---
schema_version: "newruntime-reader-dossiers-v1"
type: "reader_dossier"
slug: "mj12bot"
kind: "seo"
operator: "Majestic"
researched_at: "2026-10-23"
confidence: "high"
json_url: "https://newruntime.com/readers/mj12bot.json"
canonical_url: "https://newruntime.com/readers/mj12bot/"
---

# MJ12bot

> Majestic's distributed crawler that maps link relationships between websites for the Majestic Site Explorer backlink index; it does not cache page content.

## Dossier

- Kind: SEO & backlink crawlers
- Operator: Majestic (https://majestic.com/)
- Documentation: https://mj12bot.com/
- robots.txt tokens: MJ12bot
- Feeds: SEO backlink index
- Respects robots.txt: Yes, per its documentation. Docs: obeys robots.txt and Crawl-Delay (up to 20 s); 403 on robots.txt treated as disallow all.
- Verification: No published method
- Labels matched in our logs: mj12bot

## Why it matters to New Runtime (our interpretation)

SEO backlink index: our pages and outbound links show up in third-party link graphs used by marketers; no direct AI-reader value. Distributed IPs make UA spoofing hard to detect.

## Observed behaviour

- Baseline 2026-10-23 (93-day window): 4,177 requests on 48 days; first seen 2026-07-23, last seen 2026-10-23; Regular.
- Reading mix (crawler journeys): 44 content reads, 30 feed or discovery reads, 0 machine-consumption reads; 41 unique materials.
- Identity check: not verifiable 167 requests.
- Live numbers: https://newruntime.com/bot-traffic-history.json and https://newruntime.com/crawler-journeys.json

## Sources

- https://mj12bot.com/

Identity: A family name is what a client claims in its user agent. It is verified only when its request came from the operator's published IP ranges or passed forward-confirmed reverse DNS, as reported per family in /crawler-journeys.json. Anyone can claim any name.

All dossiers: https://newruntime.com/readers.md