{
  "schema_version": "1.1",
  "id": "google-extended-does-not-affect-search-ranking",
  "slug": "google-extended-does-not-affect-search-ranking",
  "url": "https://groundedkit.com/claims/google-extended-does-not-affect-search-ranking/",
  "api_url": "https://groundedkit.com/api/claims/google-extended-does-not-affect-search-ranking.json",
  "claim": "Blocking Google-Extended in robots.txt doesn't affect a site's inclusion or ranking in Google Search",
  "commonly_cited_as": "\"Will blocking Google's AI crawler hurt my SEO?\"",
  "verdict": "verified",
  "verdict_definition": "Primary source found; it says the same thing, the scope matches, and it is reasonably current.",
  "confidence": "high",
  "rating": {
    "value": 5,
    "best": 5,
    "worst": 1
  },
  "origin": {
    "publisher": "Google Search Central",
    "title": "Google's common crawlers (Google-Extended)",
    "year": "Current documentation"
  },
  "quote": "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 ... Google-Extended does not impact a site's inclusion in Google Search nor is it used as a ranking signal in Google Search.",
  "method": "Official Google documentation.",
  "drift": [
    "None — it controls use of content for Gemini training and grounding"
  ],
  "interest": "Google operates Google Search.",
  "safe_rephrasing": "Google says the Google-Extended robots.txt token controls use of crawled content for Gemini training and grounding, and doesn't affect inclusion or ranking in Google Search.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "title": "Google Search Central — Google's common crawlers",
      "url": "https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-common-crawlers",
      "primary": true
    }
  ],
  "kind": "reference_fact",
  "as_of": "Documentation read on 2026-10-16",
  "last_checked": "2026-10-16",
  "stale": false,
  "date_reviewed": "2026-10-16",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}