How To Use Altpilot: AI Alt Text Generator

We installed Altpilot on a client WordPress site and watched a small, annoying problem turn into a real one: 1,800 images with missing alt text. The site was fine until you remember screen readers, SEO, and the fact that nobody wants to spend their Friday writing “woman holding blue handbag“ 600 times.

Quick answer: Altpilot is a WordPress plugin that uses an AI model (GPT‑Mini) to generate alt text, image titles, and descriptions in bulk or per upload, and you get the best results when you set house rules first and keep human review in the loop.

What Altpilot Does (And Where It Fits In A WordPress Workflow)

Altpilot generates three pieces of image metadata inside WordPress: alt text, title, and description. You can run it on new uploads or sweep your Media Library for a backlog.

Here is why this matters:

• Accessibility: Alt text helps screen readers describe images to users who cannot see them.
• Search visibility: Alt text can help search engines understand what an image shows and how it relates to the page.
• Team sanity: AI drafts reduce the time your team spends on repetitive labeling.

In our workflow, Altpilot sits after upload and before publishing. That timing keeps your editors focused on content, while the plugin handles the repetitive “describe this image“ work.

If you run a WooCommerce store, it also fits neatly into product ops: upload product images, generate alt text in bulk, then do a quick spot-check before you push updates live.

Alt Text Vs. Image Titles, Captions, And File Names

Alt text and file names get mixed up all the time, so let’s keep it clean:

• Alt text describes the image for screen readers and shows if the image fails to load. It should describe what is visible and what matters in context.
• Image title often shows as a tooltip in browsers. It helps, but it does not replace alt text.
• Caption displays on the page, under the image. Captions work for readers, not assistive tech.
• File name helps with organization and can help SEO a bit, but it rarely carries enough context by itself.

Altpilot can generate all of these fields, which is useful when a Media Library is full of images named IMG_4021.jpg.

When AI Alt Text Helps Most (And When You Should Write It Yourself)

AI alt text helps most in three cases:

1. Backlog cleanup: Hundreds or thousands of images with blanks. Altpilot can draft fast, and your team can review samples.
2. Multilingual sites: Altpilot supports 130+ languages, so you can keep alt text consistent across languages without copying and pasting for days.
3. New uploads: Auto-generation on upload keeps the Media Library from drifting into a mess again.

You should write alt text yourself when:

• The image carries brand nuance (a campaign visual where wording matters).
• The image includes charts, medical context, legal evidence, or financial screenshots.
• The image needs cultural sensitivity or a careful tone.

AI -> speeds up -> drafting. Humans -> control -> meaning and risk. That split keeps you safe and still saves time.

If you want more WordPress process patterns like this, we share them on Zuleika LLC’s blog. Start with our guides on WordPress SEO services and website maintenance services to keep the rest of your site clean too.

Set Up Altpilot The Safe Way Before You Generate Anything

Do not click “bulk generate” first. You will regret it.

Set up Altpilot with guardrails, then generate.

The basics:

• Install Altpilot from your WordPress Plugins screen.
• Confirm your server meets the plugin requirements (WordPress 6.3+ and PHP 7.4+).
• Create an account at Altpilot and copy your API key from the dashboard.
• Paste the key into the plugin settings.

Altpilot gives you a small pool of free credits to test (one image uses one credit), then you move to pay-as-you-go.

Next steps: run a tiny pilot on 20 to 50 images. Tune rules. Then scale.

Define Your House Rules For Alt Text (Tone, Length, And What To Avoid)

House rules prevent weird outputs like “stunning, amazing, best product ever“ on a photo of a plain white mug.

We recommend three simple rules:

1. Length rule: Keep most alt text in a practical range (often 10 to 125 characters works well for many sites). Short wins when the image is simple.
2. Truth rule: Describe what the image shows. Do not invent details.
3. Keyword rule: Add keywords only when they fit naturally. The image description must still read like a normal sentence.

Most teams can express these rules in a short custom prompt inside Altpilot settings.

A good “house rule” prompt sounds like a checklist:

• “Write plain, descriptive alt text.”
• “Do not use sales language.”
• “If the image is decorative, return an empty alt.”

Your prompt -> shapes -> AI output. Keep it boring on purpose.

Privacy And Data Handling Boundaries For Client Work And Regulated Fields

If you work with clients, regulated industries, or internal teams, set boundaries before you process anything.

Here is the simple stance we use:

• Do not upload or process images that contain personal data, patient info, account numbers, or private documents.
• Treat AI output as a draft until a human approves it.
• Use separate site keys where you need clean billing and limits per client site.

If you operate under GDPR or handle sensitive data, confirm your data handling choices with legal counsel. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) is blunt about data minimization and purpose limits, and that mindset applies here too.

If you want a safer WordPress baseline before adding automations, our WordPress security service pages outline the controls we set on client sites.

Generate Alt Text With Altpilot: A Step-By-Step Workflow

Once settings and house rules are in place, generation becomes simple.

Use this repeatable flow:

1. Connect the API key in Altpilot settings.
2. Scan the Media Library for images missing alt text (and titles or descriptions if you want).
3. Generate drafts in single mode or bulk mode.
4. Review and edit before you publish changes.
5. Rescan monthly so the library stays clean.

Trigger -> runs -> generation. Review -> prevents -> bad metadata.

Single Image Mode: Quick Drafts For New Uploads

Single image mode is for teams that publish daily and cannot babysit metadata.

Turn on auto-generation on upload, then use a light review step:

• Editor uploads image.
• Altpilot generates alt text, title, and description.
• Editor checks the Media Library field during the post edit.

This works well for:

• blogs
• restaurant sites
• service businesses
• creators who post product drops or lookbooks

It keeps the backlog from reappearing.

Bulk Mode: Cleaning Up A Backlog Without Breaking Your Site

Bulk mode is where Altpilot earns its keep.

Here is how we run bulk safely:

• Start with a subset (100 to 300 images).
• Generate drafts.
• Review a sample.
• Then process the next batch.

Batching matters. Large libraries can contain old banners, decorative icons, and weird edge cases. A batch approach keeps you from burning credits on images that should have empty alt text.

Altpilot -> updates -> attachment metadata in WordPress, so you do not need to edit individual posts one by one.

If you run WooCommerce, bulk mode also supports consistent alt text across product galleries, which helps when you have variations and repeated angles.

Review, Edit, And Approve: Keep Humans In The Loop

AI drafts save time, but they do not carry responsibility. You do.

We treat Altpilot output as a first draft. Then we apply a quick review step that catches 90 percent of problems.

Human review -> reduces -> compliance risk.

Human review -> improves -> brand accuracy.

Accessibility Checks: Make Sure The Description Matches User Needs

Alt text serves a user first. SEO comes second.

Use these checks:

• Does the alt text describe the purpose of the image in context?
• Does it avoid repeating nearby text like headings or captions?
• Does it skip “image of” and “picture of” unless the context needs it?
• Does it stay calm and factual?

WCAG guidance treats alt text as meaningful support for non-visual users. W3C’s WAI pages give solid examples you can copy into your internal SOPs.

If the image is decorative (dividers, background blobs, purely visual flourishes), an empty alt attribute is often the right call.

SEO Checks: Avoid Keyword Stuffing And Describe What Is Actually Visible

Search engines reward clarity. They also punish spammy patterns.

Here is our SEO check:

• Use the page topic keyword only if the image truly relates to it.
• Avoid lists of keywords.
• Keep nouns concrete (red leather tote bag, stainless steel espresso machine).

Google’s image SEO guidance pushes the same idea: describe the image accurately and keep it useful.

A quick rule we use:

• If a human would roll their eyes reading it out loud, rewrite it.

If you want to connect image SEO with on-page SEO, our WordPress website development work usually includes a simple content checklist that editors can follow without a specialist in the room.

WordPress And WooCommerce Implementation: Where Alt Text Actually Lives

Alt text lives in WordPress attachment metadata. That is the source of truth.

When Altpilot updates an image, it writes to the Media Library attachment fields. Themes, the Block Editor, and many page builders pull from that same place.

WordPress -> stores -> alt text in attachment meta. WooCommerce -> displays -> that alt text across product images.

Media Library And Block Editor: Confirm It Is Saved To The Attachment

Do this once so you trust the pipeline:

1. Open Media Library.
2. Click an image.
3. Confirm the Alt Text field has the generated text.
4. Open a post or page that uses that image.
5. Confirm the image block shows the same alt text.

If you use WPML or Polylang, check one translated page too. You want consistency across languages and templates.

Product Images And Galleries: Consistency Across Variations And Collections

WooCommerce stores product images in a way that makes consistency hard when you scale.

Altpilot helps by generating a consistent style across:

• main product images
• gallery images
• variation images (when present)

We still recommend a final pass on your best-selling products. Product imagery ties to brand and conversion, so it deserves extra attention.

If you sell regulated products or services, keep descriptions factual. Avoid medical or legal claims in image metadata. The FTC’s ad guidance makes the principle clear: marketing claims need support.

Governance And QA: Logging, Sampling, And Ongoing Maintenance

If you manage one site, you can “just check a few.“ If you manage client sites, you need a system.

We use lightweight governance:

• Logging: Track what you changed and when.
• Sampling: Review 10 to 20 percent of AI outputs per batch.
• Rollback mindset: Keep changes staged when possible, so you can revert fast.

Process -> creates -> consistent output. Sampling -> catches -> edge cases.

A Simple QA Checklist For Teams And Agencies

Copy this into your SOP:

• Does the text match what is visible in the image?
• Does it describe context, not vibes?
• Does it avoid keyword stuffing?
• Does it avoid sensitive data?
• Does it read clean in your brand voice?
• Did a human approve the batch before it went live?

If you work in healthcare, legal, finance, or education, add one more:

• Does the alt text avoid claims that need review?

Shadow Mode Pilots: Measure Time Saved And Error Rates Before Scaling

We like “shadow mode” pilots because they feel boring. Boring is safe.

Run Altpilot on a staging site or a small subset of images first:

• Time a manual batch (say 100 images).
• Time an Altpilot batch plus review.
• Track the edits you made.

You want two numbers:

• minutes saved
• error rate (how many drafts needed edits)

If the error rate stays high, tighten your prompt rules and reduce scope. If it stays low, expand.

This is the safest way to roll AI into WordPress work without turning your Media Library into a surprise audit.

Conclusion

Altpilot works best when you treat it like a draft engine, not a magic button. Set house rules, generate in small batches, and keep humans in the loop. Your site gets better accessibility, cleaner SEO signals, and fewer hours lost to tedious metadata work.

If you want help wiring this into a repeatable WordPress workflow, we do that kind of setup at Zuleika LLC. We map the trigger, the inputs, the job, the outputs, and the guardrails first. Then we touch the tools.

Sources

• AltPilot WordPress Plugin, Publisher: WordPress.org Plugin Directory, Publication Date: n.d., URL: https://wordpress.org/plugins/
• AltPilot Documentation / Site, Publisher: Altpilot.ai, Publication Date: n.d., URL: https://altpilot.ai/
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview, Publisher: W3C WAI, Publication Date: updated periodically, URL: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/
• Google Search Central: Image SEO Best Practices, Publisher: Google, Publication Date: updated periodically, URL: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/google-images
• .com Disclosures: How to Make Effective Disclosures in Digital Advertising, Publisher: U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Publication Date: March 2013, URL: https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/com-disclosures-how-make-effective-disclosures-digital-advertising
• EDPB Guidelines (data minimisation and purpose limitation concepts referenced across GDPR guidance), Publisher: European Data Protection Board, Publication Date: updated periodically, URL: https://edpb.europa.eu/

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How to use Altpilot to generate AI alt text in WordPress?

Install Altpilot, confirm requirements (WordPress 6.3+ and PHP 7.4+), then add your Altpilot API key in settings. Scan the Media Library for missing alt text, generate drafts in single or bulk mode, and review/edit before publishing. Rescan monthly to keep metadata clean.

What does Altpilot generate besides alt text?

Altpilot generates three WordPress attachment fields: alt text, image title, and image description. This helps when your Media Library has unclear filenames (like IMG_4021.jpg) and you want consistent metadata for accessibility and SEO. You can run it on new uploads or in bulk for a backlog.

What’s the difference between alt text, image title, captions, and filenames?

Alt text describes an image for screen readers and appears if an image fails to load. Image titles may show as tooltips but don’t replace alt text. Captions display on the page for readers. Filenames help organization and some SEO, but usually lack the full context users need.

How do I bulk generate alt text with Altpilot without wasting credits?

Avoid clicking bulk generate on your entire library at once. Start with a small batch (about 100–300 images), generate drafts, then review a sample before moving to the next batch. This batching prevents spending credits on decorative images that should have empty alt text and catches edge cases early.

When should I write alt text myself instead of using an AI alt text generator?

Write alt text manually when wording carries brand nuance (campaign visuals), or when images include charts, medical/legal/financial context, or sensitive situations requiring careful tone. Use an AI alt text generator like Altpilot for drafting at scale, but keep human approval for meaning, compliance, and accuracy.

Is AI alt text safe for privacy and GDPR-sensitive images?

Treat AI output as a draft and set boundaries before processing. Don’t generate alt text for images containing personal data, patient info, account numbers, or private documents. Use separate API keys for client sites to control billing and limits. For GDPR-regulated work, align with data minimization and get legal guidance.