Two of WhatZoo's most-shared features take a group photo instead of a single face: Group Hierarchy, which ranks everyone in a playful pecking order, and Organization Analysis, which hands each person a team role like president, treasurer, or bodyguard. This guide explains how one photo becomes a whole lineup — and why it's all in good fun.
It starts with finding everyone
When you upload a group photo, the first job is detection: the app scans the image and locates each individual face in it. Just like single analysis, this runs entirely in your browser using on-device AI — the photo is never uploaded or stored.
Once the faces are found, each one is analyzed separately using the same pipeline behind single analysis: 478 facial landmarks per face, converted into proportions, and matched to the closest animal type. (If you want the deep version, see our guide on how analysis works.)
So before any ranking happens, the app has effectively run a full animal-face analysis on every person in the photo.
How the hierarchy is ranked
In Group Hierarchy, each detected face gets a playful "power" reading based on its animal traits and tier. The bold, apex-energy types (think lion or tiger) tend to rise toward the top of the ranking; the gentle, sweetheart types settle into different spots. The app then lines everyone up from the "ruler" down through the rest of the group.
A few things worth knowing:
- It's relative. The ranking compares the people in your photo to each other, so the same person can place differently in different groups.
- It's playful, not factual. "Power level" is a game mechanic, not a real measure of status, dominance, or worth.
- Tiers nudge the order. Because each animal sits in a tier (we explain the tier system here), the tiers naturally influence who lands where.
How roles are assigned
Organization Analysis takes a different angle on the same group. Instead of ranking people, it gives each person a role that suits their animal traits — a confident type might become the "president," a reliable, sturdy type the "bodyguard," a detail-oriented type the "treasurer," and so on.
The logic is simple: each face is matched to an animal type, and that type's personality flavor suggests a fitting role within a team. The result is a complete, lighthearted org chart for your friend group, club, or office.
Why these features are fun
Group features are popular for the same reason face reading has always been popular — they're a mirror that sparks conversation. Dropping a group photo and seeing "you're the boss, she's the brains, he's the wallet" is an instant icebreaker, a team-building laugh, and a screenshot waiting to be shared.
Getting the best (and fairest) results
Because every person is analyzed from their face proportions, photo quality matters for everyone in the shot:
- Use a photo where each face is clearly visible — not too small, not turned away, not hidden behind someone.
- Even lighting across the group helps; avoid shots where half the group is in shadow.
- A straight-on group photo beats a steep angle, where faces near the edges get distorted.
Our perfect-photo guide applies here too — just multiplied by the number of people.
The honest note
As always: this is for entertainment. The detection and analysis are real computer vision, but the rankings and roles are a game built on top of them. There's no science saying a "Tier 1" face makes someone an actual leader. Use it to laugh with your friends — not to decide who's really in charge.
Ready to try it? Upload a group shot to the Group Hierarchy or Organization Analysis tool and see who comes out on top.