Google Lens SEO: What the New Multimodal Filter in Search Console Shows and What to Do Next

What is new in Search Console?

Since September 24, 2026, Google Search Console reports separately how often your pages show up in searches that start with a camera shot or a screenshot. Google announced this on the Search Central Blog and rolled it out globally the same day. "Multimodal" here means the search starts with an image instead of typed text.

Four entry points are counted:

• Google Lens, the camera search in the Google app
• Circle to Search on Android: you circle something on your screen and search for it
• Image uploads to Google Search
• "Search this image" via right-click in Chrome

The data appears in the performance report for Search results and, according to Google, in the report for Generative AI features as well. According to Search Engine Roundtable, this traffic was not even included in the regular web report before. So for the first time, you can see whether Lens sends you visitors at all.

Where do I find the multimodal filter?

In the performance report, click Search type at the top. Under Web you now get two entries: Text-based and Multimodal. The help page for the performance report describes it the same way. Google says numbers only show up once your site actually gets traffic from these searches. An empty report is not an error.

What does the report not show?

The biggest gap: there are no queries. People who search with a photo usually don't type anything, so the Queries view stays empty for this search type. Google explains this inside Search Console itself, and Search Engine Roundtable quotes it word for word.

For your analysis, that means: Google only names queries as unavailable. The Pages view is your best clue. Which pages get Lens clicks? That tells you which images work. If you pull Search Console data into a report automatically through the API, you'll have to export this number by hand for now.

How do I get found in Google Lens?

Google has not published a Lens-specific guide. The official basis is its image SEO best practices, which Google writes jointly for Google Images, Discover and images in search results. Lens isn't mentioned there, but the advice applies to every image you want Google to index. The key points:

1. Use a real image element. Google states plainly that it doesn't index CSS images. A photo that only lives as a background in your stylesheet doesn't exist for image search.
2. Write alt text. Google calls it the most important attribute of an image and reads it together with computer vision and the page content. Describe the image concretely, no keyword lists.
3. Place images next to relevant text. What surrounds an image helps Google understand it.
4. Use descriptive file names. stainless-steel-flange-dn50.jpg instead of IMG00023.JPG.
5. Stick to supported formats: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG and AVIF.
6. One image, one URL. If you use the same image on several pages, always reference it with the same URL.
7. Choose your preview image on purpose. Via og:image or structured data. Google advises against logos and images with text as the preferred image.

Here is what that looks like in practice for alt text, using a spare part as an example:

Our take: Lens compares what the camera sees with images on the web. That's why your own real product photos from several angles have a better shot than stock photos that also appear on a hundred other sites. Google hasn't confirmed this, but it follows from how image search works.

Where do Webflow sites typically go wrong?

The most common trap is background images. In Webflow, hero photos are often set via Backgrounds in the Style panel. That's convenient, but it ends up as CSS in the code, and Google doesn't index those images. Anything you want found (products, projects, team, locations) belongs in an Image element. Use backgrounds only for pure atmosphere.

More points from the Webflow help article on alt text:

• Alt text set in the Assets panel is inherited. Every new use of the image picks it up. An override on a single element only applies to that one instance.
• CMS images need their own field. For blog or product images, add a text field "Alt text" to the Collection and bind it to the element's alt text. Otherwise every item gets the same alt text or none at all.
• Images inside CMS rich text are edited directly in the rich text field of the Collection item, not in the Designer.
• Use the Audit panel for existing images. There, Webflow AI generates missing alt text for the whole site, and you review and confirm each suggestion. This works for JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP and AVIF, not for SVG. Our take: a good starting point, but read every suggestion. An AI doesn't know your part numbers or product names.
• Mark decorative images as "Decorative" so screen readers skip them.

For load time, Webflow's built-in image conversion tool turns JPEG and PNG into WebP or AVIF. Three catches worth knowing:

• The originals are replaced, and you can't undo it in Webflow. Download them or make a backup first.
• For Open Graph images (the preview when a page is shared), Webflow recommends WebP instead of AVIF, because AVIF is barely supported there. This also applies to CMS image fields used as the Open Graph image.
• Each request handles up to 100 assets, with a maximum of 10 requests per minute. Afterwards, republish your site, or nothing changes on the live site.

Coming from another platform? Our guide on migrating from WordPress to Webflow covers how images and alt text move with you.

What does this mean for you?

It depends on whether people take photos of your stuff. Our take by industry:

For the first two groups, the new filter is a good reason to go through your product images once. The work overlaps with accessibility: alt text is a basic requirement of WCAG (success criterion 1.1.1), which the Webflow help article also points to. What the Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz (Germany's accessibility law for digital products and services) means for websites is covered in our web design trends 2026. One pass pays off on both fronts.

What should you do this week?

Half an hour is enough for a first check:

1. Open Search Console, choose the search type Web: Multimodal and set the longest date range available.
2. In the Pages view, note which pages get Lens clicks. Export them if you need the numbers in your monthly report.
3. Open your ten most important product or project pages: is the main image an Image element or a background?
4. Look for missing alt text in the Webflow Audit panel and review the suggestions.
5. Check in the CMS whether image fields have their own alt text field.
6. Back up the originals before converting any formats.

How Google and AI answers handle your content beyond images is covered in our guide to AI SEO. If you'd like your Webflow site checked for images and accessibility, that's part of our Webflow work.