Search Console Now Separates Image Search Traffic From Text Search

Google Search Console added a multimodal filter that separates traffic from image-based searches out of your regular web search data. It started rolling out globally on September 24, 2026, and it covers Google Lens, Circle to Search, image uploads, and the Chrome right-click image search. There is no query data attached to any of it, and that limitation shapes what you can actually do with the report.

What The Filter Does

The multimodal filter sits under the Web search type inside the Performance report. It splits your web traffic into text-based searches and multimodal searches.

Multimodal means a search that starts with an image rather than typed words. Google says the filter covers four surfaces.

• Google Lens. Someone points a camera at an object or searches from a photo.
• Circle to Search on Android. Circling something on screen to search it.
• Image uploads to Google Search. Dropping an image into the search bar.
• Chrome's "Search this image" option. The right-click menu item on any image on the web.

Google began rolling this out globally on September 24, 2026. Not every property will see the option right away, so if it is not in your account yet, give it a few days before assuming something is wrong.

The Missing Piece Is Query Data

There are no queries in this report. Google's stated reason is straightforward: "Because multimodal searches mostly use images rather than text, specific text query data isn't available for this traffic."

That makes sense, and it also caps how useful the report is. You get page-level performance with breakdowns by country and device. You cannot see which specific image on a page drove the visit, and you cannot see what the person was trying to find.

So what you actually have is a volume signal. You can see which of your pages get found through a camera instead of a keyboard. You cannot see intent.

Google's announcement also does not say whether historical data from before the rollout is included, or how pulling multimodal traffic out affects your existing web search totals. That second one matters. If your text search numbers dip on September 24 with no other explanation, check whether the traffic simply moved into the new bucket before you go looking for a ranking problem.

Who Should Actually Care

I would not spend much time here if you are a service business whose pages are mostly text. Nobody is pointing a camera at a phone screen to find a personal injury attorney.

This matters most if you sell physical products, if your pages carry product photography, or if you are in a category where people identify things visually. Plants, parts, tools, furniture, apparel, food, anything with a model number on it.

Here is the process. Filter to multimodal, sort your pages by clicks, and look at what shows up. If a product page is pulling real multimodal traffic, the images on that page are doing work your copy is not. That is a reason to improve the image quality, file names, and alt text on pages like it.

Keep in mind, this is a diagnostic, not a strategy. There is no multimodal ranking factor to optimize for. There is just evidence that people find certain pages through images.

Why This Report Exists At All

Search Console has been slowly catching up to how people actually search. Google added AI search data worldwide earlier this month, and now image-based search gets its own slice.

Search is fragmenting away from the typed query, and Search Console is being rebuilt to report on that. The catch is the same every time. Google gives you the volume and withholds the query, which tells you something is happening without telling you what.

These reports are better than nothing, and they are not the keyword-level visibility you had ten years ago. Understanding what people search for now takes work outside Search Console, whether that is tracking your visibility in AI results or going back to proper research with a keyword research tool.

My Take

I think this is a good addition and a small one. What I like about it is that it gives you a straight answer to a question that used to be unanswerable. If you ever wondered whether Google Lens sends you traffic, you can now find out in about thirty seconds instead of guessing.

One of the biggest mistakes I see with new Search Console reports is treating them as a to-do list. A new filter appearing does not mean you have a new project. Look at the number, decide whether it is big enough to matter, and move on if it is not.

Question to Answer:

How much of your organic traffic is coming from image-based searches, and is that number big enough to justify spending time on your product photography?

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