This invention relates to building a landmark database from web data. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method builds a landmark database. Web data including a web page is received from one or more websites via one or more networks. The web data is interpreted using at least one processor to determine landmark data describing a landmark. At least a portion of the landmark data identifies a landmark. Finally, a visual model is generated using the landmark data. A computing device is able to recognize the landmark in an image based on the visual model.