GoogleOther
Google's generic research-and-development crawler - used for internal crawls, including ones that feed AI work, without tying up Googlebot.
Reference reviewed by Sona
| Operator | |
|---|---|
| Powers | Google research and development crawls, including AI |
| Purpose | Model training |
| User-agent token | GoogleOther |
| Respects robots.txt | Yes |
GoogleOther is the user-agent Google teams use for one-off and R&D crawls that aren't part of Search indexing - a bucket that includes crawls supporting AI product development. It exists so these fetches don't masquerade as Googlebot.
GoogleOther respects robots.txt rules for its own token, and blocking it does not affect Googlebot, Google Search rankings, or AI Overviews eligibility.
Full user-agent string
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; GoogleOther)
Allow GoogleOther
Low-risk goodwill: internal Google crawls (including AI R&D) can read your content without you giving up any Search control.
User-agent: GoogleOther Allow: /
Block GoogleOther
You want to restrict Google's access strictly to Search indexing and nothing more.
User-agent: GoogleOther Disallow: /
Can GoogleOther read your page right now?
Test any URL and see exactly what AI crawlers receive.