diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 4da8e2d..423ff91 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -93,7 +93,10 @@ JIRA_MAX_RESULTS=30
 # Mobility queue every hour, posts a phone or AV status snapshot as a
 # Jira comment on each store-scoped ticket, labels the ticket
 # `bot-enriched` so it's not re-processed, and posts a summary of newly
-# enriched tickets to a Webex space.
+# enriched tickets to a Webex space. Tickets the AI classifier decides
+# are out-of-scope get labeled `bot-skipped` (same anti-retry purpose,
+# no comment posted) so we don't burn AI tokens re-reading them every
+# hour.
 #
 # Required scopes on JIRA_API_TOKEN: read + write on issues in the
 # target projects (comment + edit-labels). The token owner needs "Add
diff --git a/commands/help.js b/commands/help.js
index a8e7caa..f02a49d 100644
--- a/commands/help.js
+++ b/commands/help.js
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ const LONG_HELP = {
     usage: ['/jirapoll', '/jirapoll prime'],
     examples: ['/jirapoll', '/jirapoll prime'],
     notes: [
-      'Triggers the same Jira poller that normally runs at the top of every hour. Enriches any unlabeled matching tickets with a phone/av snapshot comment and labels them `bot-enriched`.',
+      'Triggers the same Jira poller that normally runs at the top of every hour. Enriches any unlabeled matching tickets with a phone/av snapshot comment and labels them `bot-enriched`. Tickets the AI classifier decides are out-of-scope get labeled `bot-skipped` so they aren\'t re-classified every hour.',
       'Idempotent — labels + JQL prevent double-processing, so running multiple times in a row is safe.',
       '`/jirapoll prime` labels every matching ticket without enriching or notifying. Use once after adopting the poller to skip enriching the existing backlog. Same as `JIRA_POLLER_PRIME_ON_START=true` at startup.',
       'A summary of enriched tickets goes to the configured `JIRA_POLLER_ROOM_ID`. The invoking chat also gets a compact result line.',
diff --git a/services/jiraPollerService.js b/services/jiraPollerService.js
index 8b3ba2f..bec2ea6 100644
--- a/services/jiraPollerService.js
+++ b/services/jiraPollerService.js
@@ -8,10 +8,17 @@
 // `bot-enriched` so it's not re-processed on subsequent polls, and posts
 // a summary of newly-enriched tickets to a configured Webex space.
 //
-// Idempotency model — a Jira label is the source of truth. The JQL
-// includes `AND labels != bot-enriched`, so Jira itself only returns
-// unseen tickets. This survives bot restarts, deploys, and (harmlessly)
-// concurrent runs — no local state file, no in-memory cursor.
+// Idempotency model — Jira labels are the source of truth. Two are
+// used: `bot-enriched` after a successful comment, `bot-skipped` after
+// the AI classifier decides the ticket is out-of-scope (kind='skip',
+// no store number, or an unroutable kind). The JQL excludes BOTH so
+// Jira itself only returns tickets the bot hasn't looked at yet. This
+// stops the poller from paying AI tokens re-classifying the same
+// "not for us" tickets every hour, and survives bot restarts,
+// deploys, and (harmlessly) concurrent runs — no local state file,
+// no in-memory cursor. Transient failures (AI down, Meraki 5xx, Jira
+// comment 5xx) intentionally leave the ticket unlabeled so it retries
+// next hour.
 //
 // Store number handling — the poller looks up the `Store Number` custom
 // field id via `JiraClient.getFieldIdByName()` (cached for process
@@ -44,6 +51,15 @@ import { renderPhoneStatusMarkdown } from './renderers/phoneStatusRenderer.js';
 import { renderAvStatusMarkdown } from './renderers/avStatusRenderer.js';
 
 const BOT_LABEL = 'bot-enriched';
+// Applied when the AI classifier decides a ticket is out-of-scope for
+// enrichment (kind='skip', no store number, or an unroutable kind).
+// Distinct from `bot-enriched` so operators can query the two cohorts
+// separately, and so a human reading the ticket history isn't misled
+// by an "enriched" tag on a ticket that got no comment. Both labels
+// are excluded from the poll JQL so a labeled ticket never gets
+// re-classified — the whole point of this change is to stop paying AI
+// tokens on the same "not for us" tickets every hour.
+const SKIP_LABEL = 'bot-skipped';
 const STORE_FIELD_NAME = 'Store Number';
 
 // Hard safety cap on tickets processed per poll. AI classification
@@ -76,19 +92,20 @@ export const COMPONENT_ROUTES = {
 // and easy to audit against the spec. Any status/component change lives
 // here.
 //
-// Label clause gotcha: JQL's `!=` operator excludes issues where the
-// field is empty (documented Atlassian behavior), and brand-new tickets
-// almost always have zero labels. A naive `labels != bot-enriched`
-// therefore filters out precisely the tickets we want. The
-// `IS EMPTY OR ... != ...` union is the standard workaround — it
-// matches "no labels at all" plus "has labels, none of them are
-// bot-enriched". Do NOT "simplify" this back to a bare `!=`.
+// Label clause gotcha: JQL's `!=` and `NOT IN` operators both exclude
+// issues where the field is empty (documented Atlassian behavior), and
+// brand-new tickets almost always have zero labels. A naive
+// `labels NOT IN (...)` therefore filters out precisely the tickets we
+// want. The `IS EMPTY OR ... NOT IN ...` union is the standard
+// workaround — it matches "no labels at all" plus "has labels, none of
+// which are our bot labels". Do NOT "simplify" this back to a bare
+// `NOT IN` or `!=`.
 export const POLLER_JQL = [
   'component IN ("Communication Services", "Audio Visual", Mobility)',
   'AND assignee = empty',
   'AND status IN ("Assign to Team", "Equipment Sent", Escalated, "High Severity Incident",',
   '               "In Progress", "New Request", "Not Started", Open, Pending, "Work in progress")',
-  `AND (labels IS EMPTY OR labels != "${BOT_LABEL}")`,
+  `AND (labels IS EMPTY OR labels NOT IN ("${BOT_LABEL}", "${SKIP_LABEL}"))`,
 ].join(' ');
 
 // Resolve the Store Number field id. Env override wins so an operator
@@ -139,6 +156,24 @@ export function extractStore(fieldValue) {
 // isolation from the Jira / Webex clients this service imports.
 export { buildAdfComment };
 
+// Apply the SKIP_LABEL to a ticket. Deliberately non-throwing — the
+// caller is inside the per-ticket loop and a labeling failure should
+// NOT abort the batch or bubble up. If Jira briefly rejects the label
+// call, the ticket re-enters the JQL next hour and gets one duplicate
+// AI classification, which is cheap. Dropping the poll entirely would
+// be far worse.
+async function tagSkipped(key) {
+  try {
+    await jira.addLabel(key, SKIP_LABEL);
+  } catch (err) {
+    logger(
+      'jira:poller',
+      `${key}: failed to apply '${SKIP_LABEL}' — ticket will be re-classified next poll: ${err.message}`,
+      'warn',
+    );
+  }
+}
+
 /**
  * Poll Jira for unassigned tickets in the AV / Comm / Mobility queue,
  * enrich store-scoped ones with a phone/av snapshot comment, label
@@ -274,6 +309,12 @@ export async function pollNewTickets({ prime = false } = {}) {
 
     if (classification.kind === 'skip' || !classification.storeNum) {
       logger('jira:poller', `${key}: SKIP — AI: ${classification.reason}`);
+      // Label AI-determined skips so we don't burn tokens re-classifying
+      // the same ticket every hour. If labeling fails (transient Jira
+      // 5xx, scope drop, whatever) we log and continue — the ticket will
+      // simply be re-classified next hour; the cost of one duplicate AI
+      // call is far cheaper than the cost of dropping a poll entirely.
+      await tagSkipped(key);
       skipped.push({ key, reason: classification.reason });
       continue;
     }
@@ -282,8 +323,10 @@ export async function pollNewTickets({ prime = false } = {}) {
     if (!collect) {
       // Belt-and-suspenders: parseAndValidate already gates kind to
       // phone|av|skip, but if the schema ever loosens we don't want to
-      // silently no-op.
+      // silently no-op. Label as skipped for the same "don't retry"
+      // reasoning as the AI-skip branch above.
       logger('jira:poller', `${key}: SKIP — no collector for kind '${classification.kind}'`, 'warn');
+      await tagSkipped(key);
       skipped.push({ key, reason: `unsupported kind: ${classification.kind}` });
       continue;
     }