# Google Search Console Finally Measures Visual Searches: How to Analyze Your Lens Traffic

> Since September 24, 2026, Search Console has separated multimodal searches. An audit method for analyzing Lens and Circle to Search, and prioritizing images to improve.

SEO & Visibility · Google Lens

## Google Search Console Finally Measures Visual Searches: How to Analyze Your Lens Traffic?

Since September 24, 2026, Search Console has distinguished multimodal web searches. Here’s how to use this new filter to audit pages discovered through Lens, Circle to Search, and image searches—without overinterpreting the data.

![visual-search-analytics-dashboard.webp](https://sdx-development.com/media/News/visual-search-analytics-dashboard.webp?v=1791224981)

[SEO & Visibility](https://sdx-development.com/en/actualites/seo-visibility)Published on 5 October 2026 at 20:38

Since September 24, 2026, Google Search Console has finally distinguished some of the traffic coming from visual and multimodal searches. The new **Web: Multimodal** filter lets you isolate performance from Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, images uploaded to Google Search, and Chrome’s “Search this image” feature.

 

For an e-commerce site, portfolio, project gallery, product documentation, or editorial content rich in screenshots, this development changes one thing above all: **it is now possible to measure separately a type of visibility that was previously difficult to isolate**. That does not mean image optimization will automatically generate more traffic. However, Search Console now provides concrete data to help you decide which pages and visuals deserve priority in your audit.

 

Key takeaway 

## Search Console now measures the multimodal web, not just Google Images

 

The “Web: Multimodal” filter groups searches initiated from an image across several Google experiences. It is separate from the “Image” search type, which corresponds to results shown in the Google Images tab. Its main SEO benefit is the ability to compare URLs actually shown or clicked in these new visual journeys.

 

**In this article** 

[What’s changing](https://sdx-development.com/en/news/seo-visibility/google-search-console-visual-search-lens-traffic#nouveau-filtre) [What the data shows](https://sdx-development.com/en/news/seo-visibility/google-search-console-visual-search-lens-traffic#ce-que-mesure) [Audit method](https://sdx-development.com/en/news/seo-visibility/google-search-console-visual-search-lens-traffic#audit-search-console) [Compare pages](https://sdx-development.com/en/news/seo-visibility/google-search-console-visual-search-lens-traffic#prioriser-pages) [Read the signals](https://sdx-development.com/en/news/seo-visibility/google-search-console-visual-search-lens-traffic#lire-signaux) [Optimize without overpromising](https://sdx-development.com/en/news/seo-visibility/google-search-console-visual-search-lens-traffic#optimiser-images) [Generative AI](https://sdx-development.com/en/news/seo-visibility/google-search-console-visual-search-lens-traffic#ia-generative) [Action plan](https://sdx-development.com/en/news/seo-visibility/google-search-console-visual-search-lens-traffic#plan-action)

 

## What’s changing in Search Console since September 24, 2026

 

On September 24, 2026, Google announced a dedicated report for multimodal web searches. This data is available in the Search results performance report, as well as in reporting related to Google Search’s generative AI features.

 

The new search type groups together several situations in which users do not start solely from a query typed on a keyboard:

 
- **Google Lens**, for example when a user photographs an object, product, building, or document;
- **Circle to Search** on Android, when an item visible on screen is circled to launch a search;
- **images uploaded to Google Search**;
- **Chrome’s “Search this image” feature**.
 

In Search Console, the filter appears as **Web: Multimodal**. It should be distinguished from **Image**, which corresponds to traffic from the Google Images tab. This distinction matters: a page may receive few visits from Google Images while still being discovered through Lens or Circle to Search.

 

Important 

## Multimodal does not mean “traffic from all Google images”

 

The filter isolates a type of web search initiated by an image. It does not replace the Google Images report, nor does it mean that every multimodal impression corresponds to a click on an image on your page. These data need to be interpreted at the page and search-context level.

 

## What Search Console can actually measure

 

The standard performance report retains its usual metrics: **clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position**. Once the “Web: Multimodal” search type is selected, these metrics apply only to the visual searches concerned.

 

The available dimensions remain particularly useful for an audit:

 
- **Pages**: which URLs appear or receive clicks in multimodal search;
- **Queries**: which terms are associated with impressions or clicks, when available;
- **Devices**: useful for seeing the role of mobile, which makes sense for journeys such as Lens or Circle to Search;
- **Countries** and **dates**: to identify geographic differences or changes over time.
 

This new feature does not provide an automatic diagnosis of your images, however. Search Console will not necessarily tell you, “this specific product photo triggered this Lens search.” The report mainly shows you **which pages are discovered in a multimodal context**. From there, you need to revisit the page, identify its main visuals, and determine which ones may have helped Google understand or present the content.

 

What you get 

### Page-level performance data

 

Impressions, clicks, CTR, position, and report dimensions can be analyzed using the “Web: Multimodal” filter.

 

What you don’t get 

### Image-by-image proof

 

Search Console does not provide an image file ID as the sole cause of an impression. The audit must therefore connect page data with the visuals actually present on those pages.

 

## How to audit Google Lens and multimodal traffic in Search Console

 

The most useful method is to start with page data, then work back to the images. This avoids reworking an entire catalog or every illustration on a site without knowing whether they actually contribute to visual discovery.

 

## A practical audit in seven steps

 
1. **Open the Performance report** in Search Console and select the “Web: Multimodal” search type.
2. **Choose a sufficiently long period** to obtain a usable volume of data, then compare it with a previous period of equal length if possible.
3. **Start with the Pages tab** to identify the URLs that account for multimodal impressions and clicks.
4. **Export the data** if you need to match URLs with your catalog, CMS, content categories, or your own conversion metrics.
5. **Group pages by type**: products, projects, tutorials, screenshots, articles, local pages, technical specifications, galleries, and so on.
6. **Inspect the visuals on prominent pages**: main image, original photos, diagrams, screenshots, illustrations, product variations, and surrounding text.
7. **Prioritize changes** based on measured potential: high impressions but few clicks, strategic pages already being discovered, or important pages that have yet to receive any multimodal signals.

 

This approach turns the question “Should we optimize our images for Lens?” into a more practical one: **which pages does Google already associate with visual searches, and which have the most commercial or editorial value?**

 

## Compare products, projects, screenshots, and editorial content

 

The new filter is most useful when you look not only at individual URLs but also at groups of pages. A site may discover that its product pages perform well in multimodal search while its articles almost never appear—or vice versa.

 

01 

### Product pages

 

Compare product pages with original photos, multiple angles, clean framing, and clear descriptive context against those relying on generic or supplier-provided visuals.

 

02 

### Projects and portfolios

 

Before-and-after photos, site views, delivered interfaces, or completed projects can be good candidates for visual search if they are unique and properly contextualized.

 

03 

### Screenshots

 

For a SaaS product, documentation, or technical site, detailed screenshots may match searches launched from an interface already visible to the user.

 

04 

### Editorial articles

 

Diagrams, explanatory illustrations, infographics, and original photos can offer an entry point different from text alone, especially when the subject is inherently visual.

 

05 

### Local pages and places

 

Storefronts, buildings, displayed products, landscapes, menus, signage, and recognizable features can support Lens use cases focused on identification or local discovery.

 

A good practice is to add a “page type” column in a spreadsheet or analytics tool, then aggregate multimodal impressions and clicks by group. This gives you a much more useful view for deciding between a new product photography campaign, a revamp of article visuals, or portfolio improvements.

 

## How to interpret the main signals

 

| Observed signal | Possible interpretation | Action to test |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Many impressions, few clicks | The page is visible but attracts few clicks or only partly matches user intent | Review the main image, title, context, visual quality, and page consistency |
| Few impressions, high CTR | The content seems relevant for a limited volume of searches | Improve discoverability, associated visuals, and similar pages |
| One page group dominates | Google understands certain content better in a visual context | Identify shared characteristics and replicate them without cloning |
| A strategic page never appears | No signal, or no measurable visual demand | Check indexing, image accessibility, and relevance before drawing conclusions |
| Increase after improving a visual | An interesting correlation, but not proof of causation | Compare several pages and periods before attributing the gain to the image alone |

 

Average position also needs to be interpreted with caution. Visual and multimodal interfaces may present results differently from a conventional text-based SERP. It remains a useful metric to monitor, but should not be used on its own to conclude that an image “ranks better.”

 

## Which images should you improve first?

 

Once you have identified priority pages, the goal is not to stuff images with keywords. Google mainly recommends making images easy to discover, relevant to the page, and supported by sufficient context.

 

Google Search Central’s official recommendations still apply to this new report:

 
- use actual HTML ` <img> ` elements with a ` src ` attribute that search crawlers can access;
- provide clear, high-quality images without compromising loading performance;
- place the image near text that accurately describes its subject;
- use short, descriptive filenames rather than generic ones;
- write useful, contextual alt text without artificially stuffing it with keywords;
- provide responsive images and a ` src ` fallback;
- where appropriate, specify a representative image using structured data or ` og:image `.
 

Visual SEO 

## Image optimization does not guarantee more Lens traffic

 

The new filter does not turn images into a magic visibility factor. Google continues to assess the page’s relevance, context, content, and user experience. The main value of this update is methodological: it lets you measure, test, and prioritize instead of optimizing blindly.

 

For an e-commerce site, it may be more worthwhile to start with products that already receive multimodal impressions and generate a strong margin. For an agency or tradesperson, projects appearing in Lens may justify a new series of photos, more precise captions, or better-structured dedicated pages. For a software company, illustrated documentation may deserve a different approach if screenshots become a real entry point.

 

## The multimodal filter is also available in generative AI reporting

 

Google also says the **Web: Multimodal** search type is available in the performance report for Search generative AI features. This report covers impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode, among other things.

 

It is not interpreted exactly like the standard search report: generative AI reporting focuses mainly on **impressions**, with dimensions such as pages, countries, devices, and dates. This lets you see whether certain URLs appear in AI experiences following a multimodal search, without concluding that a particular visual triggered the citation or exposure.

 

For an advanced audit, it is therefore useful to compare three sets of data:

 
- **Web: Text-based**, for conventional text searches;
- **Web: Multimodal**, for searches initiated from an image;
- **the generative AI report**, also filtered to multimodal where available.
 

This comparison may reveal that a page performs well in text-based SEO but poorly in visual discovery, or, conversely, gains unexpected visibility through its images, diagrams, or screenshots.

 

## A 30-day visual SEO action plan

 

01 

### Week 1: establish a baseline

 

Export “Web: Multimodal” performance data, identify visible pages, segment by content type, and record baseline metrics.

 

02 

### Week 2: audit the visuals

 

Check image quality, uniqueness, alt tags, filenames, text context, responsive behavior, loading, and accessibility on priority pages.

 

03 

### Week 3: improve a sample

 

Revamp a limited group of high-potential pages rather than the entire site, so the test remains easy to interpret.

 

04 

### Week 4: measure and decide

 

Compare changes in impressions, clicks, and CTR, then roll out changes further only if the results and business goals justify it.

 

Search Console’s main contribution is therefore not a new SEO formula, but a **new level of visibility**. Until now, teams could work on their images based on Google Images, manual Lens tests, or hypotheses. They can now isolate some multimodal searches in Google’s SEO measurement tool.

 

**For a sound audit, the right sequence is simple: measure the pages, understand which content groups stand out, inspect their images, improve a sample, and then check whether visibility increases.** It is less dramatic than a promise of “Lens SEO,” but far more useful when deciding where to invest your time.

 

## Official sources

 
- [Google Search Central — Announcing web multimodal Search performance reporting in Search Console](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/09/web-multimodal-in-sc), September 24, 2026.
- [Google Search Console Help — Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7576553).
- [Google Search Console Help — Generative AI performance report (Search)](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16984139).
- [Google Search Central — Image SEO best practices](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/google-images).

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