Multimodal search
Search that accepts and understands images, voice and video alongside text, often combining them in a single query.
In depth
What it really means
Multimodal search lets someone photograph a thing and ask about it, speak a question, or point a camera and get a live answer. The model interprets the image and the words together rather than running two separate searches.
For most B2B this is a low priority, and it is worth saying so. It matters for physical products, retail, local and anything visual. For SaaS the practical takeaway is narrower: alt text, diagram labels and video transcripts become retrievable text, which helps a bit and costs little.
How it works
- The user submits an image, audio or video, with or without text.
- Each input is encoded into the same shared embedding space as text.
- Retrieval runs against that space, so an image can match a text passage.
- The model synthesizes an answer across all the retrieved material.
Pros & cons
Pros
- Diagrams and screenshots become discoverable rather than invisible.
- Voice queries are naturally conversational, so they favor question-shaped content.
- Video transcripts turn existing assets into retrievable text at almost no cost.
Cons
- For most B2B categories the query volume is small.
- Measurement is poor, since analytics rarely separate multimodal sessions.
- Producing good visual assets costs real money for uncertain return.
Common mistakes
- Alt text stuffed with keywords rather than describing the image.
- Text baked into images with no accompanying HTML, which is invisible to retrieval.
- Publishing video with no transcript, wasting the most retrievable part of it.
- Over-investing here before the text fundamentals are working.
Best practices
- Write alt text that describes what the image shows, specifically.
- Put the key numbers from any chart into the surrounding text as well.
- Publish transcripts for every video and label diagram elements in HTML where possible.
- Caption images with a sentence explaining what the reader should take from them.
- Prioritize this below crawlability, structure and entity work.
FAQs
What is multimodal search?
Search that understands images, voice and video alongside text, often in one query, such as photographing something and asking a question about it.
Does multimodal search matter for B2B SaaS?
Less than for retail or local. The worthwhile parts are cheap: descriptive alt text, diagram labels in HTML, and video transcripts, all of which become retrievable text.
How do I optimize for voice queries?
Answer in clear spoken-style sentences and target the full question as someone would say it out loud, which is usually longer and more specific than the typed version.
Does alt text still matter?
Yes, and more than before. It is how the text layer of your visual content becomes retrievable. Describe the image accurately rather than stuffing keywords.
Keep reading
Related on LymLyt
Beyond LymLyt
Further reading
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