Frequently asked questions.
Everything we get asked about Face Search AI. If your question is not here, contact the team and we will add it.
How face search works
What is a reverse face search?
A reverse face search is the image-search equivalent of a reverse phone lookup. Instead of typing a name, you upload a photo of a face and the engine returns other public pages that contain the same face. Face Search AI compares facial geometry, not file hashes, so it can match a face across different photos, lighting, and crops. Every result links to the public source URL so you can open the page and confirm the context for yourself.
What does Face Search AI actually scan?
Only the public web. That means pages anyone can open in a browser without logging in: news sites, blogs, public social profiles, forums, image archives, and personal portfolios. We do not crawl private accounts, paywalled archives, government databases, surveillance feeds, or anything that requires a login. If a search engine like Google or Bing cannot reach a page, neither can we.
How does the matching engine compare faces?
The engine extracts a numeric representation of facial features (eye spacing, nose bridge, jaw shape, and dozens of other landmarks) and compares that vector against the vectors already indexed from public pages. Closer vectors get a higher confidence score. The system is geometry-aware, so a person can look different in two photos and still match. Pose, lighting, and image quality all affect the score, which is why we always show the source URL for verification.
How long does a single search take?
Most searches finish in 5 to 12 seconds. The first ranked candidates appear as soon as they are scored, and the engine keeps scanning in the background for roughly 30 seconds to maximise recall. You do not have to wait on the page; results are saved to your search history (if you are signed in) and you can come back to them later from any device.
Accuracy and quality
How accurate are the matches?
Accuracy depends almost entirely on the input photo. A clear, front-facing photo with both eyes visible and a single face in frame produces the strongest matches. Side profiles, sunglasses, heavy filters, low resolution, or group shots reduce confidence. Face Search AI returns a ranked list with a confidence score on each result so you can judge for yourself, but the score is not identity proof. Always click through to the source page to confirm context before acting on a match.
What kind of photo gives the best result?
A passport-style headshot is ideal: front-facing, neutral background, both eyes open and visible, no sunglasses, no heavy makeup, no extreme angle. JPG, PNG, and WEBP up to 10MB are supported. If the photo has multiple faces, crop to a single face before uploading. Photos under 200 pixels wide rarely match; aim for at least 400 pixels across the face.
Why did my search not find anyone?
A few common reasons. The face was not on a publicly crawlable page (private social account, deleted profile, paywalled archive). The photo quality was low. The angle was extreme or partially obscured. Or the person genuinely has very little online presence. Try a different photo of the same person; even a small change in pose or lighting can surface new matches because the engine extracts different landmark patterns.
Can I trust a match without clicking through?
No, and you should never act on a face match score alone. The score reflects facial-geometry similarity, not identity. False positives happen, especially for very common facial structures. Always open the source URL and read the surrounding context: who is on the page, when was it published, what is the caption. Face Search AI is a discovery tool, not an identity-verification service. Treat every result as a lead that you confirm by hand.
Pricing and free tier
Is Face Search AI free?
Yes. Anyone gets 3 free searches per day with no card, no signup, and no auto-trial. That is enough for most casual use: a dating-profile check, a quick personal-footprint audit, a one-off lookup. If you need more volume, paid plans start at $7.77 per month. There is no surprise renewal and no dark pattern; you can cancel from the dashboard at any time.
What does $7.77 per month get me?
The $7.77 plan unlocks a higher daily search allowance, full search history retention, saved searches, and faster queue priority during busy hours. It is built for people who use face search a few times a week (investigators, journalists, recruiters, dating-app users running ongoing checks) rather than once a year. Plan details and the current allowance are listed on the pricing page; terms may vary by region.
What happens if I run out of free searches?
The free tier resets every 24 hours, so if you hit your three searches today you can run more tomorrow. If you need additional searches right now, the $7.77 monthly plan unlocks them immediately, or you can wait for the daily reset. We do not charge per overage and we do not trap you in an auto-trial; the choice is plain monthly or the daily free tier.
Do you have an API?
Yes. Face Search AI offers a programmatic API for teams that want to run face searches at scale (trust and safety, fraud, investigations, content moderation). Plans start at $50 per month. See the API access page at /api-access for the current rate limits, pricing tiers, and authentication details. The API uses the same matching engine as the web product, so quality is identical.
Privacy and data
What happens to the photo I upload?
Your uploaded photo is processed in memory to extract the facial-geometry vector used for matching, then it is deleted as soon as the search completes. The uploaded image is not added to our index, is not shown to anyone else, and is not used to train any model. The only thing we retain from your upload is the search record itself (a timestamp and the result list) if you are signed in and want history.
Do you keep my photos?
No. The photo you upload is deleted after the search runs. We do not store it, we do not back it up, and we do not pass it to third parties. The index that powers Face Search AI is built from publicly crawlable pages, not from user uploads. If you delete your account, the associated search history (timestamps and result links) is also deleted; there is no shadow copy.
Can I remove my face from your index?
Yes. Opt-out is free and permanent. Submit the URLs of the pages you want excluded through our data-removal form at /data-removal. We verify the request, remove the indexed entries within a few business days, and add the source URLs to a do-not-recrawl list so they are not re-added later. There is no PROtect-style paid tier required to opt out; the same removal flow is available to everyone.
Do you train AI models on my uploads?
No. Uploads are not added to any training set. The matching engine is trained on public datasets and is updated through the normal model-development cycle, not from incoming user photos. We made this choice deliberately so that running a search does not implicitly contribute your face (or anyone else's face you searched for) to a model you have no visibility into.
Legal and compliance
Is reverse face search legal?
In most jurisdictions, searching publicly available images is lawful, and Face Search AI only indexes the public web. Biometric-privacy law varies by region (Illinois BIPA, the EU AI Act, several US state laws), so the service is geofenced in regions where it cannot operate compliantly. We choose to restrict access rather than cut corners. If the service loads for you in your region, it has been cleared for that region.
Which regions is the service available in?
Availability changes as regional law evolves, so the authoritative answer is whether the search page loads for you. Where the service is restricted, we display a clear notice rather than silently degrading the experience. If you reach Face Search AI from a region we currently do not serve, you will see that notice on the homepage; we are not hiding the service from you, the legal framework just does not allow operation there yet.
How do I submit a DMCA takedown?
If a search result links to a page that contains your copyrighted content used without permission, you can file a DMCA takedown at /dmca. Provide the source URL, a description of the protected work, and your contact details. We act on valid notices promptly: the indexed entry is removed and the source page is added to our do-not-recrawl list so the same content cannot resurface from that URL.
Still have a question?
If your question is not covered here, the Face Search AI team will get back to you quickly. We add new entries to this page based on what people actually ask.
Contact the teamPricing, free-tier allowances, opt-out terms, and feature availability may vary by region and over time. Always confirm current terms on the relevant product page. Face Search AI indexes only the public web; face match scores reflect facial-geometry similarity, not identity.