unavailable_after is a robots rule that gives Google a date and time after which a page should no longer appear in search results. It suits content with a known end date, such as a promotion or an event page.
Syntax and effect
Google accepts the date in any widely adopted format and names RFC 822, RFC 850 and ISO 8601. The rule goes into the robots meta tag or the X-Robots-Tag HTTP header. If robots.txt blocks the page, Google never fetches it and ignores the rule. Google’s documentation describes the rule for Google only and does not say whether other search engines honor it.
According to Google, Googlebot considerably decreases the crawl rate of the URL after the specified date and time.
The rule does not delete anything on your server. If the page should be gone for good, you still need to remove it or serve a 404 or 410 status after the date (assessment).
| Rule | Where it's set | What it controls in Google Search | Effect on AI Overviews and AI Mode |
|---|---|---|---|
nosnippet | whole page (robots meta tag or X-Robots-Tag) | no text snippet or video preview; a static image thumbnail may still appear | content isn't used as direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode |
max-snippet:[number] | whole page | caps the text snippet at that many characters; 0 equals nosnippet, -1 lets Google choose the length | limits how much content may be used as direct input for AI Overviews and AI Mode |
data-nosnippet | single text section (attribute on span, div or section) | the marked text isn't used in the snippet | listed by Google as a control for limiting content in AI features in Search |
max-image-preview:[none|standard|large] | whole page | maximum size of the image preview; without it, a default-size preview may be shown | Google only lists web search, Google Images, Discover and Assistant here, no AI features |
noimageindex | whole page | images on this page aren't indexed | no statement from Google |
unavailable_after: [date] (this term) | whole page | the page stops appearing in search results after that date; Googlebot then crawls the URL much less often | no separate statement from Google |
indexifembedded | whole page, only together with noindex | content may be indexed when embedded in another page through an iframe or similar tag | no statement from Google |
noindex (for comparison) | whole page | page doesn't appear in search results | listed by Google as a control for AI features; a link in AI Overviews or AI Mode requires an indexed page |
noarchive | whole page | no longer used by Google and ignored; the cached link it controlled no longer exists | none (Google ignores the rule) |
According to Google, a page can only be shown as a link in AI Overviews or AI Mode if it's indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet. All rules only work if crawlers are allowed to fetch the page. When rules conflict, the more restrictive one applies. For AI training and grounding in some of Google's other systems, Google points to Google-Extended. Sources: Google Search Central: Robots meta tag, data-nosnippet, and X-Robots-Tag specifications (last updated 2026-03-24); Google Search Central: AI features and your website (last updated 2025-12-10). Last checked: .
Example
<meta name="robots" content="unavailable_after: 2026-12-31T23:59:00+01:00">
As an HTTP header, for example on a PDF:
X-Robots-Tag: unavailable_after: 25 Jun 2026 15:00:00 PST
Sources
- Robots meta tag and X-Robots-Tag specifications – Google Search Centraldevelopers.google.com
- X-Robots-Tag – MDN Web Docsdeveloper.mozilla.org
Last updated: