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

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)?

• 📧 [email protected]
• 🔗 Robert Breen
• 🌐 ynteractive.com