Google-Extended is a robots.txt control that lets you stop Google using your content to train future Gemini models. Google states it does not affect inclusion in Google Search or act as a ranking signal. Blocking it will not remove you from search results or from AI Overviews.
What is Google-Extended?
Google-Extended is a product token, a name you put in robots.txt to give Google an instruction. According to Google's list of common crawlers, it lets publishers control whether content Google crawls may be used to train future Gemini models, and for grounding in Gemini Apps and the Vertex AI API for Gemini.
It is not a crawler you will see in your server logs. Google says it "doesn't have a separate HTTP request user agent string." The crawling itself is done by Google's existing crawlers. The token only tells Google what it may do with what it fetched.
That has a practical effect: you cannot detect Google-Extended by searching your logs, and you cannot confirm a block by watching for it to stop visiting. You set the rule, and you trust it.
Does blocking Google-Extended hurt SEO?
No, by Google's own statement: "Google-Extended does not impact a site's inclusion in Google Search nor is it used as a ranking signal in Google Search."
The part people mix up is Googlebot. Googlebot is the crawler behind Search, and it is a different token. Blocking Googlebot removes your pages from the crawl that feeds Search, which is a serious SEO problem. Blocking Google-Extended does not touch it.
What about AI Overviews and AI Mode?
Google's page on AI features and your website says robots.txt directives for Googlebot are the control site owners have over Search crawling. It describes Google-Extended as a way to limit AI training and grounding in some of Google's other systems. It does not list Google-Extended as a control for AI Overviews or AI Mode.
The same page says a page needs to be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet to be used in these features, and that there are no extra technical requirements. So the lever for AI Overviews is your normal Search eligibility, not this token. If that is your goal, read how to appear in Google AI Overviews.
What does the robots.txt rule look like?
To opt out of Gemini training while leaving Search untouched:
User-agent: Google-ExtendedDisallow: /
To opt out of only one section, disallow that path instead of the root. Leaving the token out, or allowing it, means you have not opted out. The file has to sit at the root of your domain, as covered in what a robots.txt file should look like.
Should you block it?
It is a values and business decision, not a technical one. Use this to decide.
| Your situation | Reasonable choice |
|---|---|
| Your content is your product, such as paid research or courses | Block it. You lose nothing in Search and keep control of training use. |
| You publish to be quoted and want any AI product to know your name | Leave it allowed. Training use is how a model may learn about you. |
| You are unsure | Allow it for now and revisit. A robots.txt change is easy to reverse. |
Keep one limit in mind. Blocking a training token is a request about future training. It does not remove what a model has already learned, and it does not decide whether a page can be fetched live to answer a question.
How is it different from the OpenAI and Anthropic bots?
OpenAI documents separate crawlers for training and for search, and says disallowing GPTBot "indicates a site's content should not be used in training generative AI foundation models." Its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, is the one that decides whether you appear in ChatGPT search, so the training and visibility controls are split. Our guides to GPTBot and ClaudeBot cover those, and what an AI crawler is gives the general picture.
The pattern across vendors is similar: one control for training, another for search or user requests. Always read each vendor's current documentation, because names and behavior change.
What should you do this week?
- Open your robots.txt and see whether Google-Extended is mentioned.
- Decide on training use using the table above.
- Confirm Googlebot is not blocked, with the URL Inspection tool in Search Console.
- Write the decision in your site notes, so a later robots.txt edit does not undo it by accident.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Google-Extended a crawler?
No. It is a robots.txt token with no user agent string of its own. Google's existing crawlers fetch pages, and the token tells Google whether the content may be used for Gemini training and grounding.
Will blocking Google-Extended remove me from Google Search?
No. Google says it does not affect inclusion in Search and is not a ranking signal. Blocking Googlebot is what would remove you.
Does Google-Extended control AI Overviews?
Google does not list it as an AI Overviews control. Eligibility there follows normal Search indexing and snippet rules.
Can I see Google-Extended in my server logs?
No, because it has no separate user agent. You can only check that your robots.txt contains the rule you intended.
How do I allow it again later?
Remove the Disallow line for Google-Extended, or change it to allow. Google applies robots.txt changes when it next reads the file.