Google Search Console New Update: Adds Multimodal Filter for Image-Based Searches
Right, so this one slipped out without much fuss, but it's worth knowing about. Google's added a way to see searches that start with a photo rather than someone typing something in. There's a new multimodal filter in Search Console, and it splits your usual Web traffic into two. Typed searches go in one pile. The other pile is searches where an image got things going: Google Lens, Circle to Search, someone uploading a photo, or Chrome's "Search this image" when you right-click on something.
If your site is pretty visual (product shots, project galleries, before-and-afters, menus, floor plans, you know the type), this is really the first proper look you get at how those images bring people to you. So here's what it does, the one fairly big thing it doesn't do, and what you can actually do with it.
What Is This Multimodal Filter, Exactly?
It's in the Performance report, under the "Web" search type you've already been looking at for years. Up until now, a click from a typed search and a click from an image search just got counted as the same thing. All "Web." You couldn't separate them even if you wanted to. Now you can. There's text-based (normal typing into the search bar) and there's multimodal (an image was involved somewhere in how they got to you).
It covers:
- Google Lens
- Circle to Search on Android
- Uploading an image straight into Google Search
- Chrome's right-click "Search this image"
So picture someone in a shop taking a photo of a chair. Or a homeowner snapping a mate's kitchen splashback because they want the same one. Or someone circling a lamp in a screenshot they saved ages ago. Search Console will now tell you which of your pages those people ended up on.
What It Shows You (And the Big Thing It Doesn't)
What you get is pretty standard. Impressions, clicks, which pages, country, device. Same sort of breakdowns as regular Web data, so nothing new to learn there.
What you don't get is query data. None whatsoever. And it makes sense when you think about it, because the search started with a picture, not words, so there isn't a text query for Google to hand over. Switch the filter to multimodal and the Queries tab is just gone. You'll see which pages visual search is finding. You won't see which photo or product led there. So it's more of a "yep, this page is relevant" signal than any real insight into what the person wanted.
Why This Actually Matters (Not Just As a New Toggle)
People tend to do visual searches on the spot. They're looking at a product, or a room, or something in a screenshot, and they want answers now, not later. Show up at that moment and you might win a customer who didn't know your business existed five minutes ago. For Canberra businesses that have spent money on web design canberra that looks the part, that's a big one, because image-heavy pages are the ones this kind of search tends to pull up first.
Zoom out a bit and it's another hint about where search is going. It's not only typed queries and ten blue links now. Images, screenshots, AI answers, all of it leans on the same signals from your pages. That's why having the basics of a decent SEO service in place (tidy structure, accurate info, pages that load quickly) pays off in three places at once. Text search. Visual search. And the answer and generative engines, AEO and GEO or whatever the acronym is this month.
Getting Your Site Ready for This
Honestly, you don't need a special "Lens strategy." It's the same fundamentals as always. You just need to actually do them properly, which is the part a lot of sites skip.
Filenames and alt text that mean something. IMG_4821.jpg tells Google nothing. Neither does alt text crammed with keywords. Just describe what's in the picture.
Give every image some context. Google (and AI tools generally) figure out an image partly from the stuff around it. So for a product photo, mention the materials, the size, what it's for. For a project photo, say where it was, what the job involved, what you actually did.
Make sure images can actually be crawled. If they're stuck behind scripts or blocked, none of the rest really matters. Sorting out image quality versus page speed is the kind of thing a good web development service should handle right at the start. Not half a year later when someone complains the site takes forever to load.
Structured data, done properly. Schema for products, services, FAQs. It helps search engines work out what a page is about. It won't magically get you anything fancy, but it clears up the guesswork, and that's worth more than people give it credit for.
Answer the obvious next question. Someone's just landed on your page from a photo. Tell them straight up what the thing is, who it's for, and what to do next. Same clarity that helps with AEO and GEO, so you're covering both.
Don't Forget Where a Lot of These Images Actually Come From
Heaps of image searches begin as screenshots. Someone scrolls past a product or a project on Instagram, saves it, and searches off it a few days later. Which means an active social media marketing service is doing more than building brand awareness now. Every good post can lead into multimodal search. As long as the page it ends up pointing to has something real on it, anyway.
Checking Your Own Data
When it hits your property, go to Performance → Search results → Search type, and choose (or compare) Web: multimodal. You'll spot it as a sub-option under Web, sitting next to Text-based, with a small "New" tag on it.
Sort by impressions and clicks to see which pages are getting image-led traffic. Then actually go and look at those pages. Are the images any good? What's the alt text like? Is there enough context around the photos? Does the page load quickly or does it drag? Compare it with your regular text-based Web numbers while you're at it. You're not after more impressions for their own sake. You want to know where visual discovery is turning into enquiries or sales.
And if this all sounds like a lot to keep on top of alongside everything else, Planet Media works with businesses around Canberra (and beyond) to keep the images, content, and technical side all lined up for changes like this one.
FAQs
What is the Google Search Console multimodal filter?
It's a new option in the Performance report. It pulls out the Web search traffic where an image was involved, so it's separate from your normal typed searches.
Does it show me what keywords or images were used?
No, it doesn't. There's no query data for multimodal traffic. These searches start from an image rather than text, so Google has nothing to show.
Isn't this basically just Google Images?
Not quite. It's about Web search results people get to after searching with an image (Lens, Circle to Search, uploads). Normal Google Images clicks are counted separately.
Do I need to overhaul my SEO because of this?
No. It's just another way to measure what's going on. The stuff that's always mattered, like good content, proper alt text, fast pages, and solid structured data, is what helps here as well.
When does this actually show up in my own account?
Google began rolling it out globally in September 2026, so it might be a little while before it appears for your site.
