A method of fabricating a laminated glass panel assembly having inner and outer glass layers includes masking a designated area of the inner glass layer to define an index feature and printing a first blackout layer onto the inner glass layer such that the first blackout layer is not present on the index feature. The method may include unmasking the index feature after printing the first blackout layer, then printing a second blackout layer onto a major surface of the outer glass layer. The major surface overlaps or covers the index feature such that the index feature is not visible to a human observer through the outer glass layer, but is detectable through the outer glass layer using a controller and machine vision logic. A glass panel assembly having the index feature is also described herein, as is a system for making the glass panel assembly.