Multimodal content: images and video
AI features can show images and video and answer questions that start from a photo. Treat images and video as content: original, described with alt text and captions, placed near relevant text, and crawlable. Google reports multimodal AI impressions separately in Search Console.
What Google documents
- Its AI guide says AI features can bring in images and video, and points to its image and video best practices.[1] Vendor-documented
- The Generative AI performance report splits text-based and multimodal search types.[2] Vendor-documented
- Alt text is “the most important attribute” for image metadata; Google combines it with computer vision and page content.[3] Vendor-documented
Image checklist
| Item | Do |
|---|---|
| Originality | Your own photos, diagrams and screenshots over stock images |
| Alt text | Describe the image specifically: “Water heater anode rod, corroded after 6 years” |
| Filename | Descriptive (corroded-anode-rod.jpg)[3] |
| Placement | Near the text it illustrates, with a caption |
| Markup | <img> elements, not CSS backgrounds; image in Article markup |
| Text in images | Repeat key text in HTML |
Video checklist
- A dedicated, indexable watch page per video, with title, description and thumbnail.[4]
- Transcripts and chapters in HTML.
- YouTube is among the most cited sources in Google AI summaries per Pew,[5] so publish there too.
Image requirements Google documents
- Use the HTML
<img>element with asrcattribute. Google does not index CSS background images.[3] - Supported formats are BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, WebP, SVG and AVIF.[3]
- Alt text is the most important image metadata. Describe the image plainly and avoid keyword stuffing; file names give only light clues.[3]
- To suggest a preferred image for a page, use
primaryImageOfPage, theimageproperty on the main entity, orog:image. Avoid logos, text-heavy images and extreme aspect ratios.[3] - Use the same image URL wherever the same image appears on your site.[3]
- An image sitemap can help discovery.[3]
Vendor-documented Google's AI guide adds that generative features can bring in relevant images and video, and that following its image and video documentation is already optimizing for them.[1]
Video requirements Google documents
- Video features need a watch page: a page where the video is the main content, which Google can index. Google's examples of pages that are not watch pages include a blog post that reviews an embedded video and a product page with a 360 video, because the video is complementary to the rest of the page. The indexed watch page must also be performing well in Search before its video can be considered for indexing.[4]
- Embed with
<video>,<embed>,<iframe>or<object>so Google can find it.[4] - Provide a stable thumbnail URL and a stable video file URL. Thumbnails must be at least 60 by 30 pixels (larger preferred), and at least 80% of their pixels must have an alpha value above 250.[4]
- For key moments, add
CliporSeekToActionmarkup, or use YouTube timestamps. Opt out of previews withnosnippet.[4] VideoObjectmarkup supports properties such ascontentUrl,embedUrl,thumbnailUrlandexpires. A video sitemap and the Search Console video indexing report help check coverage.[4]
Vendor-documented
Frequently asked questions
Do AI engines read images?
Google's AI features can use images and video, and multimodal models can interpret images. Alt text, captions and nearby text still give the clearest signal.
Is YouTube worth it for AEO?
Pew found YouTube among the three most cited sources in Google AI summaries (March 2025 data).
Does a blog post with an embedded video count as a watch page?
Not by itself. Google's video documentation lists a blog post that reviews an embedded video as an example of a page that is not a watch page, because the video is complementary to the rest of the content.
See also
References
Pages accessed September 28, 2026 unless a date is given. Sources added on October 31, 2026 were accessed that day. See all sources and our editorial policy.
- ^ "Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search". Google Search Central. Added May 15, 2026; last updated July 10, 2026.
- ^ "Generative AI performance report (Search)". Search Console Help. Rolled out to all sites by August 31, 2026.
- ^ "Google image SEO best practices". Google Search Central.
- ^ "Video SEO best practices". Google Search Central.
- ^ "Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results". Pew Research Center. Published July 22, 2025; March 2025 browsing data.