Crawlspace

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Google-Extended

21 established claims - 7 refused by the grounding gate

Verdict

Google-Extended controls whether content Google crawls from a site may be used to train future Gemini models and for grounding in Gemini Apps and Vertex AI. It does not affect the site’s inclusion or ranking in Google Search, and it does not remove content from AI Overviews; opting out of AI Overviews requires blocking Googlebot entirely, which would also eliminate the site’s organic search traffic. By July 2026, its documented scope explicitly included grounding, following earlier versions that covered only training.

Written from the 21 established claims below, then checked against them. How that works.

Documented position10

What the operator of the system says in its own documentation.

Google's crawler documentation states that…

  • Google-Extended is a standalone product token.
  • web publishers can use Google-Extended to manage whether content Google crawls from their sites may be used for training future generations of Gemini models and for grounding.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Google-Extended is a standalone product token that web publishers can use to manage whether content Google crawls from their sites may be used for training future generations of Gemini models that power Gemini Apps and Vertex AI API for Gemini and for grounding (providing content from the Google Search index to the model at prompt time to improve factuality and relevancy) in Gemini Apps and Grounding with Google Search on Vertex AI.
  • Google-Extended does not have a separate HTTP request user agent string.
  • Google-Extended's crawling is done with existing Google user agent strings.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Google-Extended doesn't have a separate HTTP request user agent string. Crawling is done with existing Google user agent strings; the robots.txt user-agent token is used in a control capacity.
  • Google-Extended is the tool that Google's Search Console help page for the Search generative AI control directs readers to use to limit training of the models used to generate responses in Search generative AI features.
  • Google's Search Console help page for the Search generative AI control, the page that directs readers to use Google-Extended, states that the Search generative AI control doesn't affect AI training.
medium confidencefirst-party
1 quote from 1 source
This control doesn't affect AI training; to limit training of the models used to generate responses in Search generative AI features, use Google-Extended. To block your content from appearing in Google Search completely, use noindex.
  • Google's "AI features and your website" documentation directs readers to Google-Extended.
  • The purpose of Google's "AI features and your website" documentation directing readers to Google-Extended is to limit AI training and grounding in some of Google's other systems.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
To limit AI training and grounding in some of Google's other systems, read more about Google-Extended.

Changed on4

A dated change. This is where advice quietly stops being true.

  • Google-Extended is described as a token to manage whether sites help improve Gemini Apps and Vertex AI generative APIs in an archived September 2024 copy of Google's crawler documentation.
  • The archived September 2024 copy of Google's crawler documentation does not mention grounding in its description of Google-Extended.
medium confidenceother
1 quote from 1 source
Google-Extended is a standalone product token that web publishers can use to manage whether their sites help improve Gemini Apps and Vertex AI generative APIs, including future generations of models that power those products. Google-Extended does not impact a site's inclusion or ranking in Google Search.
  • A Google blog post announced Google-Extended.
  • Google-Extended is a new control that web publishers can use to manage whether their sites help improve Bard and Vertex AI generative APIs.
first-party
1 quote from 1 source
Today we’re announcing Google-Extended, a new control that web publishers can use to manage whether their sites help improve Bard and Vertex AI generative APIs, including future generations of models that power those products.

Echoed without a primary source7

Widely repeated in the field, but traceable only to other repetitions. Listed because knowing something is merely echoed is worth as much as knowing it is documented.

A page on digitalapplied.com asserts that the distinction between Google-Extended and AI Overviews trips up most publishers.

low confidenceother
1 quote from 1 source
Blocking Google-Extended is therefore insufficient to remove you from AI Overviews, a distinction that trips up most publishers.

A guide on zerokit.dev states that for Google-Extended, opting out of AI Overviews entirely…

  • is a different and more complex conversation.
  • involves the nosnippet meta tag.
low confidenceother
1 quote from 1 source
Blocking Google-Extended may reduce how well Gemini understands your content for grounding purposes, but it won't necessarily remove you from AI Overviews. If you want to opt out of AI Overviews entirely, that's a different (and more complex) conversation involving the nosnippet meta tag.

A page on amicited.com asserts that many publishers mistakenly believe blocking Google-Extended will prevent their content from appearing in AI Overviews.

low confidenceother
1 quote from 1 source
Many publishers mistakenly believe that blocking Google-Extended will prevent their content from appearing in AI Overviews, but this is fundamentally incorrect.

A page on playwire.com asserts that some publishers report that blocking Google-Extended may affect their appearance in Google's "Grounding with Google Search" feature for Gemini.

low confidenceother
1 quote from 1 source
There's a catch here. Some publishers report that blocking Google-Extended may affect their appearance in Google's "Grounding with Google Search" feature for Gemini. This could potentially impact citations to your pages in AI-generated responses.

A page on intrepidonline.com states that…

  • to remove content from AI Overviews, a site owner needs to block Googlebot itself and not just Google-Extended.
  • blocking Googlebot itself and not just Google-Extended would result in the site no longer ranking.
low confidenceother
1 quote from 1 source
Answer: To put it bluntly, there is no easy way to do this without harming your site. To remove your content from AI Overviews, you need to block Googlebot itself (not just Google-Extended), which would result in your site no longer ranking and losing all of your organic traffic from Google.

Refused7

Claims the research produced that the grounding gate would not accept, with its reason. They are here because a site that only shows what passed gives you no way to judge whether the gate does anything.

Show what was refused

A Google blog post announced that Google was beginning to test Google-Extended, a new toggle in Search Console.

Refused: The quote describes a new toggle but does not name it 'Google-Extended' or mention testing.

Unsupported: beginning to test Google-Extended

What it rested on
With this new toggle in Search Console, website owners can decide if they want their site to appear in and help ground responses in our generative AI Search features (like AI Overviews, AI Mode or AI Overviews in Discover). Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features.

Google-Extended lets website owners decide if they want their site to appear in and help ground responses in Google's generative AI Search features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Refused: The quote refers to a 'new toggle in Search Console' without naming it 'Google-Extended', so the claim's specific product name is unsupported.

Unsupported: Google-Extended

What it rested on
With this new toggle in Search Console, website owners can decide if they want their site to appear in and help ground responses in our generative AI Search features (like AI Overviews, AI Mode or AI Overviews in Discover). Sites that opt out will not receive traffic or impressions from our generative AI features.

Google's Search Console help page for the Search generative AI control states that Google-Extended only affects whether content can appear in certain Search generative AI features.

Refused: The quoted text refers only to 'this control' without naming 'Google-Extended', so the claim overreaches by inserting the specific product name.

Unsupported: Google-Extended

What it rested on
This control only affects whether your content can appear in certain Search generative AI features; this control isn't used as a ranking or inclusion signal affecting other parts of Search.

Google's Search Console help page for the Search generative AI control states that Google-Extended is not used as a ranking or inclusion signal affecting other parts of Search.

Refused: The quote refers to 'this control' but never explicitly names it 'Google-Extended', so the claim adds a specific name not stated.

Unsupported: Google-Extended

What it rested on
This control only affects whether your content can appear in certain Search generative AI features; this control isn't used as a ranking or inclusion signal affecting other parts of Search.

Google-Extended's documented position in Google's 'AI features and your website' documentation is that robots.txt directives for Googlebot are the control for site owners to manage access to how their sites are crawled for Search.

Refused: The quote states the documentation's position about robots.txt directives for Googlebot, but it never mentions Google-Extended.

Unsupported: Google-Extended's documented position

What it rested on
AI is built into Search and integral to how Search functions, which is why robots.txt directives for Googlebot is the control for site owners to manage access to how their sites are crawled for Search. To limit the information shown from your pages in Search, use nosnippet, data-nosnippet, max-snippet, or noindex controls.

Google-Extended's documented position is that a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet to be eligible to be shown as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode.

Refused: The quote is from Google Search Central documentation, not from Google-Extended, so it does not establish Google-Extended's documented position.

Unsupported: Google-Extended's documented position

What it rested on
To be eligible to be shown as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet, fulfilling the Search technical requirements. There are no additional technical requirements.

Google-Extended's documented position is that there are no additional technical requirements for a page to be eligible to be shown as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode.

Refused: The cited quote is from Google Search Central documentation and does not mention or attribute this position to Google-Extended.

Unsupported: Google-Extended's documented position

What it rested on
To be eligible to be shown as a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet, fulfilling the Search technical requirements. There are no additional technical requirements.