Most business owners think about what customers type into Google. But what happens when they don't type anything at all? Sometimes they just take a picture.
A shopper spots a vase they like. Someone saves a screenshot of a chair. A customer wants to identify something before deciding where to buy it. Their starting point is an image, rather than a carefully worded search.
That gives business owners another question to ask: does my website make it easy to understand what I sell, what I do, and what my photos actually show?
What changed in Google Search Console?
On September 24, 2026, Google announced new reporting for web multimodal searches. In plain English, these are searches that use images as part of the query.
Google says the reporting covers Lens, Circle to Search on Android, images uploaded to Google Search, and Chrome's image-search shortcut. A new multimodal search-type filter is being added to the Search results and Generative AI performance reports. The rollout is global, with data appearing for sites receiving traffic from these queries.
This is a reporting change. Searching with pictures already existed. The useful development is getting a clearer view of some of that activity.
Where does this matter for a small business?
Products are an easy example. If you sell home decor, clothing, gifts or specialty items, customers may have a picture of what they want before they know its name.
For a service business, the opportunity may be less direct. Photos of completed work can help someone understand your capabilities when they reach a relevant page. A contractor's project gallery or a designer's portfolio can answer questions that a generic stock photo cannot.
Those are examples to consider, not evidence that every business will get customers through visual search. I'd start with what your customers need to see before they contact you or buy.
Give your photos a useful job
Take a look at a few important pages on your website. Do the images help someone make a decision, or are they mostly there to fill space?
For a product, I'd want to see the item clearly, along with useful details such as its size, material and available options. For a service, I might want examples of finished work and an explanation of what the project involved. Use photos you own or have permission to use, and keep the page accurate.
For example, a pottery shop could show a vase from several angles and explain its dimensions beside the images. That is a more useful experience than an attractive photo with no information about the actual item.
My recommendation is to begin with a handful of valuable pages and improve them properly. You don't need to upload hundreds of photos just to say you've done it.
Make images easy to understand and access
Google's image SEO guidance recommends relevant surrounding text, useful alt text, descriptive filenames and a balance between image quality and loading speed. It also explains that images embedded with standard HTML image elements can be discovered, while CSS background images aren't indexed as images.
For a business owner, that translates into a few checks:
Show the actual product or work clearly.
Put important images beside information about what they show.
Describe meaningful images for visitors using screen readers, without stuffing keywords into the description.
Check that photos look good and load comfortably on a phone.
Ask your website developer whether important images are accessible to search engines.
These are useful foundations. They don't guarantee placement in Lens, an AI answer or any other search result.
Check the data, then check the customer journey
In Search Console, look for the new multimodal search-type filter in the performance reports. Compare consistent date ranges and note which pages receive activity. If the filter or data hasn't appeared for your site, the rollout and whether you're receiving relevant queries both matter.
Then look at what happens after people reach your website. Can they find the price or service details? Is the contact or booking link obvious? Are enquiries and purchases being recorded correctly?
I would keep three questions separate: was the page seen, did someone visit, and did that person take a useful next step? Search visibility and confirmed customers are different measurements. The Search Console announcement alone doesn't establish sales or a complete account of traffic from every AI tool.
Start with one page your customers care about
Choose one important product, service or portfolio page. Look at it on your phone, improve the photos and explanations where needed, and check the next step a customer would take.
That's where I'd begin. A page that helps someone understand your business and make a decision is a worthwhile improvement, however they found it.
If you're unsure where to start, get a Free Visibility Snapshot. We'll take an initial look at your current visibility and help identify practical next steps. You can also explore Website Strategy and SEO for a broader look at how your site supports the business.