01 · Operator
Who operates Kimi-SearchBot
- Company
- Moonshot AI
- Type
- AI search crawler
- Official docs
- kimi.com
02 · Behavior
What Kimi-SearchBot does
Kimi-SearchBot analyzes pages for relevance and builds Kimi's search index. Kimi recommends robots.txt as the primary way to manage its crawlers and supports Crawl-delay. Each subdomain is treated as a separate origin for robots.txt. Kimi publishes the crawler's IP ranges as a JSON file.
03 · Impact
Why Kimi-SearchBot matters for your site
If you allow it
- Blocking it removes your site from Kimi search results
- It publishes IP ranges for verification
If you block it
- Kimi is mainly used in specific markets, so referral value varies
- Crawling adds server load
04 · Allow
How to allow Kimi-SearchBot
robots.txt
User-agent: Kimi-SearchBot
Allow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "Kimi-SearchBot")
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: Kimi-SearchBot
Allow: /nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "Kimi\-SearchBot") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Kimi\-SearchBot [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block Kimi-SearchBot
Kimi-SearchBot follows robots.txt, so one rule is enough. Use a server or CDN rule only to stop spoofed copies.
robots.txt
User-agent: Kimi-SearchBot
Disallow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "Kimi-SearchBot")
Action: BlockWordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: Kimi-SearchBot
Disallow: /nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "Kimi\-SearchBot") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} Kimi\-SearchBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for Kimi-SearchBot
| User agent | Share | Last seen | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Kimi-SearchBot/1.0; +https://kimi.ai/) |
100% | Unverified |
07 · Verification
Is it really Kimi-SearchBot?
Anyone can copy a user agent. Real Kimi-SearchBot requests come from the IP ranges published at kimi.com/policies/kimi-searchbot.json.
FAQ
Questions about Kimi-SearchBot
What is Kimi-SearchBot?
Kimi-SearchBot is a crawler for Kimi's search features. It analyzes pages for relevance and builds Kimi's search index.
What happens if I block Kimi-SearchBot?
Kimi says disallowing this bot will prevent your site from appearing in Kimi search results. Training crawls use the separate KimiBot.
How can I verify Kimi-SearchBot?
Check whether the source IP falls within the ranges in kimi.com/policies/kimi-searchbot.json. Kimi notes these ranges may change over time.
Last reviewed Oct 8, 2026