Getty Images’ Answer to AI Slop? Authentic, Verified Content

Visual storytelling this cycle won’t be easy. To combat the deluge of AI slop, campaigns will need speed, accuracy, context and, most of all, authenticity. Enter Getty Images. 

The company has built its reputation with differentiated content and insights data that helps practitioners tell great stories for their clients. Rene Aranzamendez has had a two-decade career with Getty Images starting as an archive editor and rising to senior manager of research.

In an interview with C&E, Aranzamendez explains how practitioners can now access everything from contemporary political coverage to archival photos to snapshots of modern American life that can distinguish a campaign’s paid media in the first full AI content cycle. 

C&E: Tell us about how Getty is vetting images and videos in this age of AI slop.

Aranzamendez: I’ve been with Getty Images for 20 years, and trust has always been at the center of what we do. Our editorial and creative libraries are supported by rigorous review processes designed to ensure that content is accurately represented and properly sourced. 

Alongside our trusted, human-authored visual content, Getty Images also utilizes and offers what we call VisualGPS, our proprietary visual insights platform and proprietary research. Rather than simply providing easily licensable photo and video content, VisualGPS combines Getty Images search and download intelligence, the expertise of our visual specialists, and independent market research conducted in partnership with MarketCast to help both our contributors, brands, and organizations understand which visuals resonate most with audiences. That allows the content in our collection to be crafted with intention and provides campaigns a means to make more informed creative decisions based on real consumer insights rather than assumptions.

C&E: So you have ways to ensure that a campaign won’t use an AI-altered image or an image that isn’t local by accident? 

Aranzamendez: Yes, our teams use both automated processes and human oversight to ensure an asset’s provenance and detect details that have been modified using AI. 

We know AI is an important tool, and Getty Images has embraced it responsibly. We’ve developed a commercially-safe generative AI offering that allows clients to create new imagery backed by our model and property released, creative library. At the same time, we maintain a clear distinction between AI-generated content and our core creative and editorial collections. We do not accept AI-generated imagery into those libraries because our customers rely on them as trusted sources of authentic, human-created content.

And this is where our Research team becomes a real advantage. Many of our researchers have been with Getty Images for 20 years or more. They don’t just know how to search a database, they know the collection, the history behind it and the stories it contains. Clients can come to us with a simple brief or even just an idea, and we’ll curate content that fits their message, saves them valuable time, and allows them to proceed with full confidence.

Our researchers are embedded in the business. Every morning we’re participating in editorial planning meetings with our news desk and photographers, so we know what content is being captured, what’s available now, and what’s coming next. At the same time, they’re studying VisualGPS insights and the latest consumer research to understand which imagery resonates with specific audiences and communities.

That combination of institutional knowledge, editorial awareness, and data-backed visual insights means we’re not simply delivering imagery, we’re helping clients solve communications challenges. Whether the need is breaking news, archival content, creative imagery or a highly specific local story, our team can quickly connect clients with visuals that are authentic, relevant, and effective. And our research services continue to be completely complimentary to our clients. 

C&E: Tell us more about VisualGPS, which is unique to Getty. 

Aranzamendez: VisualGPS is a first-of-its-kind visual insights platform designed to help brands and communicators navigate an increasingly crowded visual landscape. It combines Getty Images search and download data, insights from our visual experts and ongoing market research to understand how consumers respond to imagery. 

Rather than relying on intuition or assumptions, clients can access research-backed insights and content that drives engagement among modern audiences. For political campaigns, that means making creative decisions informed by data about how voters perceive authenticity, representation, and visual storytelling. For example, one of our most recent areas of research looks at how generations are portrayed in visual media. Too often, entire age groups are reduced to stereotypes – the tech-averse Boomer, the entitled Millennial, the forgotten Gen X voter – and those assumptions inevitably make their way into campaign creative.

What our research consistently shows is that people want to see themselves represented authentically, not as caricatures. By combining consumer research with Getty Images’ search and download data, VisualGPS gives communicators a more accurate understanding of how different audiences perceive imagery and what builds genuine connection.

C&E: How does VisualGPS inform campaigns or agencies about the imagery that’s resonating with voters at different stages of the 2026 cycle?

Aranzamendez: VisualGPS transforms stock into strategy. The research continuously analyzes consumer perceptions of imagery, allowing creators to better understand what feels authentic and relatable to different audiences. 

One of my favorite examples is Repicturing Rural, where Getty Images partnered with Land O’Lakes to explore how rural Americans see themselves represented in media. The research found that two-in-three rural Americans believe existing imagery doesn’t accurately reflect their lived experience. Too often, “rural America” is represented by a single visual shorthand – a cornfield, a tractor or a Midwestern farm. But rural communities span every corner of the country and are home to nearly 50 million Americans, each with distinct identities, industries and lived experiences. 

Through VisualGPS research and our data-backed content, we’re helping communicators move beyond stereotypes and toward authentic representation. Whether you’re trying to connect with voters in South Jersey, Appalachia, the Mississippi Delta, tribal lands in the Southwest or agricultural communities across the West, we can help surface imagery that reflects those places and people accurately and respectfully. Because the most effective visual storytelling doesn’t ask audiences to see themselves in a stereotype, it allows them to see themselves in the story. And that is what creates trust — and trust is the foundation of every meaningful conversation. 

C&E: What is your data saying about images that are resonating with voters right now? 

Aranzamendez: Across industries, we’re consistently seeing audiences respond to imagery that feels rooted in real experiences.

The American population has never been more nuanced. Voters are navigating complex realities from the rising cost of living and access to healthcare to childcare, senior care, housing, and public safety. These aren’t abstract issues, they’re part of everyday life in communities across the country.

That’s why we place such an emphasis on authentic representation. Our content creators work to ensure our collection reflects the diversity of modern America, not just in terms of geography or demographics, but in lived experience. Whether you’re communicating with suburban families, young professionals, rural communities, veterans, retirees or first-time voters, the imagery must feel genuine and recognizable to the people you’re trying to reach.

C&E: What if a campaign or group wants to book a Getty photographer for an event they’re hosting, is that possible? 

Aranzamendez: Absolutely. Getty Images has a dedicated Assignments team that works with campaigns, organizations and brands to capture live events at every scale, from local press conferences and fundraisers to national conventions and major campaign moments.

What makes our service unique is that it’s much more than sending a photographer. We bring decades of experience covering live news and events, with photographers, videographers, editors and producers who understand how to identify and capture the moments that matter most.

Our editing teams work in real time, allowing images to move from camera to customer in under 30 seconds for priority events, giving communications teams access to high-quality, professionally edited content while the event is still unfolding. That speed can be critical for social media, rapid response, and earned media opportunities.

Clients can also leverage the global reach of Getty Images. Content can be delivered exclusively for campaign use, syndicated through Getty Images’ worldwide distribution network, or both, helping organizations amplify their message through trusted media outlets and publishers around the world.

And the service doesn’t stop with live events. Through our Custom Content team, Getty Images can create entirely bespoke visual collections tailored to a campaign’s audience and objectives. Leveraging our global contributor network and local creative talent, we can commission authentic imagery that reflects the communities campaigns are trying to reach.

If you’re speaking to Hispanic voters in Arizona, for example, we can work with photographers who understand that community and its nuances to create original content that feels genuine and representative. The same approach applies whether you’re communicating with suburban families in Pennsylvania or small business owners in South Florida. That content is created exclusively for the client, giving campaigns access to imagery that no one else has while ensuring every visual is rooted in authentic local perspective. 

C&E: What about if a client needs to get clearance for a photo, can your team help with that? 

Aranzamendez: Absolutely. And I think it’s important to recognize that copyright and clearances are often interpreted as the same thing when they’re actually very different.

First, Getty Images licenses many of our news and editorial collections for political use. We understand that timely, authentic editorial imagery is an essential part of modern campaigns, and much of that content can be licensed without obtaining additional permissions.

Where our Rights & Clearances team becomes especially valuable is when a campaign has questions about a specific use case or wants to use an editorial or archival image in a broader commercial context. Copyright and licensing can be nuanced, and every project is a little different.

Our specialists are available to review proposed uses, explain licensing considerations and help identify solutions or alternative content when additional permissions may be required. Those consultations are complimentary because our goal is to help clients move forward with confidence, not leave them guessing.

C&E: How does Getty Images define its relationship with political clients in 2026? 

Aranzamendez: We see ourselves as a solutions partner. Whether it’s finding the right image, navigating licensing questions or sourcing an alternative that accomplishes the same creative objective, our teams work together to help campaigns communicate with confidence. In a political environment where trust is earned one interaction at a time, every image matters.

People think of Getty Images as a library. I think of it more as a team of visual experts providing customized solutions. Technology makes accessing content faster, but expertise is what finds the right imagery, the imagery that will create engagement and shift perspectives – the unexpected photo or video that tells the story better, uncovers the archival gem no one else had or thought to use, or identifies a more authentic way to represent a community.

Click here to reach the Getty Images team.