What is Multimodal Search?
Search that mixes text, images, and voice as inputs or outputs. Alt text, descriptive captions, transcripts, and structured data decide whether non-text content is retrievable.
Related terms
Image SEO
Making images retrievable and fast: descriptive filenames, alt text, captions, responsive sizes, lazy loading, and accurate dimensions to protect CLS.
Alt Text
The text alternative describing an image for screen readers and parsers. One of the most common detectable accessibility failures, and part of every audit baseline.
Machine-Readable Content
Content structured so parsers extract it reliably: semantic HTML, one H1, real lists and tables, descriptive link text, alt text, and schema that mirrors visible content.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)
Answer Engine Optimization is the practice of structuring pages so answer engines and AI assistants can extract, trust, and quote them: a direct definition up top, scannable steps, quotable facts, and FAQ or Article schema behind them.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Generative Engine Optimization improves how often a brand or page is cited inside AI-generated answers. It combines classic SEO (crawlability, relevance) with quotability: clear facts, named entities, sources, and machine-readable structure.
AI Overviews
Google’s AI-generated summaries at the top of some results pages. They synthesize multiple sources and link to them, which can reduce clicks to publishers even when a page ranks well organically.