Google Lens
Google Lens is Google's tool for searching with a picture instead of words. You point your phone's camera at something, or use a photo or screenshot, and Lens looks up what it is, who makes it, what it costs and where to buy it. It works in the Google app, in Chrome and in some Android camera apps.
Source: Google Search, Lens, checked October 29, 2026
What Google Lens means for your business
Circle to Search, Lens's close cousin, works on some premium Android phones. You circle, scribble on or tap anything on your screen, like a photo in a social post, and Google searches it without you leaving the app. Google said in October 2024 that it lets you shop what you see on the web, in videos and on social media.
That same month, Google said Lens uses the Shopping Graph, Google's collection of product listings, to show the item's price at different stores, its reviews and where to buy it. In November 2024, Google added in-store details in the US for stores that share their local inventory with Google, starting with beauty, toys and electronics.
For a shop, that brings Lens back to product data in Merchant Center. If you have a store, we'd share your local inventory with Google, since that's what Lens's in-store details draw on.
If you're deciding which AI tools your shoppers use besides Google, the platform-by-platform numbers we track count each tool's users and the clicks it sends to websites.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview called Lens an AI-powered visual search tool and cited Google's own Lens pages, Wikipedia, a marketing agency blog, YouTube and Facebook. ChatGPT listed similar uses, including shopping from a photo, and cited nothing.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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