Googlebot
Googlebot is the name Google gives the two web crawlers it uses to visit pages for Google Search, one that acts like a phone and one like a desktop. Google's page says it mostly crawls the phone version, finds new pages mainly by following links, and that blocking it affects Search, Discover, Google Images, Google Video and Google News.
Source: Google Search Central, Googlebot, checked October 29, 2026
What Googlebot means for your business
Google says AI is built into Search, so robots.txt rules for Googlebot are how you control crawling for AI Overviews and AI Mode too. Blocking Gemini's use of your pages is a separate setting, Google-Extended. We'd keep Googlebot open on every page you want buyers to find.
A robots.txt rule stops Googlebot from crawling a page, but Google may still list its address in results. A noindex rule keeps the page out of results. A password keeps it private from everyone. Google treats these as three separate tools, and we'd check which one you meant before changing anything.
Other bots often pretend to be Googlebot, Google warns, so a visit in your logs with that name isn't proof. Google says to confirm it with a reverse DNS lookup or its published IP ranges. We'd do that before blocking anything, and we'd look at firewall and hosting settings too, since those can turn the real Googlebot away. If your pages are missing from Google and you can't see why, we'd find out what's blocking Googlebot first.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview credited its definition to Wikipedia, cited Google's page, SEO tool blogs, and YouTube and Instagram videos, and counted Googlebot Image, Video and News as types of Googlebot, which Google's page calls other crawlers. ChatGPT gave a plain answer with no sources.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
Related terms in crawlers and technical access
Find out where your brand stands.
Tell us what you're trying to figure out. We'll get back to you within one business day with a time to talk.