For most of Google’s history, SEO has revolved around words.
- What does somebody type into Google?
- What keywords do they use?
- What questions are they asking?
This week, Google gave businesses another piece of the search puzzle.
And it doesn’t necessarily involve typing anything.
On 24 September, Google introduced new multimodal reporting inside Search Console.
It means businesses can now see when their website appears in searches initiated using an image through Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, uploading an image to Google Search or using Chrome’s “Search this image”.
I think this deserves considerably more attention from SMEs than it will probably receive.
Imagine how customers might actually use this
Someone sees a pair of sunglasses they like.
They photograph them.
Someone notices a bathroom vanity in a hotel.
They point their phone at it.
A homeowner sees a particular tile, tap, plant, piece of furniture or building material and doesn’t know what it’s called.
Previously, searching meant somehow describing it.
Now they can simply show Google.
Google can attempt to identify what they’re looking at and connect that visual search with relevant websites.
That’s a fundamentally different way of discovering a business.
Your photographs are becoming searchable assets
This is where I think SMEs need to reconsider how they treat website images.
For years, I’ve seen businesses upload photographs almost as decoration.
- IMG_4837.jpg.
- Manufacturer photographs copied from somewhere else.
- Poorly lit product images.
- Generic stock photography.
- Images without meaningful context.
If customers increasingly search visually, the photographs on a website become part of how the business can be discovered.
For an eCommerce retailer, that makes good product photography increasingly valuable.
But this isn’t only about retail.
- Think builders displaying completed renovations.
- Landscapers showing gardens.
- Restaurants photographing dishes.
- Interior designers showcasing projects.
- Hotels showing rooms.
- Trades displaying installations.
Every one of those images potentially communicates something that keywords cannot.
Google has finally given us some visibility
Until now, businesses couldn’t properly isolate this activity in Search Console.
Google says this multimodal data wasn’t previously included in the reported web-search counts.
The new filter allows businesses to see which pages appeared, impressions, clicks and performance from image-led searches.
There is an important limitation.
Google isn’t showing us the photograph somebody searched with, and the report doesn’t provide conventional query data.
In some ways, I actually find that fascinating.
We’ve spent decades asking:
“What keywords are we ranking for?”
Visual search introduces a completely different question:
“What are customers looking at when they discover us?”
There’s a simple SME action here
I wouldn’t respond by rushing out and “optimising for Google Lens”.
I’d do something much more practical.
Open your website and look at your images.
- Are they original?
- Are they clear?
- Do they genuinely show your products, services and work?
- Would somebody looking at that photograph understand what your business actually provides?
Then open Search Console and start watching the new Multimodal report.
You may discover that some of your photographs are doing considerably more than making the website look attractive.
They’re helping customers find you.
Because the search box is no longer Google’s only front door.
Your next customer may simply point their camera at something they want and ask Google where to get it.
The question for SMEs is whether Google can connect that picture with you.
References
Google Search Central, 24 September 2026. Announcing web multimodal Search performance reporting in Search Console.
https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/09/web-multimodal-in-sc
Search Engine Land, 24 September 2026. Google Search Console performance reports gets multimodal filter.
https://searchengineland.com/google-search-console-performance-reports-gets-multimodal-filter-490806
Search Engine Journal, 24 September 2026. Google Search Console Adds Multimodal Filter For Image-Based Searches.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-search-console-multimodal-filter/590781/