Would it be possible to use points for that?
If you enter the point tool with repeat and go over your image hitting the key junctures could you then use snap to object for placement? At work right now so I don't have MoI to try it on or I would test it out.
There can be some clever ways to use the tools sometimes. I was trying to divide something into even thirds but that wasn't going to come out on grid lines. So I made a small hash mark line and then used Array linear with 4 (beginning, middle two divisions, end) aligned the farthest out arrayed mark to the end of the section to be divided and I had exact thirds.