration, or compliance evidence.

When SEOs and content teams use it

Six common workflows where the extractor pays for itself.

Competitor image SEO research

Run the top 5 SERP results for your target keyword. Export their alt text patterns. See: do they include the keyword, what length is typical, what tone? Use the patterns to inform your own image alt strategy without copying.

Content migration prep

Moving a 500-page site to a new CMS. Extract all images and alt text upfront. Import to the new CMS as a structured CSV mapping. Saves hours vs. re-typing alt text image by image.

Asset library audit

You have 2,000 images across the site, no idea which are well-described and which have generic alt. Extract all, export, sort by alt length and status. Quickly see which assets need rewrite.

Brand voice audit

Different content writers wrote alt text in different voices over the years. Extract all, read together, see the inconsistency. Standardize on one voice (descriptive, branded, formal) and rewrite the outliers.

WCAG documentation evidence

Public-sector or enterprise client requires WCAG compliance documentation. Extract all alt text, hand the CSV to legal/compliance as evidence that images have descriptive text. Re-run quarterly to maintain documentation.

Image SEO opportunity finder

Filter the export to alt text under 30 chars or generic strings ("image", "photo"). These are quick-win rewrites — replace each with a descriptive 8-15 word alt that includes keywords. Re-index, watch image search traffic.

Workflow integrations

How to slot the extractor into the workflows it pairs best with.

Competitor research workflow

Identify top 5 SERP competitors for your money keyword.
Run their URLs through the extractor with batch mode on.
Export CSV. Sort by character count to see the alt-length pattern. Read 10-15 representative samples to understand voice and keyword usage.

Content migration to new CMS

Extract all alt text from your current site URLs.
Export CSV; map each image src to its alt text in your migration script.
Import to the new CMS with the alt text preserved — no manual re-entry per image.

WCAG compliance audit

Define your audit scope (top 50 organic pages or full site).
Run extraction; export CSV with Status column.
Filter to Missing rows, fix in CMS, re-run, archive the clean CSV as compliance evidence.

Image SEO sprint

Extract all alt text from your top 30 organic pages.
Filter to short or generic alt text (under 30 chars or "image"/"photo" patterns).
Rewrite each in CMS to descriptive 8-15 word alt with keywords. Re-extract to verify, request re-indexing in Search Console.

Brand voice consistency audit

Extract all alt text into a single CSV.
Read 50-100 random alt strings — pattern-match for voice consistency, formality, keyword treatment.
Document a brand alt-text style guide; rewrite outliers, re-extract to verify.

Grigora vs. other extractors

A side-by-side of the alternatives.

Capability	Grigora	Screaming Frog	SEMrush	Free generators	View Source
Bulk URL extraction	Up to 50/scan	Yes (paid)	Yes	1 URL	Manual
Free + unlimited	Yes	Limited free	Free trial	Free, ad-supported	Manual only
Image preview thumbnails	Yes	No	Partial	No	View Source
Missing/Good badges	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Manual
CSV upload + export	Yes	Paid only	Yes	No	Manual
Filter by status / website	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No
Batch parallel processing	Yes	Yes (paid)	Yes	No	No
No signup	Yes	Account required	Account required	Yes	Yes

Common errors and how to fix them

Eight issues teams hit when running bulk alt text extraction.

Tool returns "0 images" but the page has them

Cause: Images are CSS background-image, JavaScript-injected, or behind a paywall.

Fix: For background images, refactor to <img>. For JS-rendered content, server-render the markup. For paywalled pages, manually inspect via DevTools instead of using this tool.

Alt text contains escaped HTML entities

Cause: Source HTML has special characters encoded as entities.

Fix: Open the CSV in a spreadsheet; Excel and Google Sheets decode entities automatically on display. For programmatic processing, run the alt strings through an HTML decoder.

CSV upload fails with "no URLs found"

Cause: Your CSV had headers, blank rows, or non-URL content.

Fix: Make sure each row is a valid URL. Strip headers. Or simply paste URLs into the textarea instead — the parser is more forgiving than CSV upload.

Some images show as Missing but the page has alt text

Cause: Alt text is set via JavaScript after page load, not in the HTML source.

Fix: Add alt to the <img> tag in your CMS / template directly. JavaScript-set alt is invisible to crawlers and to this extractor; it does not help SEO either.

Tool times out on a slow URL

Cause: Target server is slow or rate-limiting.

Fix: Retry that URL alone after 30 seconds. If persistent, check the page manually with View Source.

Image preview thumbnails do not load

Cause: CDN serving the images blocks cross-origin embedding.

Fix: Preview failure is cosmetic — the alt text data is still extracted. Ignore the broken thumbnail; rely on the alt + src columns in the CSV.

Same image appears N times in the export

Cause: Image is in your site header/footer, so it is on every page.

Fix: Expected. Fix the alt once in your theme; it propagates everywhere. Re-extract to confirm.

Batch processing seems slow

Cause: A few slow pages in the batch are holding up the parallel group.

Fix: For very mixed page speeds, standard mode (sequential) may be more predictable. Try toggling batch off for next run.

Original data from our 2026 alt text audit

What we observed scanning 2,000 random pages with the extractor.

76%

Average % of pages with at least one missing alt (sample n=2,000)

20-50 chars

Most common alt text length range

12%

Pages where alt text matched the file name (low quality)

38 sec

Median time to extract from 30 URLs (batch mode on)

Frequently asked questions

Twelve answers covering what teams ask us about alt text extraction.

Related free tools

Other utilities that pair well with the Image Alt Text Extractor.

Extract alt text from a batch of URLs

Paste your top organic pages and competitors. See every alt string side by side. Free, unlimited, no signup.

Try the Alt Text Extractor