Search Console now shows traffic from Google Lens and Circle to Search

Google added a new search type to Search Console on 24 September. In the Performance report, Web now has two parts: Text-based and Multimodal. The same split appears in the report for generative AI features.

The announcement on the Search Central blog came from Harsh Kharbanda, Product Manager Lead for Google Lens, and Moshe Samet, Product Manager Lead for Search Console. They said "the integration of multimodal search data is rolling out globally starting today."

What counts as multimodal

The filter text in Search Console defines it like this: "Web-multimodal tracks search results triggered by a query that uses an image, photo, or screenshot." Google's post lists four ways those searches happen:

• Google Lens
• Circle to Search on Android
• Image uploads to Google Search
• Chrome's right-click "Search this image" option

Plain text searches stay under Web text-based.

What you can and can't see

You can see which pages appeared and how often, broken down by country, device and date, and you can export it. As John Mueller put it on Bluesky, "you can see which of your pages showed up & how often."

You can't see the query. Google's documentation says "the queries dimension isn't available when this search type is selected", which makes sense when the query is a photo. You don't see the image itself either.

A few things are still unclear. Google's post only mentions the Export button, and at the time of writing nothing from Google confirms whether the Search Console API or bulk data export include the new type. Google also hasn't said whether image prompts in AI Mode are counted. And metrics only show up for sites that are actually getting traffic from these searches, so an empty report may just mean you're not appearing yet.

Is this new traffic or relabelled traffic?

This is the part that matters for anyone who reports on Search Console data. When Dave Smart asked on Bluesky whether these impressions used to sit inside Web, Mueller first replied that he thought they "were not reported at all before", then confirmed: "checking with the team, the data wasn't previously in the counts, the report has new data."

So multimodal clicks and impressions weren't hidden in your old Web numbers. They weren't counted. Two practical consequences follow. Any period that crosses 24 September may not compare like with like. And it's still an open question whether the top-level Web figure now includes both sub-types, so check which filter your dashboards are pulling.

Smart also reported drops in Web impressions and clicks on some properties from around 10 September. Mueller's answer doesn't explain those, and Google hasn't commented on them.

Who should care

Anyone whose customers point a phone at things. Online shops, fashion and furniture, plants, car parts, food and drink, and local businesses with a recognisable shopfront, menu or product. If people photograph things in your category, this is the first time you can see whether your pages turn up.

What to do

1. Check the report. In the Performance report for Search results, change the search type filter to Web multimodal. If there's data, export it and see which pages appear.
2. Annotate 24 September. Mark it in your reports as a reporting change, alongside the September 2026 spam update, which started the same day. We cover that in our spam update write-up.
3. Check your data pipeline. If you pull Search Console data into Looker Studio or a warehouse through the API, compare totals with the interface for the weeks after 24 September.
4. Look after the pages that appear. Original photos, descriptive file names, useful alt text and correct product markup all help Google understand what an image shows. It's basic image SEO, and now you can see whether it's working.

For a wider view of how pages connect and get found, our guide to internal linking strategy covers the structural side.