# Googlebot

Operator: Google
Purpose: Web search
Reviewed: 2026-09-14
HTTP identifier: Googlebot
robots.txt token: Googlebot

## What is Googlebot?

Crawls pages for Google Search using desktop and smartphone variants.

## How to identify it

Look for the Googlebot identifier in a request’s User-Agent. This is a name match, not identity verification. Version strings may change.

## How to check identity

Use the official IP ranges or forward-confirmed reverse DNS described in Google’s crawler documentation.

## Access and robots.txt

The operator documents robots.txt controls for this identifier.

Optional full-site opt-out; merge with existing rules only if intended. Not a security control.

```text
User-agent: Googlebot
Disallow: /
```

## What it means in your analytics

Search crawling measures access to content. Report search impressions and clicks separately rather than treating each crawl as a user.

## Useful measures

Canonical page coverage; Crawl errors; Search Console clicks separately.

## What to check next

Prioritize failures on canonical pages intended for search. An intentionally removed URL returning 404 is not automatically a defect.

## Sources

- [developers.google.com](https://developers.google.com/crawling/docs/crawlers-fetchers/google-common-crawlers)

Operator facts are source-backed; interpretation and actions are Apostl guidance.

## Related profiles

- [Google-Extended](https://apostl.dev/bots/google-extended)
- [Applebot](https://apostl.dev/bots/applebot)

[Start measuring agent traffic](https://apostl.dev/start/agent-analytics)