Google-Extended: Google's AI crawler for training models

30 July, 2026 • Glossary • 3 views

Abstract blue illustration for the glossary entry Google-Extended

Understand Google-Extended, Google's AI crawler, and its role in gathering data for AI products like Bard and AI Overviews.

Google-Extended is a user-agent token that Google uses to identify crawlers that gather data for training its AI models, including those powering Bard and AI Overviews. It operates alongside Google's traditional search crawlers but focuses specifically on content acquisition for generative AI purposes.

For hotels, managing Google-Extended's access via your robots.txt file is a strategic decision. Allowing it to crawl your site can increase your visibility in AI-generated search results and potentially drive AI referral traffic. Conversely, blocking it might prevent your content from being used to train AI models, but could also limit your hotel's presence in future AI-powered search experiences. For example, a hotel that allows Google-Extended to crawl its blog posts about local attractions might see its content summarized in an AI Overview, attracting potential guests.