diff --git a/src/git_manager.rs b/src/git_manager.rs
index ae28fb3..f1d43da 100644
--- a/src/git_manager.rs
+++ b/src/git_manager.rs
@@ -707,9 +707,10 @@ impl GitManager {
                 SubmoduleError::GitoxideError(format!("GitOpsManager update failed: {e}"))
             })?;
 
-        if self.verbose {
-            println!("✅ Updated {name} successfully");
-        }
+        // Name every submodule that was updated, not just a trailing count: with
+        // only the count, a multi-submodule `update` gives no way to tell which
+        // ones it actually touched.
+        println!("✅ Updated {name}");
         Ok(())
     }
 
diff --git a/src/git_ops/gix_ops.rs b/src/git_ops/gix_ops.rs
index 8fc7c8b..f19e50f 100644
--- a/src/git_ops/gix_ops.rs
+++ b/src/git_ops/gix_ops.rs
@@ -29,9 +29,12 @@ use crate::utilities;
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq)]
 pub struct GixOperations {
     repo: gix::Repository,
+    /// Whether to surface the underlying gitoxide fetch report on stderr.
+    verbose: bool,
 }
 impl GixOperations {
-    /// Create a new `GixOperations` instance
+    /// Create a new `GixOperations` instance. Quiet by default; see
+    /// [`GixOperations::with_verbose`].
     pub fn new(repo_path: Option<&Path>) -> Result<Self> {
         let repo = match repo_path {
             Some(path) => gix::open(path)
@@ -39,7 +42,17 @@ impl GixOperations {
             None => gix::discover(".")
                 .with_context(|| "Failed to discover repository in current directory")?,
         };
-        Ok(Self { repo })
+        Ok(Self {
+            repo,
+            verbose: false,
+        })
+    }
+
+    /// Set whether gitoxide's own fetch report is echoed to stderr.
+    #[must_use]
+    pub const fn with_verbose(mut self, verbose: bool) -> Self {
+        self.verbose = verbose;
+        self
     }
 
     /// Try to perform operation with gix, return error if not supported
@@ -457,8 +470,13 @@ impl GitOperations for GixOperations {
             // Pass None to let gix resolve the default remote (which has refspecs configured).
             // Passing the URL string would create a bare remote without refspecs.
             let submodule_repo = gix::open(&submodule_path)?;
-            fetch_repo(submodule_repo, None, entry.shallow == Some(true))
-                .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("Failed to fetch submodule: {e}"))?;
+            fetch_repo(
+                submodule_repo,
+                None,
+                entry.shallow == Some(true),
+                self.verbose,
+            )
+            .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("Failed to fetch submodule: {e}"))?;
             match opts.strategy {
                 crate::options::SerializableUpdate::Checkout
                 | crate::options::SerializableUpdate::Unspecified => {
@@ -696,7 +714,7 @@ impl GitOperations for GixOperations {
     fn fetch_submodule(&self, path: &str) -> Result<()> {
         // Pass None to let gix resolve the default remote (which has refspecs configured).
         let submodule_repo = utilities::repo_from_path(&std::path::PathBuf::from(path))?;
-        fetch_repo(submodule_repo, None, false)
+        fetch_repo(submodule_repo, None, false, self.verbose)
             .map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("Failed to fetch submodule: {e}"))
     }
 
diff --git a/src/git_ops/mod.rs b/src/git_ops/mod.rs
index 6d14cf9..28f09b5 100644
--- a/src/git_ops/mod.rs
+++ b/src/git_ops/mod.rs
@@ -178,7 +178,9 @@ pub struct GitOpsManager {
 impl GitOpsManager {
     /// Create a new `GitOpsManager` with automatic fallback
     pub fn new(repo_path: Option<&Path>, verbose: bool) -> Result<Self> {
-        let gix_ops = GixOperations::new(repo_path).ok();
+        let gix_ops = GixOperations::new(repo_path)
+            .ok()
+            .map(|ops| ops.with_verbose(verbose));
         let git2_ops = Git2Operations::new(repo_path)
             .with_context(|| "Failed to initialize git2 operations")?;
 
@@ -266,7 +268,7 @@ impl GitOpsManager {
         // gix is an optional optimistic backend — log failures but don't fail.
         match GixOperations::new(Some(&workdir)) {
             Ok(new_gix) => {
-                self.gix_ops = Some(new_gix);
+                self.gix_ops = Some(new_gix.with_verbose(self.verbose));
             }
             Err(e) => {
                 if self.verbose {
diff --git a/src/git_ops/simple_gix.rs b/src/git_ops/simple_gix.rs
index 6a5189a..a5f96d2 100644
--- a/src/git_ops/simple_gix.rs
+++ b/src/git_ops/simple_gix.rs
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ use gitoxide_core::repository::fetch::{
 };
 use gix::{features::progress, progress::prodash};
 use prodash::render::line;
-use std::io::{stderr, stdout};
+use std::io::stderr;
 
 /// A standard range for line renderer.
 pub fn setup_line_renderer_range(
@@ -46,7 +46,14 @@ pub fn progress_tree(trace: bool) -> std::sync::Arc<prodash::tree::Root> {
     .into()
 }
 
-/// Run a function with progress tracking, capturing output to stdout and stderr.
+/// Run a function with progress tracking, returning its result alongside the
+/// bytes it wrote to the `out` and `err` handles it was given.
+///
+/// `gitoxide-core` writes CLI-shaped reports to those handles — for `fetch`,
+/// the refspec mapping and a per-ref status line. That is narration for someone
+/// running `gix` directly, not part of `submod`'s output contract, so it is
+/// captured and handed back rather than written to this process's own streams.
+/// The caller decides where, and whether, it is shown.
 pub fn get_progress<T>(
     func_name: &str,
     range: Option<std::ops::RangeInclusive<u8>>,
@@ -55,7 +62,7 @@ pub fn get_progress<T>(
         &mut dyn std::io::Write,
         &mut dyn std::io::Write,
     ) -> T,
-) -> Result<T> {
+) -> (T, Vec<u8>, Vec<u8>) {
     let standard_range = 2..=2;
     let range = range.unwrap_or_else(|| standard_range.clone());
     let progress = progress_tree(false);
@@ -75,9 +82,7 @@ pub fn get_progress<T>(
     });
 
     handle.shutdown_and_wait();
-    std::io::Write::write_all(&mut stdout(), &out)?;
-    std::io::Write::write_all(&mut stderr(), &err)?;
-    Ok(result)
+    (result, out, err)
 }
 
 /// Fetch options for the `fetch` command, with an option for shallow fetching.
@@ -100,9 +105,33 @@ const fn fetch_options(remote: Option<String>, shallow: bool) -> FetchOptions {
 }
 
 /// Fetch updates from a remote repository.
-pub fn fetch_repo(repo: gix::Repository, remote: Option<String>, shallow: bool) -> Result<()> {
-    let inner_result = get_progress("fetch", Some(FetchProgressRange), |progress, out, err| {
-        gitoxide_core::repository::fetch(repo, progress, out, err, fetch_options(remote, shallow))
-    })?;
+///
+/// The fetch report `gitoxide-core` produces never reaches stdout: stdout
+/// carries `submod`'s own output, and callers parse it. The report is written to
+/// stderr when the caller asked for verbose output, or when the fetch failed and
+/// it is the only detail available to explain why.
+pub fn fetch_repo(
+    repo: gix::Repository,
+    remote: Option<String>,
+    shallow: bool,
+    verbose: bool,
+) -> Result<()> {
+    let (inner_result, out, err) =
+        get_progress("fetch", Some(FetchProgressRange), |progress, out, err| {
+            gitoxide_core::repository::fetch(
+                repo,
+                progress,
+                out,
+                err,
+                fetch_options(remote, shallow),
+            )
+        });
+
+    if verbose || inner_result.is_err() {
+        let mut sink = stderr();
+        std::io::Write::write_all(&mut sink, &out)?;
+        std::io::Write::write_all(&mut sink, &err)?;
+    }
+
     inner_result.map_err(|e| anyhow::anyhow!("Fetch failed: {e}"))
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration_tests.rs b/tests/integration_tests.rs
index 1b0474a..178e79b 100644
--- a/tests/integration_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/integration_tests.rs
@@ -192,13 +192,23 @@ sparse_paths = ["src"]
             .run_submod_success(&["update"])
             .expect("Failed to run update");
 
-        // The one submodule in the config must be counted. `update` does not name
-        // the submodules it touched — it forwards the raw fetch output and then
-        // prints this summary — so the count is the assertable contract here.
+        // `update` must name each submodule it touched, then summarize the count.
+        assert!(
+            stdout.contains("✅ Updated update-lib"),
+            "update should name the submodule it updated; got: {stdout}"
+        );
         assert!(
             stdout.contains("Updated 1 submodule(s)"),
             "update should report how many submodules it updated; got: {stdout}"
         );
+
+        // gitoxide's fetch report is plumbing narration for `gix fetch`, not part
+        // of submod's output. Leaking it to stdout is what made the per-submodule
+        // line unassertable in the first place.
+        assert!(
+            !stdout.contains("refs/remotes/origin/"),
+            "update must not leak the raw fetch refspec report to stdout; got: {stdout}"
+        );
     }
 
     /// `update` must check the submodule worktree out to the commit recorded as