You may have seen the news on September 24, 2026, or spotted a new option in your reports, and the first question is simple: do customers find your business by pointing a phone at something? Search console image search traffic used to mean one thing, the Image tab in your Performance report. Now Google also reports visits that started with a photo, from Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, an uploaded image, or Chrome's right-click "Search this image." That can include someone photographing a product on a shelf, a sign, or a finished job they liked. The new data can tell you which of your pages those people landed on. It cannot show you the photo they took. Knowing that difference up front can save you from chasing numbers the report does not hold. You can check your own site in about ten minutes, and you will know what to do with the answer.
Key Takeaways
Open Performance, choose Search results, open the Search type filter and pick Web: multimodal. Google began rolling it out globally on September 24, 2026.
Searches that started with Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, an image upload to Google Search, or Chrome's "Search this image."
You get clicks, impressions and landing pages, but not the photo someone used, any search words, or which image on the page earned the visit.
Check the photos on the pages it lists: original, a real image element, accurate alt text, a descriptive filename, and clear text close by.
Find your Lens and photo search traffic in four clicks
The new report lives inside the Performance report you may already use. Google's announcement of web multimodal reporting in Search Console, dated Thursday, September 24, 2026, says the data "includes searches with Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google Search, and the Chrome right-click 'Search this image' feature."
To see it:
- Open Search Console and choose your site's property.
- Click Performance, then Search results.
- Click the Search type filter at the top of the report.
- Under Web, choose Multimodal instead of Text-based, then apply it.
Google's Performance report help page now describes the Web option as two parts. Text-based covers searches typed into the normal search bar. Multimodal "includes web search results where an image was used as part of the search." The same filter also appears in the report for Generative AI features, per the announcement.
One thing may trip you up on day one. Google says you will start seeing these numbers "if your site is receiving traffic from these queries." The rollout started globally on September 24, 2026, so an option that looks empty or missing this week may simply mean the data has not reached your property yet, or that no photo searches have led to your site.
See exactly what the multimodal numbers can tell you
The multimodal filter gives you the same kind of numbers you get for text searches, with one big gap. News coverage of the launch, and the report itself, show that the Queries dimension is not available for this search type. That makes sense once you think about it: the person searched with a photo, not with words.
| You can see | You cannot see |
|---|---|
| Clicks to your site from photo searches | The photo the person took or uploaded |
| Impressions in those results | Any search words (no Queries tab) |
| Which pages people landed on | Which image on the page earned the visit |
| Countries, devices and dates | Whether they photographed your storefront, a product or something else |
| An export of the data | A promise that more photo traffic is coming |
The export matters more than it looks. Google's announcement points you to the Export button so you can "download the data and analyze it in your other tools." Save a copy each month and you build your own record over time, which is the only way to spot a real trend on a site with small numbers.
The pages list is the heart of it. If a product page, a gallery or a finished-project page shows up, a photo search led someone to that page. You still will not know what they pointed their phone at, so treat the page as the clue and the photos on it as the place to look.
Keep Lens traffic and Google Images traffic apart in your reports
Search Console already had an Image search type, and it has not gone away. It sits beside Web, Video and News in the same Search type filter. The two sound alike, and you may use "image search" for both, so it helps to know which box you are reading before you compare numbers.
| Web: multimodal (new) | Image search type (existing) | |
|---|---|---|
| How the search started | With a photo: Lens, Circle to Search, an upload, or Chrome's "Search this image" | Usually with typed words, showing image results |
| Where it lives | Performance, Search results, Search type, under Web | Performance, Search results, Search type, Image |
| Search words shown | No | Yes, where Google reports them |
| Credit goes to | The page the visitor landed on | The page that hosts the image, not the single image |
Google's help page on impressions, position and clicks explains how it counts results for each search type. For Image results, data is credited to the host page, so two photos on the same page are not reported separately. Keep that in mind for both reports: the page is the unit, not the single photo.
If your total image numbers jump or fall, check which filter you are in before you react. A change in Web: multimodal and a change in Image come from different kinds of searches.
Run the ten-minute check and know where you stand
You do not need a tool or an agency for the first look. Set aside ten minutes and work through this list.
- Apply the filter: Performance, Search results, Search type, Web: multimodal. Set the date range to the longest period available.
- Write down the totals: Note clicks and impressions, even if they are zero.
- Open the Pages tab: List the top pages by clicks, then by impressions.
- Export it: Save the file with the date in its name so you can compare next month.
- Open each top page: Look at the photos on it as a customer would.
- Ask five questions per photo: Is it your own photo? Is it sharp and clearly about the product, service or place? Does it have alt text that describes it? Is the filename descriptive? Does the text near it say what it shows?
If the report is empty, you have your answer for now. No photo searches have led to your site yet, or the data has not arrived. That is not a fault to fix. Make a note to look again next month, and put your effort into the basics of your site in the meantime.
If pages do show up, you have something useful: a short list of pages where your photos are already doing work. Those are the first pages worth improving, because you know people reach them.
Make your photos easier for Google to understand
This is where the report connects to your website. Google has one set of guidance for images, its image SEO best practices, and nothing in the launch suggests a separate trick for Lens. The guidance comes down to a few habits you can check page by page.
The guidance covers where the image sits in your code, what you call it, how you describe it, and the page around it. Each of these is a small job on its own. Taken together they give Google several ways to understand what a photo shows.
Use your own photos
A photo of your actual product, shop or finished job gives a search something specific to match. Stock photos show up on countless other sites. If your top pages use generic images, replacing them with your own is the change most likely to matter.
Put the photo in a real image element
Google says it can find images in the `src` attribute of a standard HTML `img` element, and that it does not index CSS background images the same way. If your main product or project photos load as page backgrounds, Google may not treat them as images at all. You can check a page with the URL Inspection tool, and Google's help on checking whether a URL or image is available to Google walks through the steps.
Describe it with alt text
Google says it uses alt text, computer vision and the page's own text to understand an image. Alt text also serves people who use screen readers, which is why the W3C's guidance on non-text content asks for it. Write what the photo shows in a short sentence. Do not stuff it with keywords.
Name the file for what it shows
A file called `walnut-dining-table-oil-finish.jpg` says more than `IMG00023.JPG`. Google calls filenames a light clue, so rename files when you upload new ones, but do not spend a weekend renaming an entire site for this alone.
Put clear words near the photo
Google recommends placing images near relevant text. A product photo sitting beside its name, price and a short description gives Google more to work with than a photo floating in a gallery with no words at all. Where it fits, product structured data can describe the item too, though it does not guarantee any special result.
Google also recommends fast, responsive images and supported formats, and an image sitemap when images might otherwise be hard to find. None of these practices promises that a given photo will rank. They make each photo easier to find and understand, which is the part you control.
Read Google's Lens numbers with the right expectations
Google has published how widely Lens is used. In an October 3, 2024 post for marketers, Google said people use Lens for nearly 20 billion visual searches every month, and that 20 percent of Lens searches are shopping-related. Google has also described Lens showing product details such as prices, reviews and where to buy.
Those are worldwide totals from Google, dated 2024. They say nothing about how many visits your business gets, and Google has not published a share of Lens or Circle to Search traffic that goes to local businesses. Your own report is the number that answers your question. Use Google's figure to understand why the filter exists, and your export to decide what to do.
How the multimodal report arrived
- 1
October 3, 2024
Google says Lens handles nearly 20 billion visual searches a month, with 20 percent shopping-related.
- 2
September 24, 2026
Google announces Web: multimodal reporting in Search Console and starts a global rollout.
- 3
September 24, 2026 onward
The filter appears in the Search results and Generative AI features reports for sites that receive this traffic.
If you also follow Search Console's messages, our guide to Search Console emails explains which ones need action. And if a page you expected to see never shows up in any report, the problem may be indexing rather than photos; our post on a page not indexed in Search Console covers that check.
Decide whether your site needs help or just a monthly look
The report gives you a clear fork. Which way you go depends on what you found in the ten-minute check.
If the report is empty or tiny: Keep a monthly note and move on. Spend your effort on the pages people already find with typed searches, and on your photos as you add new ones.
If a handful of pages show up: Work through the five photo questions on those pages yourself. Swap in your own photos, add alt text and put clear words near them. This is an afternoon, not a project.
If many pages show up, or the same problems repeat across the site: This is where help can pay for itself. Photos loading as backgrounds across a whole template, hundreds of product pages with missing alt text, or structured data that does not validate are fixes that belong in the site's code, not page by page. A good partner will also tell you when the numbers do not justify the spend.
Can you read your Lens and photo search traffic?
Pick an answer to begin.
1. Where do you find Google Lens traffic in Search Console?
2. What does the multimodal filter not show you?
3. Your multimodal report is empty. What is the sensible next step?
Frequently Asked Questions About search console image search traffic
What is the new Search Console multimodal filter?
It is an option under the Web search type in the Performance report. It shows web search results where an image was used as part of the search, including Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google Search, and Chrome's "Search this image."
How do I see Google Lens traffic in Search Console?
Open Performance, choose Search results, click the Search type filter, and choose Multimodal under Web. If your site has received traffic from these searches, you will see clicks, impressions and pages.
Does Search Console show Circle to Search traffic?
Yes. Google's announcement lists Circle to Search on Android among the searches included in Web: multimodal. It is grouped with Lens, image uploads and Chrome's "Search this image," not reported on its own.
Can I see what people searched for with Google Lens?
No. The Queries dimension is not available for multimodal traffic, and the report does not show the photo someone used. Use the Pages tab to see where they landed.
Is Google Lens traffic the same as Google Images traffic?
No. Web: multimodal covers web searches that started with a photo. The Image search type covers image results, usually from typed searches, and credits data to the page that hosts the image.
Does alt text help with Google Lens?
Google says it uses alt text, along with computer vision and page text, to understand images. Write short, accurate alt text for accessibility and clarity, but no single change guarantees a photo will appear.
Final Thoughts
Search Console now shows traffic from photo searches under Web: multimodal: Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads and Chrome's "Search this image." You get clicks, impressions, pages, countries, devices and dates, but not the photo or any search words. The pages it lists are your clue, and the photos on those pages are where the work starts.
Ten minutes and a saved export each month will tell you whether photo searches bring people to your site, and which pages they land on. Your own clear, well-described photos help the people who reach those pages today and make each image easier for Google to understand tomorrow.
If you want a second pair of eyes on it, Web Leveling can read the multimodal report with you, check the photos and image code on the pages it lists, and fix what repeats across your site. Our search engine optimization work starts with what your own Search Console data shows, and if the numbers do not justify a project, we will say so and leave you with the monthly check. We work with small and medium businesses across the country and overseas. Send us what your multimodal report is showing, and we will help you decide what, if anything, to change.
Terms
Photo search terms in this post
Tap a term to see what it means.
Web: multimodal. The Search Console search type for web results where an image was used as part of the search.
Google Lens. Google's tool for searching with a phone camera or a saved photo.
Circle to Search. An Android feature that lets you circle something on screen and search for it.
Image search type. The older Search Console report for image results, usually from typed searches.
Alt text. A short text description of an image, read by screen readers and used by Google to understand the image.
Structured data. Code on a page that describes its content, such as a product's name and price, in a standard format.
