Google-InspectionTool
Google's other crawler.
Quick answer
Google-InspectionTool is the crawler behind Google's Search testing tools, including the Rich Result Test and the URL Inspection feature in Search Console. It fetches pages on demand when someone runs one of those tools, rather than crawling the web broadly.
What it does
Google-InspectionTool powers the on-demand checks behind specific Search Console and testing features, including the Rich Result Test, which checks whether a page's structured data qualifies for rich results, and the URL Inspection tool, which shows how Google sees a given page. It's grouped among Google's common crawlers, which Google says always obey robots.txt rules when crawling automatically, so a page that disallows this bot may not be testable through those tools the way a site owner expects. This bot is distinct from Googlebot, which handles the ongoing crawl that builds Google's search index; Google-InspectionTool exists specifically to support these testing and inspection features rather than general discovery or indexing.
Facts
Operator
Robots token
Google-InspectionTool
User agent string(s)
- Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Google-InspectionTool/1.0)
Purpose
Other
Respects robots.txt
Yes
IP ranges
https://developers.google.com/static/crawling/ipranges/common-crawlers.json
From Google's documentation, checked Oct 2026.
Should you block it?
Blocking Google-InspectionTool mainly affects a site owner's own ability to use Google's testing tools, like the Rich Result Test or URL Inspection in Search Console, against their own pages, since Google documents this bot as having no effect on Search ranking or other Google products beyond those specific features. A site owner who regularly checks their pages for structured data errors or wants to see how Googlebot renders a page through Search Console would want this bot allowed, since blocking it can make those diagnostic tools unreliable or unable to fetch the page. There's little reason for most sites to block Google-InspectionTool specifically, since it isn't involved in building the search index or answering AI assistant queries, and doing so mainly costs the site owner the ability to self-diagnose Search-related issues.
How to block it
Add this to robots.txt to block Google-InspectionTool from crawling any page: user-agent: Google-InspectionTool disallow: / This will also prevent Google's own testing tools, like the Rich Result Test and URL Inspection, from fetching the page correctly.
Frequently asked questions
Does Google-InspectionTool affect my Search ranking?
No. Google documents this crawler as powering testing tools like the Rich Result Test and URL Inspection, with no effect on Search ranking.
What happens if I block Google-InspectionTool?
Google's own testing tools, including the Rich Result Test and URL Inspection in Search Console, may no longer be able to fetch and check that page properly.
Is Google-InspectionTool the same as Googlebot?
No. Googlebot crawls broadly to build Google's search index. Google-InspectionTool exists specifically to support on-demand Search testing and inspection tools.
Related
- AI crawler directory — every AI crawler's robots.txt token, purpose and facts in one place.
- Free AI crawler checker — check which AI crawlers a domain's robots.txt actually allows or blocks.
- Glossary — definitions of the AI-visibility terms that come up alongside crawler behavior.
Sources
- Google-InspectionTool powers Search testing tools like the Rich Result Test and URL Inspection in Search Console. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-common-crawlers (checked Oct 2026)
- Google's common crawlers always obey robots.txt when crawling automatically. Source: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/google-common-crawlers (checked Oct 2026)
MarketHQ tracks brand mentions across communities, news, blogs, social and AI answers, and turns them into gap analysis and action plans.