Google · AI answers
GoogleAgent
A second Google agent token seen in the wild for user-triggered AI fetches. Treat it like Google-Agent: allow it if you want Google products to read the page.
- Operator
- Traffic type
- AI answers
- Verification
- User-agent + IP range
- robots.txt
- Usually honors robots.txt
Usually means: Live fetches when someone asks an assistant a question. If these bots cannot reach the page, you cannot be the citation in that answer.
User-agent
robots.txt and most WAF rules match the token, not the full Mozilla string. Operators often wrap GoogleAgent in extra product or version text.
GoogleAgent
What GoogleAgent does
GoogleAgent appears as a compact user-agent token on some Google AI or product fetches. Operators should not assume it is Googlebot, and should not assume a Googlebot Allow covers it.
How to get discovered
Add an explicit Allow group for GoogleAgent (and Google-Agent) instead of hoping the Googlebot group matches. Verify with a UA-differential fetch, not robots.txt alone.
Why GoogleAgent might skip you
WAF rules keyed on “Agent” strings, or robots.txt that only names Googlebot. A mismatch between Googlebot and GoogleAgent is a common silent miss.
robots.txt rule
Allow this token on public pages you want retrieved or cited. A CDN “Block AI bots” toggle can still 403 it after robots.txt says Allow.
# Keep GoogleAgent eligible to fetch this site
User-agent: GoogleAgent
Allow: /Allowlist so GoogleAgent can reach you
A user-agent is spoofable. Google publishes current CIDR ranges as JSON — fetch that file for WAF/CDN allowlists instead of copying ranges from a blog. Ranges rotate; a screenshot of ten prefixes will go stale. If Cloudflare “Block AI bots” is on, this is the list that gets the real crawler through.
https://developers.google.com/static/search/apis/ipranges/user-triggered-fetchers.json ↗
Sources
JavaScript: render behavior is not documented.
Other Google bots
Training, search, and user-fetch tokens from the same operator are not interchangeable. Allow the discovery path even when you opt out of training.
GoogleAgent FAQ
What is GoogleAgent?
GoogleAgent appears as a compact user-agent token on some Google AI or product fetches. Operators should not assume it is Googlebot, and should not assume a Googlebot Allow covers it.
Should I allow GoogleAgent in robots.txt?
Yes if you want Google to be able to fetch and cite this site. Blocking GoogleAgent is how pages stay invisible to that product even when Googlebot still crawls them.
How do I know a request is really GoogleAgent?
A user-agent is a claim anyone can send. Match the GoogleAgent token, then check the source IP against Google’s published ranges. Use those ranges as a WAF allowlist so a “Block AI bots” rule does not 403 the real crawler.
Letting GoogleAgent in is the start. Getting cited is the job.
Rankealo checks whether AI crawlers can reach you, then publishes pages built to be retrieved and quoted in ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini.
