Author: Marky Knox
Published: May 21st 2025
If you've ever logged into Character.AI only to realize your favorite character has mysteriously vanished into thin air, you're not alone.
Hidden characters and shadowbanned bots are a growing frustration for both casual users and bot creators alike. Whether it's a character you've spent hours chatting with in the past or one you've meticulously crafted, seeing it suddenly disappear or become unavailable to use for others can be confusing, stressful, and honestly, a bit maddening.
In this guide, we'll break down why bots go missing, the types of hidden bots, and how to find hidden or shadowbanned characters on Character AI.
Why do bots disappear?
There are a few reasons a bot might become inaccessible.
Sometimes it's due to moderation—Character.AI has internal filters and policies that may flag content even if it's never been reported. Other times, bots vanish because of specific terms being used in their prompts, training data, or public descriptions.
Character.AI has a list of flagged terms that can get your bot either shadowbanned or outright removed from search results. These aren't always public, and sometimes even “relatively” tame words or phrases can be enough to trigger a ban. Celebrities, certain characters, and trademarks have been known to set off bans on bots, an unfortunate pitfall for uninformed creators. Creators often find themselves in the dark, having to guess what term set off the system. Avoiding explicit or suggestive language helps, but there's no guaranteed “safe” vocabulary as the rules are prone to changing at any time.
Types of banned bots
Bots can fall under different levels of restriction:
- Search-banned: Still accessible via direct link, but not searchable.
- Shadowbanned: Hidden from most parts of the site, but not officially removed. Can still be accessed via direct link.
- Hard-banned: Taken down completely, either by moderation or auto-moderation. Cannot be accessed at all via direct link.
Search banned bots
If a bot is “search banned,” it won't show up in results no matter how precise your query is. These bots do, however, still show up on creator pages, meaning that if you know or follow the creator, you may still find your favorite bot on their page.
Shadowbanned bots
Shadowbanning is an especially sneaky way of hiding bots.
The bot still exists. It still works as intended. But it's practically invisible to other users unless you've already interacted with it or have the direct link—assuming you still have it. Bookmark your favorites or save their URLs somewhere safe, because once they're removed from search and creator profiles, finding them again is near impossible, unless you already have the link, or know someone who can resend you the link. It won't appear through search, or through the creator's profile.
Some users often discover this by accident when they realize a bot they use daily isn't visible to their friends—or even to themselves when logged out. Most creators don't even realize the bot is hidden until they're informed by an outside source, making it difficult to correct until it's too late.
Hard-banned bots
Sometimes bots just…disappear.
Hard-banned bots are marked as “unavailable” due to content reviews. These bots just straight up do not work unlike other hidden bots. Direct links will lead to an unavailable page and leave you scratching your head, wondering what could have caused the bot to simply vanish.
These cases are harder to predict, and the silence from the platform doesn't help. Bots that have been available one day, can simply disappear due to a phrase, name, or term that the site decided to remove on a whim. It often leaves users wondering whether the bot is gone for good or just taking an involuntary break.
Solutions
So your favorite bot is gone, now what? While Character.AI doesn't make it easy to track down missing characters, there are some workarounds that can help you access shadowbanned or hidden bots.
Here's what you can do:
Save links
This might seem obvious in hindsight, but it's one of the most effective solutions to finding hidden bots before they even go MIA: save the direct links to your favorite bots. If a character gets shadowbanned or search-banned, the only way to access it might be through its URL. Bookmark it, copy it into a notes app, or save it somewhere safe. Once it's gone from search, having that direct link could be the only lifeline to your lost bot.
The drawback to this, however, is that you won't be able to discover new bots that have already been hidden, but fit your exact tastes. You will only be able to access what you already know, which may eventually grow stale.
Discord
Character.AI Discord servers are great places to ask around or find links to bots that have vanished from public search. Other users may have saved the link you're looking for, or creators themselves may share their bots after they've been shadowbanned. The Discord community is also useful for staying up to date on content policies, moderation quirks, and ongoing issues affecting bot visibility.
CAIBotList
When it comes to recovering hidden characters or shadowbanned bots on Character.AI, CAIBotList.com is by far the most effective solution.
This third-party site catalogs a massive selection of Character.AI bots—including many that have been search-hidden, shadowbanned, or completely hard-banned on the official platform. If your favorite bot is still online but no longer visible on Character.AI, there's a good chance you'll find it here.
CAIbotlist makes discovery easy with advanced filters that help you search by genre, character type, popularity, greeting length, and more. Whether you're looking for a specific bot you've used before or browsing for something new, the site makes it simple and intuitive.
A Lifesaver for Creators
Even better, bot creators can see if any of their bots are flagged or hidden, thanks to built-in indicators. This helps creators quickly spot issues and make necessary edits to get their bots back in front of users—no more flying blind when moderation hits.
Conclusion
Losing access to your favorite Character.AI bots—whether due to shadowbans, hidden status, or sudden moderation—is a frustrating experience shared by many users and creators alike. Understanding how bots are hidden helps you find them, even with Character.AI's lack of clarity.
Saving direct links is a must, and engaging with the community on Discord can sometimes help, but your most reliable and effective tool is CAIBotList. With its wide index of bots, including many that are shadowbanned or missing from official search results, CAIBotList is by far the best solution for users wondering how to find hidden characters on Character AI.
If you're serious about reclaiming or discovering the full range of Character.AI's bots, CAIBotList.com is the site you need in your toolbox!
