Multimodal Search

Multimodal search lets users combine text, images, audio, and video in a single query. Instead of typing “red sneakers like these”, you circle a pair in a photo, add “but under $100”, and ask in your voice. The model sees the image, hears the question, reads the text, and answers.

In 2026, multimodal is the default. Pure text search is becoming the exception.

What multimodal changes

• The query is not just text. It is a mix of modalities
• The result is not just a list. It is often a synthesized answer
• E-E-A-T now applies to all media, not just text
• Alt text and image metadata become first-class SEO
• Voice and video content become indexable, citable, and rankable

How to optimize for multimodal

• Text. Same as always—clear structure, schema markup, strong passages
• Images. Descriptive file names, descriptive alt text, descriptive captions, and structured data (ImageObject)
• Video. Transcripts, chapters, key moments marked up with Clip / SeekToAction schema
• Audio. Transcripts (so models can read it), shownotes with entity markup, and clean chapter markers
• Across all media. Consistent entity SEO and brand mentions