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Instagram Visual Analysis with Apify Scraping, OpenAI GPT-5 & Google Sheets

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Created by: Robert Breen || rbreen

Robert Breen

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Last update 12 days ago

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Pull recent Instagram post media for any username, fetch the image binaries, and run automated visual analysis with OpenAI — all orchestrated inside n8n. This workflow uses a Google Sheet to supply target usernames, calls Apify’s Instagram Profile Scraper to fetch recent posts, downloads the images, and passes them to an OpenAI vision-capable model for structured analysis. Results can then be logged, stored, or routed onward depending on your use case.

🧑‍💻 Who’s it for

  • Social media managers analyzing competitor or brand posts
  • Marketing teams tracking visual trends and campaign content
  • Researchers collecting structured insights from Instagram images

⚙️ How it works

  1. Google Sheets – Supplies Instagram usernames (one per row).
  2. Apify Scraper – Fetches latest posts (images and metadata).
  3. HTTP Request – Downloads each image binary.
  4. OpenAI Vision Model – Analyzes visuals and outputs structured summaries.
  5. Filter & Split Nodes – Ensure only the right rows and posts are processed.

🔑 Setup Instructions

1) Connect Google Sheets (OAuth2)

  1. Go to n8n → Credentials → New → Google Sheets (OAuth2)
  2. Sign in with your Google account and grant access
  3. In the Get Google Sheet node, select your spreadsheet + worksheet (must contain a User column with Instagram usernames)

2) Connect Apify (HTTP Query Auth)

  1. Get your Apify API token at Apify Console → Integrations/API
  2. In n8n → Credentials → New → HTTP Query Auth, add a query param token=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>
  3. In the Scrape Details node, select that credential and use the provided URL:

3) Connect OpenAI (API Key)

  1. Create an API key at OpenAI Platform
  2. In n8n → Credentials → New → OpenAI API, paste your key
  3. In the OpenAI Chat Model node, select your credential and choose a vision-capable model (gpt-4o-mini, gpt-4o, or gpt-5 if available)

🛠️ How to customize

  • Change the Google Sheet schema (e.g., add campaign tags or notes).
  • Adjust the OpenAI system prompt to refine what details are extracted (e.g., brand logos, colors, objects).
  • Route results to Slack, Notion, or Airtable instead of storing only in Sheets.
  • Apply filters (hashtags, captions, or timeframe) directly in the Apify scraper config.

📋 Requirements

  • n8n (Cloud or self-hosted)
  • Google Sheets account
  • Apify account + API token
  • OpenAI API key with a funded account

📬 Contact

Need help customizing this (e.g., filtering by campaign, sending reports by email, or formatting your PDF)?