Multimodal search: How AI helps businesses find files faster, smarter

What is multimodal search and how is it different?

Multimodal search is a new kind of AI-powered search that draws from more than just text. It understands how meaning flows across different types of content—documents, images, videos, transcripts, links—and connects them to deliver richer, more relevant results.

Instead of scanning for exact keywords or file names, multimodal search interprets content in context. It understands what you're really looking for, even when the answer lives across multiple formats.

Think of it this way:

Traditional search reads a word.

Multimodal search reads between the lines.

By analyzing a range of inputs in context—like a sentence in a doc, a pull quote from a slide, or a detail embedded in a link—multimodal search gives you a more complete picture, faster.

What is a multimodal application in generative AI?

In generative AI, a multimodal application accepts multiple input types—such as images, text, or audio—and combines them to produce richer, more context-aware outputs.

For example, it might use an image and a text prompt together to generate a new visual that matches the description.

This approach enables more dynamic content creation, better reflecting how people communicate—through a mix of words, visuals, and sound.

Why traditional search tools fall short

Teams lose hours every week chasing down content across disconnected systems. Traditional search tools often disrupt workflows and drain productivity because of three core limitations:

Exact keywords are a barrier to discovery

Most search tools rely on exact matches—file names, phrasing, or metadata. If you don’t have the right terms, you won’t find the right file. This creates friction, especially when content is mislabeled, inconsistently titled, or buried in long documents.

As a result, relevant information goes unfound—even when it exists—leading to wasted time, repeated work, and missed opportunities.

Tools don’t talk to each other

Your files are in Google Drive. Conversations live in Slack. Notes sit in Notion. Each platform works on its own—until you need to connect the dots across them.

This fragmentation forces teams to jump between applications, breaking workflows and making a holistic view of information nearly impossible. Critical insights remain isolated within their original platforms, leading to duplicated efforts and a significant drag on team efficiency.

Formats limit what AI can understand

Traditional search engines excel at plain text, but struggle with visual or complex file types. Screenshots, PDFs, and design files are often ignored unless perfectly tagged or transcribed.

Valuable context in these formats gets left out, leading to incomplete results. That means decisions are made with only part of the information—and that gap slows progress and increases risk.

How Dropbox Dash delivers smarter search across tools and formats

Multimodal search aims to solve these gaps. Dropbox Dash delivers similar benefits today through universal search—built to handle the real-world mess of formats, files, and platforms.

Dropbox Dash is an AI-powered, cross-platform universal search tool that brings context-aware retrieval to the way your team actually works—across formats, platforms, and permissions. It makes it easier to find what matters—no matter where it lives or how it was saved.

One search across everything your team uses

Dash connects with the apps your team already relies on. No more bouncing between tabs or digging through folders. One query surfaces:

• Files
• Links
• Messages
• PDFs
• Images, video, and audio—with real-time previews

Whether it’s a last-minute video clip, an unlabeled logo file, or a buried policy doc, Dash helps you find it instantly.

Clear answers from scattered inputs

Dash Chat goes beyond search results. Ask a question, and it pulls insights from across formats—responding in natural language. Use it to:

• Summarize a policy
• Pull bullet points from multiple docs
• Generate a checklist from a project folder

Clear answers make confident decisions easier to reach.

Organize your work by project, role, or stage

Stacks let teams group what they need, how they need it—without forcing a new system. Whether it’s a client kickoff or a final review, you can:

• Onboard new hires faster
• Prep for client reviews
• Track deliverables by phase

When everything has its place, collaboration falls into place too.

Multimedia search made seamless

Dash applies the same intelligence to media files by indexing metadata—like filenames, EXIF, and location data—and generating real-time previews for faster recognition.

• Search unlabeled or cryptically named media (e.g. IMG_0421.mov)
• Find images by GPS location or timestamp
• View rich previews across file types—no need to open each one
• Load responsive previews that adapt to shape and resolution

From concept visuals to audio clips to raw footage, Dash makes multimedia content just as searchable as documents.

Inspired by multimodal search—built for real work

Dropbox Dash isn’t a multimodal search system in the generative AI sense—but it brings many of the same benefits to everyday workflows through universal search.

Dash applies principles like:

• Cross-format retrieval from documents, media, and messages
• Metadata-based indexing for audio, image, and video files
• GPS-aware queries and intelligent filename parsing
• Real-time previews for faster recognition
• AI chat that connects insights across content types

Dash brings these capabilities together in a single, intuitive experience—built for the way teams already work, and ready to grow with how AI evolves.

Frequently asked questions

What is multimodal search in simple terms?

Multimodal search is AI-powered search that can access and connect information across different formats—like text, images, videos, and links. Instead of searching just one type of content at a time, it brings together results from across your tools and platforms to deliver more relevant, complete answers.

How is Dropbox Dash different from other search tools?

Dropbox Dash delivers smarter, context-aware search across your connected tools. It retrieves content across formats—documents, images, links, and more—and uses AI features like Dash Chat to summarize, answer questions, and help you act faster. While not a multimodal AI system, Dash delivers many of the same benefits—like cross-format retrieval and contextual results—through universal search.

How does Dash help teams find content faster?

Dash eliminates the need to switch between apps or guess filenames. With one query, it searches across tools, formats, and folders—surfacing the files, messages, or links you need. Dash Chat can summarize documents or pull insights from related content, helping teams make decisions faster and reduce time spent searching.

Make search work the way your team does—with Dropbox Dash

Your content lives everywhere—and so does the solution. Dash searches across all of it, regardless of platform, format, or filename. It’s not fully multimodal today, but it’s already solving the most common search challenges: helping your team find what they need faster, without the endless digital scavenger hunt.

Dash brings the right content to you—so you can spend less time chasing it down.

Try Dash today and see how much time your team can reclaim.