# Cloaking detector

_Source: https://seomatrix.ai/tools/cloaking-check/_

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## What it does

Cloaking is serving one version of a page to search-engine crawlers and a different version to human visitors — a Google spam-policy violation that can trigger a manual action and remove your pages from results. This check fetches a URL twice, once with a Googlebot user-agent and once as a real browser, and compares the HTTP status, response size, and title tag. It matters because AI answer engines and Google alike must see the same content a user sees to trust and cite it; a real crawler-vs-user mismatch can quietly cost you rankings and visibility.

## What it checks

- **Googlebot vs browser status** — The HTTP status code returned to each user-agent; a 200 for browsers but a 403 or 302 for Googlebot exposes crawler-specific blocking or redirects.
- **Response size delta** — The byte size of the HTML each agent receives; a large gap means different content is being served to the crawler than to users.
- **Title tag match** — The <title> each agent sees; a different title served to Googlebot is a classic cloaking red flag that inflates or misrepresents the page in search.
- **User-agent branching** — Server logic that changes output based on the UA string; legitimate uses are rare, so most crawler-vs-user divergence is a spam risk.
- **Redirect divergence** — Whether one agent is redirected while the other is not; sneaky redirects that send only crawlers elsewhere are explicitly penalized.
- **Crawler parity** — Whether the bot can reach the same full page a human does, rather than a blocked, stripped, or placeholder version.

## How to use it

1. Paste your URL and run the check.
2. Review the flagged mismatches between the Googlebot and browser fetches — status, size, and title.
3. Fix the server rule or CDN config so both agents receive identical content, then re-run to confirm.

## FAQ

### What is cloaking in SEO?

Cloaking is showing search-engine crawlers different content than you show human visitors, usually to manipulate rankings. Google treats it as a spam-policy violation.

### Will cloaking get my site penalized?

Yes. Cloaking can trigger a manual action, which removes affected pages or the whole site from Google's index until you fix it and request a review.

### Does this tool detect every type of cloaking?

It compares status, response size, and title between a Googlebot and a browser fetch as a fast first-pass signal. JavaScript-rendered or IP/geo-based cloaking needs deeper, separate checks.

### Is serving different content to mobile and desktop cloaking?

No. Responsive design and dynamic serving to different users are allowed. Cloaking specifically means the crawler sees something different from what any user sees.