Multimodal Search.
Multimodal Search enables searching with different input formats simultaneously: text, image, voice, or video. Google Lens, Circle to Search, and ChatGPT Vision are examples of multimodal search technologies.
Multimodal Search — Explained in Detail
Multimodal Search describes the ability of search systems to understand and combine search queries in different formats: text + image (e.g., a photo of a piece of furniture with the question 'Where can I buy this in Zurich?'), voice + context (voice search with location data), video + text (questions about a filmed product). Google, OpenAI, and others are driving this development massively in 2026.
Concrete applications in 2026: Google Lens (camera-based search — 15 billion search queries/month), Circle to Search on Android (circle objects on screen and search), ChatGPT Vision (upload images and ask questions), Google Multisearch (combine text + image). For e-commerce, multimodal search is particularly relevant: customers photograph products and search for similar items or prices.
What does this mean for website operators? Images are becoming an important SEO channel. Optimize: alt texts with descriptive keywords, image quality and relevant file names, structured product data (Schema.org Product), Google Merchant Center for e-commerce, and visual content that is 'searchable' (clear product photos, infographics). Websites that optimize their visual assets for multimodal search gain a growing traffic channel.
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SEO Agency ZurichFrequently Asked Questions About Multimodal Search
Multimodal Search expands the SEO discipline beyond text. Images, videos, and voice content become standalone 'search surfaces.' Concrete impacts: Image SEO (alt texts, image quality, file names) becomes more important, Video SEO (YouTube, thumbnails) gains relevance, and Schema.org markup for products, recipes, and events helps multimodal search systems understand your content.
Google Lens is Google's visual search: you point your smartphone camera at an object, and Google recognizes it — products, plants, animals, text, buildings. Lens processes 15 billion search queries per month. For businesses: Make sure your product photos are high-resolution and well-lit, alt texts are descriptive, and Google Merchant Center data is up to date.
Yes, gradually. The basics: 1) All images have descriptive alt texts. 2) Images are high-quality and in WebP/AVIF format. 3) Product data is structured with Schema.org. 4) Videos have transcripts and descriptive titles. These measures also help with traditional SEO — there are no downsides, only additional opportunities through multimodal search.
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