How Does Bellingcat Conduct Open-Source Investigations?

Bellingcat conducts open-source investigations by combining publicly available material — satellite imagery, mapping tools, social media posts and public records — with verification techniques such as geolocation and chronolocation, then publishing the methodology alongside the findings. The approach is learnable: the site publishes step-by-step guides and runs a membership program that gives advanced access to training announcements and researcher podcasts, so readers can study and reuse the same techniques.

The core method

Bellingcat's work rests on treating openly available material as evidence that can be tested rather than taken at face value. Three practices recur across its investigations:

• Geolocation — establishing where an image or video was filmed by matching visible features against satellite and street-level imagery.
• Chronolocation — establishing when it was filmed, for example by checking shadows, weather or construction progress against dated imagery.
• Verification — cross-checking a claim against independent sources before publishing it, and showing readers the reasoning.

The site's own coverage illustrates the range of sources this draws on. Recent investigations cited satellite imagery to document tree-felling at a DC golf course and new Border Patrol road construction in Big Bend National Park, used Google Maps and Google Earth imagery to assess Gaza ruins, and drew on public records to uncover new clues in a Chinatown cold case.

What the site publishes

bellingcat.com organizes its output into a few recurring formats, each serving a different reader need:

The guides are the most directly instructional part of the site. Examples visible on the homepage include a guide on tools for tracking and reporting wildfire damage and one on using AI to help find civilian harm — both framed around tools and steps rather than conclusions alone.

A worked example of the logic

Take the satellite-imagery investigations. The pattern is: identify a claim or image circulating online, locate the exact place using mapping and satellite tools, compare imagery from different dates to establish change over time, and publish the comparison so readers can check it. The Gaza piece follows this shape — widely shared Google Maps images were checked against more recent satellite imagery obtained by Bellingcat. The value is not just the conclusion but the visible chain from source to finding, which is what makes the method reproducible by others.

Can ordinary readers learn it?

Yes, with caveats. The techniques are taught openly through the guides, and the membership program advertises advanced access to training announcements and podcasts — but the site does not state that membership is free, so treat training access as something to check on the membership page rather than assume. The realistic path for a beginner is to pick one guide matching a question you actually have, work through it with the named tools, and compare your result against the published investigation. Expect the verification step to take the most time; that is where the method's rigor lives.

Where to start

• Read one Latest Guide in a topic you care about and follow its steps end to end.
• Use Open Source in Short to sample individual techniques before committing to a longer guide.
• Check the membership page for current terms on training announcements and podcast access.
• Follow Bellingcat on the platforms listed on the site (Discord, YouTube, Bluesky, Mastodon and others) if you want updates as investigations and guides are published.