"Crawled as: Googlebot smartphone": what it means
Google visited the page with its mobile crawler. That is normal. For most sites, Google indexes the mobile version of each page.
- Crawled as
- Googlebot smartphone
By Bruno Amorim · ·
What it means
Googlebot comes in two types: Googlebot Smartphone and Googlebot Desktop. Crawled as shows which one made the last visit.
For most sites, Google indexes and ranks the mobile version of the content. Google calls this mobile-first indexing. So most visits use the smartphone crawler.
Nothing is wrong. It does mean Google judges your mobile page. If the mobile page has less on it than the desktop page, Google sees less.
Where it shows: Page indexing > Crawl > Crawled as.
Which of your pages have this problem? Find out for free.
Get my free reportWhen it matters
- Your mobile page drops text, links, or images that the desktop page shows.
- Your mobile page has different tags than desktop, such as a
noindexor a different canonical. - Structured data is on desktop only.
- A separate mobile site, such as
m.example.com, has less content than the main site.
How to check which cause applies
- Click Test live URL, then View tested page. The screenshot shows the page as the smartphone crawler sees it.
- Compare the HTML in View tested page with your desktop page. Look for missing text, links, and tags.
- Check that the robots meta tag and the canonical are the same on mobile and desktop.
How to fix it
- Give mobile visitors the same main content as desktop. Google's guide says tabs and accordions are fine, as long as the content is the same.
- Use the same robots meta tags and structured data on both versions.
- If you run a separate mobile site, bring its content in line with the main site.
When you can ignore it
In most cases. If your site is responsive, both crawlers get the same page.
With CrawlCoach
CrawlCoach does not show Crawled as. It reads the result Google built from that crawl: the Page indexing reason, the last crawl date, and both canonicals. Google makes the final call on what it indexes.
Related Page indexing reasons
- Page indexed without content: Google added the page to search but could not read what is on it.
- Crawled - currently not indexed: Google visited the page and chose not to show it in search, usually because the page added too little.
Questions
Should Crawled as say Googlebot desktop instead?
No. For most sites Google indexes the mobile version, so Googlebot smartphone is normal. You can't choose the crawler.
Can I block Googlebot smartphone and allow desktop?
No. Google's docs say both crawlers obey the same Googlebot token in robots.txt, so you can't target only one.
Why does my page look different in View tested page?
The screenshot shows the page as the smartphone crawler rendered it. If parts are missing, a script or file may be blocked or failing for Google. Open More info to see the files that failed.
Sources
Checked on October 8, 2026. Google can change its tools and wording after that date.
See which of your pages Google left out, and why
Sign in with Google. CrawlCoach checks up to 500 pages for free, sorts the missing ones by reason, and shows the fix for each.
Get my free reportFree for up to 500 pages. No card needed. Sign in with the Google account you use for Search Console.