Search Console multimodal search reporting gives site owners a new view of visits generated when people search with images rather than relying only on typed words. Google announced the filter on September 24, 2026, covering Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google Search and Chrome’s right-click image-search feature.
The report can reveal pages and visual assets that participate in these journeys, but it should not be treated as a direct image-ranking score. Data appears only when a property receives relevant traffic, and normal reporting limits, aggregation and delays still matter. A useful audit combines the new filter with page inspection and real business outcomes.
What Google added to Search Console
Google’s official announcement says web multimodal data is available in the Search results performance report and the report for Generative AI features. Users can apply a new multimodal search type filter and export the results for analysis in other tools.
The data includes searches started through Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google Search and Chrome’s “Search this image” option. Google describes a global rollout beginning on the announcement date. A property will show metrics only if it receives traffic from these query experiences.
This report has a different purpose from broader AI visibility monitoring. Kayaar’s Search Console AI performance guide explains the wider reporting workflow; the multimodal filter isolates image-led discovery for a more focused audit.
Audit question
Report evidence
Page check
Possible action
Which pages attract visual discovery?
Clicks and impressions by page
Image relevance and surrounding copy
Strengthen the useful visual cluster
Is visibility commercially useful?
Landing pages and query themes
Intent, offer and next action
Improve page-task alignment
Are images discoverable?
Missing or weak page coverage
HTML image, crawl access and metadata
Repair technical image SEO
Did a change help?
Before-and-after export
Deployment and recrawl dates
Retain, revise or reverse
An eight-step multimodal search audit
1. Confirm the filter and record the baseline
Open the appropriate Search Console performance report and look for the multimodal search type filter. If no data appears, do not manufacture a conclusion; the property may not yet receive qualifying traffic or the rollout may not be visible in that account. Export the available period and record the date, filters and property type.
2. Separate visibility from traffic
Review impressions, clicks, click-through rate and position together. Impressions show eligibility and exposure, while clicks indicate that a result led to the site. A high impression count with few clicks may reflect weak relevance, an unhelpful preview or a visual search journey that was satisfied before a website visit.
3. Identify landing-page patterns
Group pages by type: product, service, article, gallery, location or video. Look for repeatable patterns rather than one unusually popular URL. Compare the multimodal set with normal web-search performance to identify pages that are disproportionately dependent on image-led discovery.
4. Review query themes carefully
Where query data is available, classify themes by task rather than collecting isolated phrases. Examples include identifying an object, finding a similar product, learning how something works or locating a service. Protect privacy and remember that Search Console can aggregate or omit data, so exported rows will not always reconcile perfectly with totals.
5. Inspect each page’s image implementation
Google’s image SEO best practices recommend standard HTML image elements, crawlable files, relevant surrounding text, descriptive filenames and useful ALT text. Google notes that CSS background images are not indexed as content images. Check responsive delivery, canonical pages, image URLs and whether essential assets require login or blocked resources.
ALT text should describe the image for users, not repeat a keyword list. The filename can offer a light clue, while page content and metadata provide stronger context. Choose representative, high-quality visuals and avoid using the same generic asset across unrelated pages.
6. Check search appearance and page identity
Visual discovery still depends on a trustworthy destination. Review the title, main heading, byline, publication date, business details and structured data. Kayaar’s favicon SEO audit helps verify source identity, while the VideoObject audit is relevant when the landing page’s main visual is a video.
7. Connect Search Console with business evidence
Add landing-page engagement, enquiries, sales or assisted conversions from analytics and CRM systems. Search Console records search performance, not the complete customer journey. A page can attract valuable visual discovery even with modest click volume if it reaches a precise research or purchase task.
8. Test one improvement at a time
Select pages with enough evidence and a clear defect. Improve the image, filename, ALT text, surrounding copy or destination experience without changing everything at once. Record the deployment date and allow time for recrawling. Compare equivalent periods while accounting for campaigns, seasonality and demand changes.
How multimodal reporting supports AI-search work
Image-led queries can be exploratory, commercial or instructional. Useful pages therefore need more than an attractive asset: they need accurate context, accessible content and a clear next step. Kayaar’s AI Mode content workflow explains how to build pages that remain helpful across conversational and generative search experiences.
Do not optimise for the filter itself. Use it to locate genuine audience behaviour, then improve the page for that task. If you need help interpreting Search Console evidence and prioritising changes, contact Kayaar.
Final audit checklist
The multimodal filter, property and date range are recorded.
Clicks, impressions, CTR and position are reviewed together.
Landing pages and query themes are grouped by intent.
Images are crawlable, relevant and embedded in HTML.
ALT text, filenames, surrounding copy and metadata are useful.
Search data is connected to engagement and business outcomes.
Search Console multimodal reporting adds evidence for a growing discovery path. The strongest response is a measured image and page audit, not a new set of ranking myths.
FAQs
What is Search Console multimodal search reporting?
It is a performance filter for traffic from image-led Google searches, including Lens, Circle to Search, image uploads and Chrome’s right-click image-search feature.
Where can site owners find the multimodal filter?
Google says it appears in the Search results performance report and the report for Generative AI features. Data appears only when the property receives qualifying traffic.
Does the report show image rankings?
It reports performance from multimodal search experiences, not a standalone quality or ranking score for each image. Interpret the metrics with landing-page and query context.
How can a website improve image discoverability?
Use crawlable HTML image elements, relevant high-quality images, useful ALT text, descriptive filenames and strong surrounding page content while following Google’s image SEO guidance.
What should a multimodal SEO audit measure?
Review impressions, clicks, CTR, position, landing pages, query themes, engagement and business outcomes. Record changes and compare equivalent periods after Google has recrawled the page.
