What is Kimi-SearchBot? AI crawler guide
Kimi-SearchBot by Moonshot AI: Moonshot AI search crawler that indexes pages so they can be retrieved and cited in Kimi answers. Check its reported user-agent, robots.txt behavior, source, and verification guidance.
Moonshot AI search crawler that indexes pages so they can be retrieved and cited in Kimi answers.
What is Kimi-SearchBot?
Kimi-SearchBot is the web crawler operated by Moonshot AI for its Kimi search service. It visits pages to index content so that Kimi can retrieve and cite those pages in its answers. The crawler identifies itself with the user-agent token Kimi-SearchBot and respects the Robots Exclusion Protocol. Its full user-agent string includes a reference to the Kimi crawler policy page. This bot is categorized as a search crawler, meaning its primary function is to discover and index publicly available web content for inclusion in Kimi's search index.
What it's for
For site owners, Kimi-SearchBot's visits can lead to their pages being surfaced as cited sources in Kimi answers. This may drive referral traffic and increase visibility within the Kimi ecosystem. If your site relies on being discoverable through AI-powered search tools, allowing this crawler can help ensure your content is available when users ask questions that your pages could answer.
How to handle Kimi-SearchBot
To prevent Kimi-SearchBot from crawling your site, add a disallow rule for the user-agent token Kimi-SearchBot in your robots.txt file. The bot honors standard robots.txt directives, so blocking it will stop it from accessing specified paths. If you later decide to allow crawling, simply remove or adjust the rule.
robots.txt rule
User-agent: Kimi-SearchBot Disallow: /
Blocking cost
Blocking Kimi-SearchBot may prevent your pages from appearing as cited sources in Kimi answers, potentially reducing referral traffic and visibility within that AI search platform.
Examples
- Kimi-SearchBot crawls a news article, and later that article is cited as a source in a Kimi answer about current events.
- A product page is indexed by Kimi-SearchBot, and the product appears in Kimi's search results when a user asks for recommendations.
- A blog post is crawled by Kimi-SearchBot, and its content is used to support an answer in Kimi, with a citation link back to the post.
Related bots
- Amzn-SearchBot: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- OAI-SearchBot: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- PerplexityBot: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- MistralAI-Index: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- Kagibot: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- xAI-SearchBot: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- YouBot: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- ExaSearchBot: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- Claude-SearchBot: Also tracked as a search crawler.
- Robots.txt: Robots.txt is the control file used to allow or block Kimi-SearchBot.
- AI Crawlers: Kimi-SearchBot is a concrete crawler example for this concept.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Kimi-SearchBot do?
Kimi-SearchBot is a crawler from Moonshot AI that indexes web pages so they can be retrieved and cited in Kimi answers.
Does Kimi-SearchBot respect robots.txt?
Yes, Kimi-SearchBot honors the Robots Exclusion Protocol and will obey disallow directives in robots.txt.
How can I block Kimi-SearchBot?
You can block Kimi-SearchBot by adding a User-agent: Kimi-SearchBot line followed by Disallow directives in your robots.txt file.
What happens if I block Kimi-SearchBot?
Blocking Kimi-SearchBot can remove your pages from the sources Kimi retrieves and cites, which may reduce your visibility in Kimi answers.
Who operates Kimi-SearchBot?
Kimi-SearchBot is operated by Moonshot AI, the company behind the Kimi search service.
Data & Sources
- Moonshot AI documentation - Primary source for Kimi-SearchBot crawler details.
- Kimi-SearchBot verification: Published IP ranges - Verification information published for Kimi-SearchBot.