01 · Operator
Who operates KessyBot
- Company
- ACE Holdings GmbH (Kessy)
- Type
- AI search crawler
- Official docs
- kessy.ai
02 · Behavior
What KessyBot does
KessyBot fetches public web pages to build a search index and evaluation sets for search-quality research. The operator states it does not train AI models or republish pages. Search results show a short excerpt and a link to the source.
03 · Impact
Why KessyBot matters for your site
If you allow it
- Your pages can appear in Kessy search results with a link back
- It honours robots.txt, Crawl-delay and TDM reservations
If you block it
- The search service is still under development
- Little or no referral traffic today
04 · Allow
How to allow KessyBot
robots.txt
User-agent: KessyBot
Allow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "KessyBot")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: KessyBot
Allow: /nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "KessyBot") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} KessyBot [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block KessyBot
KessyBot follows robots.txt, so one rule is enough. Use a server or CDN rule only to stop spoofed copies.
robots.txt
User-agent: KessyBot
Disallow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "KessyBot")
Action: BlockWordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: KessyBot
Disallow: /nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "KessyBot") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} KessyBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for KessyBot
The user agent published by the operator:
KessyBot/0.1 (+https://kessy.ai/bot)07 · Verification
Is it really KessyBot?
Anyone can copy a user agent. Real KessyBot requests come from the IP ranges published at kessy.ai/bot/ips.json.
FAQ
Questions about KessyBot
Does KessyBot train AI models?
No. Kessy states that KessyBot does not train AI models or republish pages.
How do I block KessyBot?
Add "User-agent: KessyBot" followed by "Disallow: /" to your robots.txt. You can also declare a TDM reservation.
How can I verify KessyBot?
Check the source IP against the list Kessy publishes at kessy.ai/bot/ips.json.
Last updated Nov 10, 2026