Google’s added a new Search Console filter for website visibility and visits from searches that use an image. Here’s how to find it, read it, and sort out your website images if little or nothing shows up.
A customer points their phone at a timber dining table, a cracked paver, a haircut they like or a screenshot. Google can turn that image into a search. You can check whether those searches are putting pages from your website in front of people — and whether they click through.
The new google lens search console filter is handy for businesses where photos do some of the selling. Think cabinet makers, florists, landscapers, cafés, salons, furniture shops and online stores.
Google is counting searches that begin with an image
Google has started rolling out a search type filter called “Web: multimodal” in Search Console performance reports. It separates website impressions and clicks from searches where someone used an image as part of their search.
It is a Search Console filter, not a separate product called “multimodal reporting”.
That can include a Google Lens search, Circle to Search on an Android phone, an image uploaded to Google Search, or Chrome’s right-click “Search this image” option.
- →A customer photographs a bunch of native flowers and searches for something similar.
- →A homeowner circles a tiled splashback on an Android phone to find a local tiler.
- →Someone uploads a photo of a lounge suite to Google Search before comparing furniture stores.
- →A shopper right-clicks a product photo in Chrome and uses “Search this image”.
Circle to Search is Android-only. iPhone users can use Google Lens through the Google app or Chrome instead.
Google announced the feature on 24 September 2026 in its post, Announcing web multimodal Search performance reporting in Search Console.
This report is about your website, not your Google Business Profile
This is the bit worth getting straight before you spend an hour clicking around. The filter reports website search performance for pages on your website only.
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It doesn’t show views, taps or directions from photos on your Google Business Profile. A landscaper in Geelong might have plenty of project photos on their profile, but this report won’t tell them which one caught a customer’s eye.
Keep adding proper photos to your profile. Just don’t expect this Search Console filter to measure them. It’s measuring people who saw a website result in Google Search or clicked through to your site.
Find the multimodal filter in a few clicks
You’ll need access to your verified website property in Google Search Console. Google is rolling the filter out globally, so it may take time to appear for Australian websites.
- →Open Google Search Console and choose your website property.
- →Click Performance, then Search results.
- →Find the Search type filter near the top of the report.
- →Select Web: Multimodal to see data from image-led searches
- →You can also check the Generative AI features performance report and apply the same filter.
If “Multimodal” isn’t in the list yet, don’t panic. Check again later.
An impression means your website appeared in a photo-led search. A click means someone chose your website from that result.
In the regular Search results report, you can see impressions, clicks, click-through rate and average position. The Generative AI features report is different: treat it as an impressions-focused view, not a report on clicks, calls, bookings or sales.
An impression means your website appeared in an image-led search. A click means someone chose your website from that result. An impression is not a website visit, and a click is not proof of a lead or sale.
Read the numbers without getting carried away
Start with clicks. A cabinet maker in Newcastle might see clicks to a gallery page showing built-in wardrobes. Those visitors chose the website after an image-led search.
Then look at impressions. A high impression count with few clicks can mean your pages are appearing, but the result isn’t giving searchers enough reason to visit.
Use the Pages tab to see which website pages appeared. You can also compare dates and, where enough data exists, look at countries and devices.
You cannot use the Queries tab to see the words people searched for with an image. Google does not provide text-query data for Web: multimodal searches. The report won’t tell you which individual photo triggered a search.
It also won’t track phone calls, quote requests, bookings or sales. For that, check your form enquiries, booking system and call tracking alongside Search Console.
Zero clicks doesn’t mean your photos are broken
Many local websites will see little or nothing at first. Data only appears when your site already receives traffic from these image-led searches.
A painter in Bendigo might have excellent before-and-after shots but no multimodal data yet. That can simply mean nobody has clicked through from a Lens-style search during the selected date range.
Before changing your website, make sure you are viewing the right verified property, the Search results report and the Web: multimodal search type. Then widen the date range and check again later.
It’s not a pass-or-fail score for your photos. It’s a traffic report. A zero can mean the feature is still reaching your property, there has been no qualifying traffic, or there is simply too little data to show. It does not automatically mean your images are broken.
Many smaller local businesses may still see very little data, especially early on.
Put real photos beside the work they explain
Google didn’t publish photo ranking instructions with this filter. Still, clear website images are good housekeeping for people and search engines.
A Cairns pool builder can place original photos of a finished plunge pool on the page explaining pool builds. A vague gallery page full of unrelated shots gives customers less context.
- →Use original photos of your actual work, products, team or premises. A Ballarat florist’s own wedding arrangements beat generic stock flower photos.
- →Give image files plain, descriptive names. “custom-oak-dining-table-geelong.jpg” is clearer than “IMG_4821.jpg”.
- →Add useful alt text that describes the image. For example: “Custom oak dining table made for a Geelong family home.”
- →Place the image near relevant page text. A Brisbane hair salon can put balayage photos on its balayage service page, not only in a catch-all gallery.
- →Keep images reasonably fast to load. A mobile detailer’s large before-and-after gallery shouldn’t leave customers staring at blank boxes.
- →If you sell products online, add product structured data to product pages. A Hobart furniture store can include it for each chair, table or sofa it sells.
These are general website, accessibility and image SEO practices. They are not a promise that a particular photo will appear or rank in Google Lens or other image-led searches. The aim is to make the page and its images clear to customers and search engines. Google’s general image guidance supports descriptive file names, helpful alt text, relevant page context, product structured data where appropriate and images that perform well.
Check the pages getting impressions before changing everything
If you do get multimodal impressions, open the Pages tab before you start replacing photos. You might find Google is showing an old project page, a service page, or a product category page.
A Sunshine Coast landscaper may find their retaining wall page gets the impressions, while their garden design page gets none. That’s a useful nudge to improve the thin page, not proof that one photo is magic.
Check that the page has a clear service description, a sensible page title, contact details and photos that match the job. Then give Google time to recrawl the changes.
Do not assume an image is the only reason a page appeared. Google is reporting a website result from an image-led search, not identifying a winning photo.
Use the report as one clue in your lead picture
A click is promising, but it’s not a booked job. A customer might browse a Newcastle café’s cake photos, then leave without ordering. Another might call after seeing a kitchen renovation page.
Make a quick note regularly: multimodal clicks, the pages receiving them, website enquiries and calls. Over time, you’ll get a better feel for whether photo-led visitors are worth extra attention.
Search Console cannot connect a specific multimodal click to a phone call, booking or sale on its own. Use it alongside analytics, enquiry tracking, booking software or call tracking if you want to understand business results.
Make it a five-minute monthly check
Pick a regular time to open the Multimodal filter and compare a recent period with the one before it. Don’t make big calls from a small handful of clicks, but do notice patterns.
If a product page or project page keeps showing up, keep it current. Add recent work, fix slow images and make it easy for a visitor to call, enquire or buy.
The filter won’t tell you everything. It will not show which image started the search, the text query someone used, or whether a website visit became a booking or sale.
It does finally show whether image-led Google searches are putting your website in front of people. For businesses selling work people want to see first, that’s worth knowing.