Google Lens SEO: Search Console Now Counts Searches That Start With a Photo

A shopper points a phone at a lamp in a cafe, taps Lens, and lands on a retailer's product page. Until September, that visit was invisible as its own line in Search Console, so agencies selling image work to ecommerce, furniture, fashion and local clients had no Google number to show for it. Google Lens SEO was a pitch without a metric.

That has changed. Search Console now separates searches that start with an image, and this guide covers where the data lives, what it leaves out, and how to turn it into a section clients will understand.

What did Google add to Search Console for Google Lens?

On 24 September 2026, Google added a multimodal search type to Search Console that reports searches where people search with an image. The Search Central announcement says the data includes searches with Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google Search, and the Chrome right-click "Search this image" feature. It appears in the Performance report for Search results and in the report for Generative AI features, so an image search that triggers an AI answer is counted there too.

Google said it was rolling out globally from that day and that sites would see the metrics if they receive traffic from these searches. A property with no Lens traffic will simply show nothing, which is itself a finding worth reporting for a product-led client.

How do you find Google Lens traffic in Search Console?

You find Google Lens traffic by opening the Performance report and choosing Web: multimodal in the search type filter. Google's Performance report help now splits web search into two types:

• Web: text-based covers searches typed into the standard Google search bar.
• Web: multimodal covers searches made with an image, such as with a phone camera, from Lens, Circle to Search, uploaded images and Chrome image search.

Run the same filter in the Generative AI report to see how often image searches showed the site inside AI features. Then use Export, as the announcement suggests, to save the data for your own analysis. Do this monthly: the view is new, and you will want your own record of how it grows.

What can't the multimodal report tell you?

The multimodal report cannot tell you which queries people used, because there usually is no text query. Google's dimensions reference says multimodal searches mostly use images, so specific query data is not available and the queries dimension is not offered when this search type is selected. That rules out the usual keyword table. Pages, countries, devices and dates still work.

Three more gaps to state plainly in any client conversation:

• History. Google has not said whether searches before 24 September are classed as multimodal. Treat that date as the start of the series. A jump right around launch is a reporting change, not growth.
• The API. The announcement does not mention the Search Console API, and on 21 October the API reference listed no multimodal type. Until Google documents one, assume automated pulls do not separate this traffic and use the export.
• Rankings. There is no keyword, so there is no position to track. Rank trackers measure text queries. Lens visibility is measured per page in Search Console, not as a ranking.

None of this makes the data weak. It makes it a different kind of data: proof that a page is being found by people who never typed a word, which is exactly what image work promises.

What does Google Lens SEO mean in practice?

In practice, Google Lens SEO is image SEO plus a strong landing page, because Google has not published separate ranking guidance for Lens. The closest official checklist is Google's image SEO best practices, which apply across Google's visual features. The page does not mention Lens by name, so present these as the documented basics, not a Lens formula:

1. Use real HTML image elements. Google finds images in the src attribute of img, including inside picture, and does not index CSS background images.
2. Submit an image sitemap for images Google might not otherwise find. Image sitemaps can list CDN URLs on other domains.
3. Keep a src fallback on responsive images, since some crawlers do not understand srcset or picture.
4. Use supported formats: BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG or AVIF, with a file extension that matches the type.
5. Ship sharp images that load fast. Google notes that high-quality images appeal more to users, and that images are often the largest part of page weight.
6. Name a preferred image with primaryImageOfPage, an image on the main entity, or og:image. Avoid logos, text-heavy images and extreme aspect ratios there.
7. Write descriptive filenames and alt text. Google uses alt text with computer vision and page content to understand an image. Avoid keyword stuffing.
8. Place images near relevant text on pages about the same subject, and reference each image with one consistent URL.

Run these through your normal SEO audit for clients so the image fixes sit on the same list as everything else, with the multimodal numbers as the before and after.

Which clients should care about Google Lens SEO first?

Clients whose customers can photograph what they sell should care first: retail products, furniture and decor, fashion, plants, food and anything with packaging. That is operator judgement, not a Google statement, so check the data before you pitch it. Filter each client to Web: multimodal for the weeks since launch and sort by pages. If product and category pages already show impressions, there is demand to grow. If the property shows nothing, the client may not need this yet, and saying so builds more trust than selling it anyway.

Local businesses are a judgement call too. People do point cameras at shopfronts and dishes, but Google has not broken out how much of that reaches websites rather than Google Business Profile listings. Report what the multimodal filter shows for the site, and keep Google Business Profile results in their own section, as a local SEO report template would.

How should you report Google Lens SEO to clients?

Report Google Lens SEO as its own small section, by page, month over month from 24 September 2026, kept apart from keyword rankings. A layout that works:

• Multimodal clicks and impressions, this month against last month, with the launch date marked as the baseline.
• Top landing pages from image searches, so the client sees which products or articles people find with a camera.
• Device and country split, which shows whether image searches come mostly from phones.
• Generative AI report, multimodal filter, if the site appears in AI features for image searches.
• Image fixes shipped, dated, so later changes can be tied to the work.

Keep text rankings in the SEO rank tracking tool section and outcomes such as sales and leads from GA4 alongside. Tie both to the agreed SEO KPIs that prove the work, so image traffic sits in the same story as everything else. An SEO reporting tool handles the recurring Search Console and GA4 sections; the multimodal export is, for now, a short manual addition you paste in each month.

Be precise about wording. Say "searches that started with an image" rather than "Lens rankings", and name the four sources Google lists. Clients remember the honest framing when the numbers grow.

Google Lens SEO FAQ

Can I see Google Lens traffic in Search Console?

Yes. Since 24 September 2026, Search Console has a Web: multimodal search type in the Performance report and the Generative AI report. It covers Google Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google Search and Chrome image search.

Why are there no queries in the multimodal report?

Because multimodal searches mostly use images rather than text, Google says specific query data is not available, so the queries dimension is not available when that search type is selected. Report by page, country and device instead.

Does Search Console show Google Lens data from before September 2026?

Google has not said whether searches before the 24 September 2026 launch are classed as multimodal. Treat the launch date as the start of the series and do not read a jump around it as growth.

Is there an official Google Lens SEO guide?

Not a separate one. Google's image SEO best practices page is the closest official guidance: real HTML image elements, image sitemaps, descriptive filenames and alt text, a preferred image in metadata, and relevant text near each image.

Can a rank tracker measure Google Lens rankings?

No. Lens searches start with a photo, not a keyword, so there is no text query to track. Use rank tracking for text keywords and the Search Console multimodal filter, by page, for searches that start with an image.