Googlebot
Crawls pages for Google Search using desktop and smartphone variants.
Web searchLink previews
GoogleMessages
Builds previews for links sent through Google Messages.
Operated by Google
See your agent traffic PurposeLink previews
HTTP identifierGoogleMessages
IdentityVerify beyond the name
THE SIGNAL
What this visit tells you
A preview fetch can happen before anyone opens the shared link.
Shared URLs
Image responses
Preview fetch errors
Your next move
Check the title and preview image at the exact shared URL.
The technical details
MarkdownHow to identify it
Look for the GoogleMessages identifier in a request’s User-Agent. This is a name match, not identity verification. Version strings may change.
How to check identity
Use Google’s published IP ranges for this crawler class and its forward-confirmed reverse DNS procedure.
Access and robots.txt
This user-triggered fetcher may ignore robots.txt. Use server access controls for private content.
Seeing 403 or 404 responses?
403 means access was denied; 404 means the resource was not found. Compare the public path, request time, edge security event and origin response to find the cause.
Separate intended restrictions and secret-file probes from pages that should work. A User-Agent name alone does not justify allowing a request.
SourcesReviewed 2026-09-14
Identity and purpose are based on these sources. Analytics interpretation and suggested checks are Apostl guidance.
APOSTL PulseSee GoogleMessages in context
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Different bots, different intent
Google-Extended
Controls content use for Gemini training and grounding; it does not control Google Search inclusion.
Content-use policyPolicy control · no separate crawlerGooglebot-Image
Fetches images for Google’s visual search features.
Web search