Google quietly changed how you can see visual search traffic in Search Console. On 24 September 2026, a new “multimodal” option appeared in the performance report’s search type filter, separating traffic from Google Lens, Circle to Search and image uploads out from ordinary typed search, as Search Engine Land reported. If your site has product photos, menu shots or location images, this is the first time you can see that traffic as its own number.
The short version: you now get a headline count of camera based search traffic, but not the detail behind it. No queries, no click level breakdown, and no API access yet, according to Search Engine Roundtable’s report, which quotes Google’s own announcement. That gap matters more than the new number does.
In short
Search Console can now show you how much of your traffic comes from camera and image based search, but it still won’t tell you which image or query drove any single visit.
What actually changed in Search Console
Search Console's performance report has always let you filter by search type: web, image, video and so on. Google added a new option to that list called multimodal, which groups together everything found through a camera or an uploaded photo rather than typed text, as Digital Applied explains.
That covers four entry points into your site: Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, direct image uploads to Google Search, and Chrome's right click "search this image" option. The filter shows up in two places, the standard performance report for search results and the generative AI features report.
Nothing needs setting up on your side. It is a reporting change, not a toggle or a setting, and it applies to the whole property rather than individual pages. If your site already gets any visual search traffic, the number should simply appear once you apply the filter.
What the data can and can't tell you
This is the part worth understanding before you get excited about a new report. Search Engine Roundtable's coverage of Google's announcement notes that "we still do not have click or query data in the generative AI search performance report", and the same limitation applies to the multimodal filter itself. You get an aggregate count of impressions and clicks, not which photo or search phrase produced them.
There is also no API access yet. If you pull your Search Console data into a spreadsheet or dashboard automatically, this new number will not come with it. For now, seeing it means opening the interface and filtering manually, or exporting the report by hand.
None of this makes the filter useless. It is closer to a weather reading than a diagnostic tool: it tells you whether visual search is a meaningful slice of your traffic at all, which is genuinely new information for most small sites, even though it cannot yet tell you why.
What to do about it this week
Open Search Console, go to the performance report, and filter by search type to multimodal. If your site has product photography, a menu, or location images, check whether the number is zero or not. That single check tells you whether this is worth any further attention right now.
If the number is meaningfully above zero, start a simple weekly export now, even a plain spreadsheet tab, so you have a baseline before Google adds more detail later. Waiting until the API supports it means losing months of comparison data you could have started collecting today.
If the number is zero or tiny, leave it there. There is no page level setting to chase and nothing to optimise for yet. Revisit the filter every few months rather than every week.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to change anything on my website to show up in multimodal search?
No. This is a reporting change inside Search Console, not a new setting or opt in. If your images already appear in Google Images or Lens results, that traffic should now show under the multimodal filter automatically.
Can I see which image or search term brought someone to my site through Lens?
Not currently. The filter gives you an aggregate count of impressions and clicks, but no query or click level detail, and there is no API access yet.
Is this the same as the earlier generative AI features report?
No. The multimodal filter is a new search type option that appears in both the standard performance report and the generative AI features report, but it specifically isolates camera and image based search rather than AI generated answers.
Should I build a strategy around this straight away?
Only if the number is already meaningful for your site. For most small businesses the sensible move this week is simply checking the figure and starting a baseline, not rebuilding a content plan around it.
Sources
- Search Engine Land, "Google Search Console performance reports gets multimodal filter", 24 September 2026.
- Search Engine Roundtable, "Google Search Console performance report gains multimodal search type filter", 24 September 2026.
- Digital Applied, "Search Console now separates visual search traffic", accessed September 2026.
Related guides in this series
- Measuring your search visibility in 2026, a quick guide
- SEO & GEO in 2026-2027: what still matters now
- Which AI search platform should you optimise for
- Search Console's GEO toggle, explained
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Published: September 2026 | Author: Minh Pham
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