Search Console can finally split text Web from camera Web. Use that filter in the generative report too.

Your weekly Search Console export still collapses “Web” into one feeling. Google just gave operators a cleaner cut.

On Thursday, September 24, 2026, Google Search Central published Announcing web multimodal Search performance reporting in Search Console. Google says the new reporting lands in the Performance report for Search results and in the report for Generative AI features. The data covers searches with Lens, Circle to Search on Android, image uploads to Google Search, and the Chrome right-click “Search this image” feature. Google says the rollout starts globally the same day, and metrics appear when the property actually receives traffic from those queries.

Sources: Announcing web multimodal Search performance reporting in Search Console, Google Search Central Blog, September 24, 2026 (opened this fire); Performance report (Search results), Search Console Help (opened this fire); Generative AI performance report (Search), Search Console Help (opened this fire); Image SEO best practices, Google Search Central (opened this fire); Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search, Google Search Central (opened this fire); AI features and your website, Google Search Central (opened this fire). Adjacent trade clock only: Google Search Console performance reports gets multimodal filter, Search Engine Land / Barry Schwartz, September 24, 2026 (opened this fire; quotes the same Google blog).

The short version

• Google Search Central (Sep 24, 2026): Search Console now reports web multimodal search in Performance and Generative AI features reports.
• Surfaces named by Google: Lens, Circle to Search (Android), image uploads to Google Search, Chrome right-click “Search this image.”
• Search Console Help: Search type filter includes Web: text-based (typed queries) and Web: multimodal (image used as part of the search) — in both the classic Performance report and the Generative AI performance report.
• Google: metrics appear if the site is already receiving traffic from those queries; rollout is global starting Sep 24.
• Generative AI eligibility is unchanged: indexed + snippet-eligible pages; site included for Search generative AI features in Search Console. Google still says prioritize SEO over “AEO/GEO hacks.”
• Image SEO still matters for the visual path: crawlable <img src=…>, descriptive filenames/alt, high-quality photos near relevant text. CSS background images are not how Google indexes images.
• Operator split: export text Web and multimodal Web separately. Do not treat a text-only generative impression chart as the whole visibility program.
• Monitoring ≠ execution. A new Search Console filter will not write alt text or replace blurry job photos.

What Google announced on Sep 24

Google Search Central’s product post (Harsh Kharbanda, Google Lens; Moshe Samet, Search Console) frames the change as measurement for visual and multimodal Search experiences. Exact framing from the post: reporting for web multimodal search is introduced “in the report for performance on Search results as well as in the report for Generative AI features,” with the multimodal Search type filter in the performance reports, plus Export for offline analysis.

That is the operator hook. Multimodal is not a side hobby chart. Google put the same Search type cut into the generative report operators already use for AI Overviews / AI Mode impression work.

What Search Console Help confirms

Search Console Help for the Performance report and for the Generative AI performance report both document the Search type filter:

• Web: text-based — traditional search traffic from text queries entered into the standard Google search bar.
• Web: multimodal — web search results where an image was used as part of the search.

The Generative AI performance report Help still frames the report around generative impressions (pages, countries, devices, dates) for AI Overviews and AI Mode. Do not invent click, CTR, position, or prompt columns Google did not document on the pages we opened.

What did not change

Google’s generative AI optimization guide still says eligibility for generative AI features requires a page that is indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet, plus inclusion in Search generative AI features in Search Console. Meeting requirements does not guarantee crawl, index, or serving. Google still tells owners to prioritize effective SEO strategies over “AEO/GEO hacks” (including unnecessary AI text files and inauthentic mentions) and to monitor the Generative AI performance report.

The same guide notes generative AI features can surface relevant images and video — another reason the multimodal filter belongs in a GEO measurement loop, not only in classic Image Search work.

What this means for a New Reward operator

1. Split the Web export. Starting this week, treat Web: text-based and Web: multimodal as different surfaces. A roofing photo that wins Lens traffic is not the same signal as a services page winning a typed AI Overview impression.
2. Open the Generative AI report’s Search type filter. Google’s Sep 24 post puts multimodal data in that report too. If your generative deck only shows the default blend, you are mixing camera-led and text-led discovery.
3. Fix first-party proof images the Google Images way. Use real <img src> markup (Google says it does not index CSS background images), descriptive filenames and alt text, sharp photos near matching copy, and image sitemaps when discovery is incomplete. Job photos, before/after sets, and storefront shots are eligibility work — not vanity.
4. Do not confuse multimodal Web with Image search type. Search Console still has separate Image / Video / News search types. Multimodal Web is image-as-query behavior that returns web results. Keep the labels straight in client decks.
5. Measurement still is not execution. Export the filter. Then ship page and image fixes. A zero multimodal line can mean no traffic yet, rollout lag, or blocked/uncrawlable visuals — investigate; do not invent a “Lens ranking factor” story Google did not publish.

Honesty block

• Google did not publish a percentage of queries that are multimodal, a citation-rate lift from Lens, or a promised generative-impression bump from this filter in any page we opened this fire.
• Google did not say multimodal Web equals AI Overviews citations. The Sep 24 post is about Search Console reporting for visual/multimodal query paths, including inside the Generative AI features report.
• Search Console Help pages we opened document impressions-oriented generative reporting dimensions (pages, countries, devices, dates, Search type). We did not find click, CTR, position, or user-prompt metrics documented on those Help pages this fire — do not invent them.
• OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, and other assistants did not confirm anything about this Google Search Console filter.
• Digiday’s Sep 23 YouTube-citation graphic (Meltwater / Tinuiti / Otterly / Scrunch via Digiday) was scanned and not used as the thesis. Vendor citation shares are not Google product metrics.
• Indexing and serving are never guaranteed. No invented caps on how often New Reward customers appear after a scan.

Related New Reward pages (live, HEAD 200 this fire)

• GEO has a measurement layer now
• GEO measurement is noisy — build a proof loop
• SEO and GEO move together
• AI crawlers are becoming a real SEO signal
• How to appear in AI search results
• Why good brands disappear from AI search
• ChatGPT can now use tools on your page
• AI Visibility Score
• Run a free AI visibility scan
• SEO / AEO / GEO offering · Scan · FAQ