AEM Smart Tags: What They Are, How They Work and How to Implement Them

Smart tags in Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Assets make a DAM with thousands of files searchable without anyone tagging each file by hand. They only pay off, though, when there is a taxonomy behind them, review rules and a clear view of what the AI recognizes and what it doesn't.

Everything we say about the product here was checked against Adobe's documentation on Experience League, reviewed on October 12, 2026.

What are smart tags in AEM Assets?

Smart tags are keywords that Adobe's artificial intelligence generates automatically to describe the content of an image, a video or a document. They are stored in the asset's metadata so the asset shows up in DAM search.

They differ from human-applied tags in three ways:

1. They are generated automatically when AEM processes the asset.
2. They carry a confidence score that ranks search results. A manual tag always counts as 100%.
3. They describe what is visible or written, not what your company knows about the asset: they don't know your SKU, your campaign or when usage rights expire.

Adobe Sensei or Adobe AI?

For years Adobe marketed this capability as part of Adobe Sensei. In the current AEM documentation, Adobe attributes smart tags to "Adobe AI" and no longer mentions Sensei. If you find material using both names, what changed is the date of the material, not the feature.

How smart tags work in AEM as a Cloud Service

In AEM as a Cloud Service, smart tags are on by default: Adobe provisions them automatically in environments licensed for AEM Assets, with no setup required.

1. You upload an asset to AEM Assets.
2. Asset microservices process it and Adobe AI analyzes its content.
3. Tags appear in the asset's properties (Basic tab, Smart Tags section), sorted by confidence, within seconds of the upload.
4. The asset now shows up in full-text search for those terms.

Assets already in the DAM, or uploaded to a folder where smart tags are turned off, are not tagged retroactively: you have to reprocess them, which every migration plan should include.

Which asset types get tagged

For video, AEM applies a minimum confidence threshold of 0.7, which can be changed through OSGi configuration.

How smart tags affect search

• For a query like woman running, AEM lists assets with both terms in their metadata first, then assets with both terms in smart tags, then assets with either term in smart tags.
• Manual tags count as 100%, so they outrank the same smart tag.
• There is no dedicated smart tag filter: you find them through full-text search.
• Find Similar relies on smart tagging to surface images that look like a reference image.
• In Manage Tags you can remove or promote tags. Watch out: reprocessing the asset discards that moderation.

Smart tags vs. AI-generated metadata: what changed

With the AEM as a Cloud Service 2025.5.0 release (June 5, 2025), Adobe added AI-generated metadata: a title, a description and keywords for each image. Adobe also calls it enhanced smart tags and controls it from Smart Tag Enhancement Configuration, which makes the two easy to confuse.

Generated keywords can be edited. You can also choose which title appears when browsing the DAM: the human-entered dc:title (the default), always the AI-generated one, or the AI-generated one only when no title exists. Turning the feature on or off no longer requires a support ticket, and when you turn it off, assets that already have generated metadata keep it.

A naming caveat: in AEM 6.5, enhanced smart tags meant training the service on your own taxonomy.

How to turn smart tags on, off or reprocess them

• Tag existing assets: select the folder or assets → Reprocess Assets → Full Process.
• Turn smart tags off for a folder: folder properties → Asset Processing tab → set Smart Tags for Image, for Text, for Videos or Color Tags for Images to Disable. Each control is independent and inherits from the parent folder by default.
• Turn them back on: set Enable and reprocess whatever was skipped.
• Turn off AI-generated metadata environment-wide: Tools → Assets → Assets Configurations → Smart Tag Enhancement Configuration → Disable Smart Tag Enhancements.
• Turn it off for a folder: Asset Processing → Smart Tags Enhancements for images → Disable.

Can you turn one off and keep the other? They are separate controls, but Adobe doesn't document that combination within the same folder, and it describes the folder-level switch for AI-generated metadata as also stopping automatic smart tags for those images. Test it in a development environment before changing production.

Training smart tags on your own taxonomy

When generic tags fall short (your product lines, packaging types or catalog models), you can train the service from Assets → Smart Tag Training, which lives in the start console, not under Tools:

1. Create the tags and their structure in AEM.
2. Create a tag model: a group of tags about one visual aspect, such as shoe type (sneakers, formal, sandals).
3. Assign 10 to 50 images per tag (Adobe recommends about 30), visually similar and with little background clutter.
4. Train, then check the Smart Tags Training report under Tools → Assets → Reports: green means trained; yellow means the tag needs more images.

Rules worth respecting:

• Training applies to images only; video and documents use Adobe's models as they are.
• Use at least two tags per model and no more than 50, and never repeat a tag across models (one overwrites the other).
• Training cannot be undone and a trained model cannot be deleted: a poor image selection lowers accuracy permanently.
• Training is shared across environments in the same Adobe IMS organization, but not across organizations.
• Only train what is visible: a model of a brand's car models works; one for "cars released in 2019 and 2020" doesn't.

Taxonomies and controlled vocabularies: how they work with smart tags

A controlled vocabulary is the curated list of terms your employees, agencies and customers use to refer to your assets. In AEM it is organized as a taxonomy: namespaces holding tags and sub-tags. Smart tags don't replace it; they complement it:

Best practices from Adobe's taxonomy guide: design around how people search rather than around folders, avoid duplicating folders or metadata fields, use permissions to control who creates tags in each namespace, and add synonyms for common search errors.

Color tags and searching by color

AEM applies color tags to images on upload and prioritizes dominant colors. You configure them under Tools → Assets → Color Tagging:

• Format: color name, RGB or HEX.
• Limit: 1 to 40 colors per image (10 by default).
• Coverage threshold: the minimum share of the image a color must cover to appear in a search for that color; 5 to 100, with 11 as the default. Adobe suggests staying close to that value.

It works with JPEG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, GIF and BMP files in sRGB. If you use a custom metadata schema, add the Smart Color Tags field, which isn't included; and images already in the DAM need reprocessing.

Smart tags in other languages

Adobe generates smart tags in English only. For teams that search in Spanish, or in French for Quebec, there are three approaches you can combine:

1. Your own taxonomy in the local language: manual and trained tags count as 100% and rank first.
2. Asset translation: with a translation provider integrated, AEM translates metadata and tags; machine translation does it immediately, without translating the file itself.
3. AI Search: intent-based search in AEM Assets understands synonyms, typos and other languages; Adobe's own example is a query typed in Spanish. You enable it under Tools → Assets → Assets Configurations → Assets Omnisearch Configuration.

Smart tags in AEM 6.5 vs. AEM as a Cloud Service

AEM 6.5 has a documented limit of 2 million tagged images per year, and on-premise customers without smart tags can no longer add them: one more factor when evaluating AEM as a Cloud Service.

Limitations and requirements

According to Adobe, smart tags can't tell subtle differences apart (slim-fit vs. regular-fit shirts, collar vs. no collar), miss small logos, don't handle attributes you can't see (release year, season, mood) and skip videos of 300 MB or more. In addition:

• License: available only with AEM Assets; in a Sites-only environment they aren't supported.
• Data residency: processing runs on Adobe's global infrastructure, possibly outside your region, and AEM can't restrict it. If a contract requires data to be processed in a specific country, review this first.
• Brand review: Adobe recommends reviewing automatic tags before assets are used or distributed.

How to implement smart tags in an enterprise

Turning them on is easy; ending up with a better-organized DAM is not. This is the order we follow:

1. Assessment: which assets exist, how many have useful metadata and how marketing, ecommerce and agencies search today.
2. Taxonomy and schema: decide what goes into smart tags, the taxonomy and structured fields.
3. Pilot in one folder, measured with a fixed set of real searches before and after.
4. Moderation rules: who reviews and when to reprocess, knowing that reprocessing wipes moderation.
5. Selective training, only where generic tags fall short.
6. Batch reprocessing of the archive, with opt-out where tagging adds nothing.
7. Governance: a taxonomy owner, permissions and periodic review.

What to measure: time to find an asset in that fixed set of searches, searches with no results, share of assets with a complete schema, asset reuse across campaigns, and tags removed per 100 reviewed assets.

Mistakes we see often: assuming the archive gets tagged on its own, moderating and then reprocessing, and asking the AI for data that isn't visible, such as SKU or season.

How we do it at WolfSellers

For us, smart tags are a metadata project, not a switch: we follow the order above, curate training sets when they're needed and leave moderation and governance rules documented.

For the full picture, read our Adobe DAM guide; for the impact on content production, Content Velocity with Adobe AEM; and if you generate content with AI, Adobe Firefly Enterprise.

Our Adobe Experience Manager Assets, Adobe Experience Manager and Dynamic Media services cover everything from taxonomy to delivering assets across your channels. If you'd like to review your case, get in touch.

Frequently asked questions about AEM smart tags

What are smart tags in AEM?

Keywords that Adobe's AI generates to describe images, videos and documents in AEM Assets. They are stored in metadata with a confidence score and make assets findable in search without manual tagging.

How do smart tags work in AEM Assets?

When you upload an asset, AEM processes it and Adobe AI detects objects and scenes in images, keywords in documents, and objects and actions in video. The tags appear in the asset's properties and feed search. Assets already in the DAM need reprocessing.

How do I set up AI content tagging in AEM?

In AEM as a Cloud Service, smart tags are active with AEM Assets. To use your own tags, go to Assets → Smart Tag Training; for generated titles and descriptions, use Smart Tag Enhancement Configuration (release 20626 or later). In AEM 6.5, you integrate with Adobe Developer Console.

Can I turn off smart tags and enable AI-generated metadata for assets?

They are separate controls: smart tags are turned off per folder and asset type, and AI-generated metadata environment-wide or per folder. Adobe doesn't document that combination within the same folder, so test it in development before production.

Are smart tags generated in languages other than English?

No, only in English. To search in another language, keep your taxonomy in that language, translate assets with their metadata or enable AI Search.

Can I train smart tags with my company's own tags?

Yes, for images: create a tag model, assign 10 to 50 images per tag and train from Assets → Smart Tag Training. Training can't be undone.

What's the difference between AEM tags and smart tags?

AEM tags are the taxonomy your company defines; when a person applies them, they count as 100% in search. Smart tags are generated by AI from the content. The best approach is to use both.

Related services

If this topic is relevant to your business, these services from WolfSellers can help you implement it:

• Adobe Experience Manager
• AI & Automation
• Adobe Commerce