SEO
On September 24, 2026, Google announced web multimodal search reporting in Google Search Console. The new reporting allows site owners to see performance data from searches where users interact with Google using images. It covers experiences such as Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google Search, and Chrome’s “Search this image” feature.
The update gives SEO professionals a clearer view of how websites are discovered through visual search. Rather than relying only on traditional keyword performance, marketers can now examine another part of the search journey and understand how their content appears when images become the starting point.
What Is Multimodal Search Reporting in Google Search Console?
Multimodal search refers to searches that use visual inputs, such as photographs, screenshots or images, instead of relying solely on typed queries.
Google’s new reporting introduces a multimodal search type filter in the Performance reports. Website owners can use it to examine data from image-based searches separately from text-based web searches.
The filter is available in both the Search results Performance report and the Generative AI features Performance report. The data can also be exported for additional analysis.
For example, someone might photograph a pair of shoes to find the product online or circle a piece of furniture on their phone screen to discover similar designs. When Google surfaces relevant web content during these searches, the new reporting can help website owners understand which pages receive visibility and clicks.
However, the report does not reveal the actual image a user searched with, and the usual text-query data is not available for multimodal searches. This makes page-level analysis particularly important.
How Google’s Multimodal Search Tracking Influences SEO
The main change is in performance measurement. Until now, marketers had limited visibility into how their websites performed across these image-led search experiences.
The new filter gives SEO teams another way to evaluate content discovery and identify opportunities that traditional keyword analysis may overlook.
Consider an online furniture store. Its product pages might receive limited traffic from conventional searches but gain visibility when users search for a particular chair through Google Lens. By examining the pages receiving impressions and clicks, the SEO team can identify which products are appearing in these visual search journeys.
This information can guide content reviews, image optimisation and performance analysis.
Importantly, the update does not establish a new ranking factor. Its immediate value is better reporting, allowing marketers to make more informed decisions about their existing SEO strategy.
How to Use the Multimodal Search Filter in Google Search Console
You can start analysing your website’s performance through the following steps:
- Open Google Search Console and select your website property.
- Navigate to the Performance report for Search results.
- Open the Search type filter and locate the multimodal option under Web.
- Apply the filter to view the available multimodal search performance data.
- Open the Pages tab to identify the URLs receiving impressions and clicks.
- Adjust the date range to monitor changes and export the data for further analysis.
You can also examine the Generative AI features Performance report using the multimodal filter.
Since the report does not provide the usual query-level data for these searches, focus on which pages appear, how often users click through and how performance changes over time. If no data appears, your site may not yet have measurable traffic from these search experiences.
What Does This Update Mean for Visual SEO?
The new reporting makes visual search performance easier to investigate, but it does not replace established SEO practices. Instead, it provides an additional reason to review how effectively your website presents information through images.
Image quality and relevance: Use clear, relevant images that accurately represent the subject, product or location. For ecommerce websites, useful product photography from appropriate angles can give users a better understanding of what they are viewing.
Descriptive image context: Use meaningful filenames, accurate alt text and relevant surrounding content. These elements help communicate what an image represents and improve accessibility.
Useful landing pages: Ensure that pages provide the information users need after discovering an image. Product specifications, explanatory content, location details and relevant links can make the visit more useful.
Performance analysis: Compare the pages receiving multimodal search visibility with their performance in other search types. This can reveal which content deserves closer review, although the data alone does not explain why a page appeared.
How to Optimise Your Website for Multimodal Search
Start by establishing a performance baseline in Search Console. Identify the pages receiving multimodal impressions and clicks, then review their images, content relevance, accessibility and landing-page experience.
Next, connect these findings with website analytics and conversion data where possible. A page receiving visual search clicks may attract product enquiries, purchases or further engagement, but these outcomes need to be measured separately.
Prioritise improvements according to your audience and business goals rather than changing every image on your website at once.
The Future of Multimodal Search and SEO
Google Search Console’s multimodal reporting reflects a broader shift in how people discover information. Users can now begin searches with photographs, screenshots and objects they see around them, rather than describing everything in words.
For marketers, the opportunity is to understand these journeys using the new data and improve the pages that serve them. Traditional SEO remains essential, but measuring visual discovery adds another dimension to website performance analysis.
The practical next step is straightforward, open Search Console, explore the multimodal filter and establish a baseline. Over time, these insights can help you understand where your content is being discovered and where further optimization may be worthwhile.
