Gemini: Unblock AI Crawlers from Your Website
AI Crawlers Blocked by Robots.txt on Gemini? Here's why it happens, the fix, and how to prevent it.
Gemini Context
Position your brand to be recommended by Google's Gemini AI across Search, Workspace, and Google's ecosystem.
Leave the Google-Extended robots.txt token allowed if you want Gemini to use your content for grounding (it does not affect Google Search)
Maintain strong traditional SEO fundamentals
Implement comprehensive structured data markup
Why This Problem Matters
Your robots.txt is preventing Gemini from accessing your content. This simple fix can dramatically improve your AI visibility.
Why This Happens in Gemini
Gemini has no separate crawler: Googlebot does the crawling, and the Google-Extended robots.txt token (not a separate user agent) controls whether that content is used for Gemini training and grounding without affecting Google Search. Pages a user hands to Gemini are fetched by Google's user-triggered fetchers, which generally ignore robots.txt. If robots.txt, a firewall or bot protection stops Googlebot, Gemini can't use your pages however good they are.
Signs You Have This Problem in Gemini
The Google-Extended token is disallowed in robots.txt, opting your content out of Gemini training and grounding
Googlebot is blocked on key pages, which removes them from Google Search and Gemini alike
Your content is excluded from Gemini's grounded answers
Google Search Console shows key pages as "Blocked by robots.txt"
How to Fix This in Gemini
Follow these Gemini-specific solutions:
Add to robots.txt: User-agent: Google-Extended\nAllow: /
Ensure Googlebot isn't restricted
Maintain good standing in Google Search Console
Monitor crawl stats for Gemini access
Submit sitemap to Google Search Console
Verify Gemini can access your content
Gemini Technical Details
Gemini has no separate crawler: Googlebot does the crawling, and the Google-Extended robots.txt token (not a separate user agent) controls whether that content is used for Gemini training and grounding without affecting Google Search. Pages a user hands to Gemini are fetched by Google's user-triggered fetchers, which generally ignore robots.txt.
Googlebot
Search / answers
Crawls for Google Search; its fetches also supply Gemini.
Google-Extended
robots.txt token only
robots.txt token only, with no HTTP user agent of its own. Opts content out of Gemini training and grounding without affecting Google Search.
robots.txt rule to stay eligible for Gemini answers:
User-agent: Googlebot
Allow: /Source: developers.google.com
Prevent This Problem in Gemini
Audit robots.txt (for Googlebot) quarterly
Stay updated on new AI crawler user agents
Test AI crawler access after any robots.txt (for Googlebot) changes
Balance security needs with AI visibility goals
Helpful Resources
How-To Guides
Checklists
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Get Your AI Visibility AuditFrequently Asked Questions
Why is this happening in Gemini?
Gemini has no separate crawler: Googlebot does the crawling, and the Google-Extended robots.txt token (not a separate user agent) controls whether that content is used for Gemini training and grounding without affecting Google Search. Pages a user hands to Gemini are fetched by Google's user-triggered fetchers, which generally ignore robots.txt. If robots.txt, a firewall or bot protection stops Googlebot, Gemini can't use your pages however good they are.
What is the first fix to prioritize in Gemini?
Add to robots.txt: User-agent: Google-Extended\nAllow: /