---
title: "Search Console splits web results into text and multimodal"
url: https://seomadman.com/news/search-console-multimodal-search-type-filter
section: news
published: 2026-09-25T00:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-09-25T00:00:00.000Z
author: Adam Hafez
topics: ["Search Console", "AI search"]
---

# Search Console splits web results into text and multimodal

## The short answer

Google Search Console's Performance report now separates web results into Web: Text-based and Web: Multimodal, the latter covering searches that use an image, photo or screenshot. It is new data that was not in web reporting before, and because those searches mostly lack text, Google does not provide query data for them.

## Key takeaways

- The Performance report now offers two web search types, Web: Text-based and Web: Multimodal.
- Multimodal tracks results triggered by a query that uses an image, photo or screenshot.
- This is entirely new data that was not previously included in web results reporting.
- Specific text query data is not available for multimodal searches, so the Queries view will not explain them.

Search Console now shows how much of your web performance comes from searches that start with an
image. The Performance report separates those from text searches, using data that was not part of
web reporting before. Google [announced the change](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/09/web-multimodal-in-sc)
on 24 September 2026 and said it is rolling out globally from that day.

## What changed in the Performance report?

The search type filter now splits web results into two groups. Google's
[Performance report help](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7576553) defines Web:
Text-based as traditional search traffic from text queries entered into the standard Google search
bar, and Web: Multimodal as web search results where an image was used as part of the search.

Multimodal is new data, not a relabel of something already reported. John Mueller of Google told
Search Engine Roundtable that the data was not previously in the counts. It is a
[Search Console](/topics/search-console) change that also touches [AI search](/topics/ai-search)
visibility: Google says the multimodal data appears in the Performance report for Search results and
also in the report for Generative AI features, which we covered in
[Search Console's AI feature reports](/news/search-console-generative-ai-reports).

## Which searches count as multimodal?

Google's announcement lists searches with Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google
Search, and the Chrome right-click "Search this image" feature. In Google's words, the goal is to
show how content is surfaced when users search using images, such as with a smartphone camera. For
what Google has said publicly about how much Lens is used, see our
[Google Lens search volume report](/reports/google-lens-visual-search-growth).

## Why is there no query data?

Google says that because multimodal searches mostly use images rather than text, specific text query
data is not available. Expect impressions and clicks for this type, but an empty Queries view.

## When will you see it?

Google says you will start seeing these metrics in your Performance report if your site is receiving
traffic from these queries. A site with no image-led search traffic will simply have nothing to
show, which is not an error. The announcement does not say the data is backfilled, so do not read a
rise from zero on 24 September as growth.

## What should site owners do with it?

Filter the report by each web type and compare. Google suggests using Export to download the data and
analyze it in other tools, which is the simplest way to put text-based and multimodal side by side
over time. Google frames the data as a way to optimize your visual content, so the pages that earn
multimodal traffic are a sensible starting point for image work, such as an
[image alt text audit](/tools/image-alt-text-auditor).
This article does not state metric values, because the sources do not give them.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does the Web multimodal filter track?

It tracks search results triggered by a query that uses an image, photo or screenshot. Text-only queries stay under Web text-based.

### Why is there no query data for multimodal searches?

Multimodal searches mostly use images rather than text, so Google says specific text query data is not available for them.

## Sources

1. [Announcing web multimodal Search performance reporting in Search Console](https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/09/web-multimodal-in-sc) - Google Search Central (primary)
2. [Google Search Console adds a multimodal search type filter](https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-console-multimodal-search-type-filter-42156.html) - Search Engine Roundtable
3. [Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7576553) - Search Console Help (primary)