AI crawler profile
What is GoogleOther? How to allow or block Google's crawler
Operator
Purpose
Training + search
robots.txt
Respects robots.txt
Official docs
GoogleOther is Google's catch-all crawler for uses outside Search indexing — research, internal development, and product one-offs, which can include AI-related work. It exists so those fetches don't masquerade as Googlebot. Blocking it does not affect Google Search rankings, which remain governed by Googlebot.
Does GoogleOther respect robots.txt?
Officially documented by Google and respects robots.txt like the rest of its crawler family.
Block GoogleOther with robots.txt
User-agent: GoogleOther Disallow: /
Explicitly allow GoogleOther
User-agent: GoogleOther Allow: /
Should you block GoogleOther?
It's a genuine trade-off: GoogleOtherserves both search-style features (which send you visibility) and model training (which you may want to opt out of). Since one user agent controls both, you can't split the decision — weigh which matters more using our blocking decision guide.
Check and monitor GoogleOther on your site
- AI Crawler Access Checker — see whether your current robots.txt allows or blocks GoogleOther.
- robots.txt Generator for AI Bots — build a robots.txt with per-bot rules for all 28 known AI crawlers.
- AI Bot Log Analyzer — paste server logs and count real GoogleOther hits, entirely in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
What is GoogleOther?
GoogleOther is Google's crawler serving both AI search features and model training. Google's generic crawler for research and internal product uses.
Does GoogleOther respect robots.txt?
Officially documented by Google and respects robots.txt like the rest of its crawler family.
How do I block GoogleOther?
Add "User-agent: GoogleOther" followed by "Disallow: /" to your robots.txt file. The change takes effect the next time the bot fetches your robots.txt.
Does blocking GoogleOther hurt my Google rankings?
No. GoogleOther is separate from Googlebot, which handles Google Search indexing. Blocking GoogleOther has no effect on your traditional search rankings, but it does remove your pages from the AI answers Google's assistant serves to its users.
How can I tell if GoogleOther is crawling my site?
Search your server access logs for the string "GoogleOther". Our free AI Bot Log Analyzer does this in your browser: paste a log file and it counts hits per AI crawler, including GoogleOther, with per-path breakdowns.
More Google agents
Part of our directory of every known AI crawler, refreshed monthly. Last verified: 2026-07-18.