Gemini: a separate control from Google Search.
Google gives publishers one token, Google-Extended, to manage use of their content for Gemini models and for grounding in Gemini Apps. Google states that it has no effect on Search.
For the Gemini app, the control Google documents for site owners is Google-Extended, which Google states has no impact on inclusion in Google Search. It is a robots.txt token that governs whether crawled content may be used to train Gemini models and for grounding in Gemini Apps.
Documentation last checked: October 4, 2026. It is re-checked every quarter, and each check is entered in the change log. These pages can change; the statements below are quoted or paraphrased from the sources linked, as they read on that date.
What is documented
| Statement | Source |
|---|---|
| Google-Extended lets publishers manage whether content Google crawls may be used for training future generations of Gemini models and for grounding in Gemini Apps and in Grounding with Google Search on Vertex AI | Google Search Central, common crawlers |
| "Google-Extended does not impact a site's inclusion in Google Search nor is it used as a ranking signal in Google Search." | Google Search Central, common crawlers |
| To limit AI training and grounding in some of Google's other systems, Google's AI-features documentation points to Google-Extended | Google Search Central, AI features |
What the cited sources do not cover
- How sources are chosen when the Gemini app grounds an answer.
- Whether and how structured data is used.
- Any report of appearances in the Gemini app for site owners.
Where the documentation is silent, this page says so and does not fill the gap.
Access and controls
Google-Extended is, in Google's words, a standalone product token used in robots.txt. Disallowing it is a statement about training and grounding in Gemini. Because Google says it does not affect Search, disallowing it is not a way to leave AI Overviews, and allowing it is not described as a way to appear in Gemini.
A test protocol for Gemini
This is a procedure to follow, not a result. No test of Gemini is reported on this page.
- Read robots.txt. Is
Google-Extendeddisallowed, and was that a decision? - Write entity, category and comparison prompts.
- Run each prompt several times in the Gemini app, and note whether sources are shown.
- Keep the full answer and any sources, with date, language and location.
- Run the same prompts in Google Search and keep both: Google documents a different control for each.
- Repeat at a fixed interval.
What to record for each run is listed in what is recorded; how many prompts a reading needs is in how many prompts make a reading. The rules a measurement must meet before it is published on this site are in the research methodology.
What to do with the result
- Google-Extended is disallowed without anyone having decided it Decide, and record the decision.
- Gemini describes you differently from Google Search Record both; they do not share a control.
- The description is wrong See inaccurate or outdated AI answers.
- You are confused with a namesake See confused with someone else.
No one can guarantee a mention, a citation or a position in Gemini. What can be worked on is access, the clarity of the entity, the evidence on the page and the independent sources. The method is The Authority Architecture System.
Frequently asked questions
Does blocking Google-Extended hurt my Google rankings?
Google states that Google-Extended does not impact a site's inclusion in Google Search and is not used as a ranking signal.
Is Gemini the same as AI Overviews?
Google documents different controls: snippet controls for AI features in Search, Google-Extended for training and grounding in Gemini Apps.
Should I allow Google-Extended?
That is a decision about training and grounding, to be made deliberately. The documentation describes what the token governs; it does not promise visibility in return.
Other platforms
- ChatGPT OAI-SearchBot, the referral parameter, and what OpenAI does not publish.
- Google AI Overviews Eligibility through Google Search, and the snippet controls.
- Google AI Mode Follow-up questions and query fan-out, with the same eligibility as Search.
- Perplexity PerplexityBot, Perplexity-User and the recommendation to allow the first.
- Claude Three Anthropic crawlers with three different effects.
How the engines differ, and why each is measured separately, is set out in AI visibility. Related analyses are collected in Insights.
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