In order to capture GPS data at the time the photograph is captured, the user must have a camera with built in GPS or a standalone GPS along with a digital camera. Two main options can be used to geotag photos: capturing GPS information at the time the photo is taken or 'attaching' geocoordinates to the photograph after the picture is taken. Such techniques can be used together with geotagging to provide alternative search techniques. The related term geocoding refers to the process of taking non-coordinate-based geographical identifiers, such as a street address, and finding associated geographic coordinates (or vice versa for reverse geocoding). The geographical location data used in geotagging can, in almost every case, be derived from the global positioning system, and based on a latitude/ longitude-coordinate system that presents each location on the earth from 180° west through 180° east along the Equator and 90° north through 90° south along the prime meridian.

Geotagging can tell users the location of the content of a given picture or other media or the point of view, and conversely on some media platforms show media relevant to a given location. Geotagging-enabled information services can also potentially be used to find location-based news, websites, or other resources. For instance, someone can find images taken near a given location by entering latitude and longitude coordinates into a suitable image search engine. Geotagging can help users find a wide variety of location-specific information from a device. This data usually consists of latitude and longitude coordinates, though they can also include altitude, bearing, distance, accuracy data, and place names, and perhaps a time stamp.

Geotagging, or GeoTagging, is the process of adding geographical identification metadata to various media such as a geotagged photograph or video, websites, SMS messages, QR Codes or RSS feeds and is a form of geospatial metadata. Geotagger 'Solmeta N2' for the Nikon D5000 DSLR

Geotag video