diff --git a/services/discord-gateway/src/modules/ai-moderation/moderationOrchestrator.ts b/services/discord-gateway/src/modules/ai-moderation/moderationOrchestrator.ts
index 921b4910..dd20a5d0 100644
--- a/services/discord-gateway/src/modules/ai-moderation/moderationOrchestrator.ts
+++ b/services/discord-gateway/src/modules/ai-moderation/moderationOrchestrator.ts
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import {
   parseQdrantVerdict,
   type StoredModerationVerdict,
   setCachedTextModeration,
+  upsertBareKeyToQdrant,
 } from "./textCacheStore.js";
 
 const log = createChildLogger("moderationOrchestrator");
@@ -318,6 +319,7 @@ export async function runModerationAnalysis(
             };
             cacheHits.push(hit);
             hitByKey.set(cacheKey, hit);
+            servedCacheKeys.add(cacheKey); // bump hit_count for metrics
             logCacheEvent("hit", cacheKey, "text");
           }
         } else {
@@ -356,6 +358,7 @@ export async function runModerationAnalysis(
             };
             cacheHits.push(hit);
             hitByKey.set(cacheKey, hit);
+            servedCacheKeys.add(cacheKey); // bump hit_count for metrics
             logCacheEvent("hit", cacheKey, "text");
           }
         }
@@ -383,6 +386,7 @@ export async function runModerationAnalysis(
         cacheHits: cacheHits.length,
         uncached: uncachedTargets.length,
         total: targets.length,
+        servedKeys: servedCacheKeys.size,
       },
       "User moderation cache applied",
     );
@@ -463,9 +467,14 @@ export async function runModerationAnalysis(
     // WITH conversation context (accurate), but its verdict is also stored
     // under the context-free bare key so repeats in OTHER channels hit the
     // exact cache instead of paying a new LLM call. Same guard as the read
-    // path — only non-actionable clean verdicts may cross channels. No
-    // embedding on the bare row: the semantic tier is already global, and
-    // writing one would create a duplicate Qdrant point for this content.
+    // path — only non-actionable clean verdicts may cross channels.
+    //
+    // 2026-08-25 cache-hit fix: the bare key is ALSO upserted to Qdrant
+    // (via upsertBareKeyToQdrant) with the SAME embedding already computed
+    // at lookup time. Previously the bare key was only PG-written with
+    // embedding=null — bare clean verdicts were DB-only and invisible to
+    // searchQdrantBatch, capping the semantic hit-rate below the exact-cache
+    // hit-rate for cross-channel repeats.
     const bareKey = makeTextModerationCacheKey(rawContent);
     if (
       bareKey !== cacheKey &&
@@ -486,6 +495,10 @@ export async function runModerationAnalysis(
     ) {
       globalBareKeysWritten.set(bareKey, true);
       setCachedTextModeration(bareKey, stored, null).catch(() => {});
+      const bareEmbedding = embeddingsByKey.get(cacheKey);
+      if (bareEmbedding && bareEmbedding.length > 0) {
+        upsertBareKeyToQdrant(bareKey, stored, bareEmbedding).catch(() => {});
+      }
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/services/discord-gateway/src/modules/ai-moderation/textCacheStore.ts b/services/discord-gateway/src/modules/ai-moderation/textCacheStore.ts
index e505684a..f9b6632e 100644
--- a/services/discord-gateway/src/modules/ai-moderation/textCacheStore.ts
+++ b/services/discord-gateway/src/modules/ai-moderation/textCacheStore.ts
@@ -664,6 +664,55 @@ export async function findSimilarTextModeration(
   }
 }
 
+/**
+ * Upsert a bare (context-free) clean verdict to the Qdrant vector store,
+ * making global-reuse clean verdicts discoverable by semantic search.
+ *
+ * Why: the main `setCachedTextModeration` writes bare-key rows to Postgres
+ * with embedding=null (deliberate — no duplicate PG embedding column), but
+ * a bare clean verdict that never reaches Qdrant is invisible to
+ * searchQdrantBatch. So two messages with identical clean content in
+ * DIFFERENT channels never match semantically — the semantic hit-rate is
+ * capped below the exact-cache hit-rate. This helper shares the embedding
+ * already computed at lookup time so the bare point is semantically
+ * findable.
+ *
+ * Guard: only non-actionable clean verdicts qualify (same guard as the
+ * read path and as the orchestrator's bare-key write-back). No-op when
+ * Qdrant is disabled or no embedding is available.
+ */
+export async function upsertBareKeyToQdrant(
+  bareKey: string,
+  result: {
+    status: string;
+    flags: string[];
+    score: number;
+    analysis: string;
+    categories: string[];
+    severity: string;
+    confidence: number;
+    recommendedAction: string;
+  },
+  embedding: number[] | null | undefined,
+): Promise<void> {
+  if (!isQdrantConfigured() || !embedding || embedding.length === 0) return;
+  if (!isGloballyReusableCleanVerdict(result, undefined)) return;
+  const now = Date.now();
+  const USER_MOD_CACHE_TTL_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+  await upsertQdrantPoint(bareKey, embedding, {
+    text: bareKey,
+    flags: JSON.stringify(result),
+    analyzed_at: now,
+    expires_at: now + USER_MOD_CACHE_TTL_MS,
+    content_hash: bareKey.split(":").pop() ?? "",
+  }).catch((err: unknown) => {
+    logger.error(
+      { error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err), bareKey },
+      "Failed to upsert bare-key clean verdict to Qdrant",
+    );
+  });
+}
+
 /**
  * Store a moderation result for a (user, content) pair.
  * The `flags` field stores the full result object as JSON.
diff --git a/services/discord-gateway/src/shared/config/index.ts b/services/discord-gateway/src/shared/config/index.ts
index 9e5ab7f6..df09ee26 100644
--- a/services/discord-gateway/src/shared/config/index.ts
+++ b/services/discord-gateway/src/shared/config/index.ts
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ export const configSchema = z
       .number()
       .int()
       .positive()
-      .default(30),
+      .default(50),
     // Qdrant vector store for the semantic moderation cache. When
     // QDRANT_URL is set, embeddings are stored/searched there (Postgres
     // embedding column remains as a legacy fallback).
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ export const configSchema = z
       .number()
       .int()
       .positive()
-      .default(72),
+      .default(120),
     AI_ANALYSIS_MAX_CONTEXT_TOKENS: z.coerce.number().positive().default(8000),
     AI_ANALYSIS_MAX_TARGET_TOKENS: z.coerce.number().positive().default(14000),
     AI_ANALYSIS_CONTEXT_MESSAGE_LIMIT: z.coerce
diff --git a/services/discord-gateway/tests/cacheGuards.test.ts b/services/discord-gateway/tests/cacheGuards.test.ts
index 7c87b043..90fedbe6 100644
--- a/services/discord-gateway/tests/cacheGuards.test.ts
+++ b/services/discord-gateway/tests/cacheGuards.test.ts
@@ -145,10 +145,10 @@ describe("isGloballyReusableCleanVerdict", () => {
   });
 
   it("rejects entries older than the freshness window", () => {
-    // Default AI_CACHE_GLOBAL_REUSE_MAX_AGE_H = 72h.
-    const tooOld = Date.now() - 73 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+    // Default AI_CACHE_GLOBAL_REUSE_MAX_AGE_H = 120h.
+    const tooOld = Date.now() - 121 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
     expect(isGloballyReusableCleanVerdict(makeVerdict(), tooOld)).toBe(false);
-    const freshEnough = Date.now() - 71 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+    const freshEnough = Date.now() - 119 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
     expect(isGloballyReusableCleanVerdict(makeVerdict(), freshEnough)).toBe(
       true,
     );