diff --git a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/prompt_templates/common_utils.py b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/prompt_templates/common_utils.py
index 32ae61d7f58..3f54b47701a 100644
--- a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/prompt_templates/common_utils.py
+++ b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/prompt_templates/common_utils.py
@@ -132,6 +132,30 @@ def strip_none_values_from_message(message: AllMessageValues) -> AllMessageValue
     return cast(AllMessageValues, {k: v for k, v in message.items() if v is not None})
 
 
+def extract_search_results_text(search_results: object) -> str:
+    """
+    Extract model-visible text from OpenAI tool-message ``search_results``.
+
+    Used by token estimators and TPM limiters so large search result payloads
+    cannot bypass preflight checks via a small ``content`` field.
+    """
+    if not isinstance(search_results, list):
+        return ""
+    texts = ""
+    for result in search_results:
+        if not isinstance(result, dict):
+            continue
+        content = result.get("content")
+        if not isinstance(content, list):
+            continue
+        for block in content:
+            if isinstance(block, dict):
+                text = block.get("text")
+                if isinstance(text, str):
+                    texts += text
+    return texts
+
+
 def convert_content_list_to_str(
     message: Union[AllMessageValues, ChatCompletionResponseMessage],
 ) -> str:
@@ -152,6 +176,7 @@ def convert_content_list_to_str(
         elif message_content is not None and isinstance(message_content, str):
             texts = message_content
 
+    texts += extract_search_results_text(message.get("search_results"))
     return texts
 
 
diff --git a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/prompt_templates/factory.py b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/prompt_templates/factory.py
index aaacda71ea7..2433740fe26 100644
--- a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/prompt_templates/factory.py
+++ b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/prompt_templates/factory.py
@@ -3658,6 +3658,7 @@ from litellm.types.llms.bedrock import (
     ToolInputSchemaBlock as BedrockToolInputSchemaBlock,
 )
 from litellm.types.llms.bedrock import ToolJsonSchemaBlock as BedrockToolJsonSchemaBlock
+from litellm.types.llms.bedrock import SearchResultBlock
 from litellm.types.llms.bedrock import ToolResultBlock as BedrockToolResultBlock
 from litellm.types.llms.bedrock import (
     ToolResultContentBlock as BedrockToolResultContentBlock,
@@ -4115,14 +4116,19 @@ def _convert_to_bedrock_tool_call_result(
     # If `search_results` is present, we intentionally prefer it over `content`
     # to avoid generating mixed text + searchResult blocks.
     search_results = message.get("search_results")
+    used_search_results = False
     if isinstance(search_results, list):
         for result in search_results:
             if not isinstance(result, dict):
                 continue
             tool_result_content_blocks.append(
-                BedrockToolResultContentBlock(searchResult=result)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
+                BedrockToolResultContentBlock(
+                    searchResult=cast(SearchResultBlock, result)
+                )
             )
-    else:
+        used_search_results = len(tool_result_content_blocks) > 0
+
+    if not used_search_results:
         if isinstance(message["content"], str):
             tool_result_content_blocks.append(
                 BedrockToolResultContentBlock(text=message["content"])
@@ -4209,7 +4215,7 @@ def _convert_to_bedrock_tool_call_result(
     tool_result = BedrockToolResultBlock(
         content=tool_result_content_blocks, toolUseId=id
     )
-    if isinstance(search_results, list):
+    if used_search_results:
         tool_result["status"] = cast(Literal["success"], "success")
 
     content_block = BedrockContentBlock(toolResult=tool_result)
diff --git a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/token_counter.py b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/token_counter.py
index e6a68de07e9..7889336f416 100644
--- a/litellm/litellm_core_utils/token_counter.py
+++ b/litellm/litellm_core_utils/token_counter.py
@@ -486,6 +486,14 @@ def _count_messages(
                     use_default_image_token_count,
                     default_token_count,
                 )
+            elif key == "search_results" and isinstance(value, list):
+                from litellm.litellm_core_utils.prompt_templates.common_utils import (
+                    extract_search_results_text,
+                )
+
+                search_results_text = extract_search_results_text(value)
+                if search_results_text:
+                    num_tokens += params.count_function(search_results_text)
             else:
                 # Skip unsupported keys instead of raising an error
                 continue
diff --git a/litellm/llms/bedrock/chat/converse_transformation.py b/litellm/llms/bedrock/chat/converse_transformation.py
index 675019ba3bd..e383fd1d13f 100644
--- a/litellm/llms/bedrock/chat/converse_transformation.py
+++ b/litellm/llms/bedrock/chat/converse_transformation.py
@@ -1911,25 +1911,33 @@ class AmazonConverseConfig(BaseConfig):
 
         for citations_block in citations_content_blocks:
             block_text = ""
-            for content_part in citations_block.get("content", []):
-                if isinstance(content_part, dict):
-                    _text = content_part.get("text")
-                    if isinstance(_text, str):
-                        block_text += _text
+            raw_content = citations_block.get("content")
+            if isinstance(raw_content, list):
+                for content_part in raw_content:
+                    if isinstance(content_part, dict):
+                        _text = content_part.get("text")
+                        if isinstance(_text, str):
+                            block_text += _text
 
             if block_text:
                 citations_text_parts.append(block_text)
 
-            for citation in citations_block.get("citations", []):
+            raw_citations = citations_block.get("citations")
+            if not isinstance(raw_citations, list):
+                continue
+
+            for citation in raw_citations:
                 if not isinstance(citation, dict):
                     continue
 
-                location = citation.get("location", {})
-                search_location = (
-                    location.get("searchResultLocation", {})
-                    if isinstance(location, dict)
-                    else {}
-                )
+                location = citation.get("location")
+                if not isinstance(location, dict):
+                    continue
+
+                search_location = location.get("searchResultLocation")
+                if not isinstance(search_location, dict):
+                    continue
+
                 start = search_location.get("start")
                 end = search_location.get("end")
                 if not isinstance(start, int) or not isinstance(end, int):
@@ -2137,14 +2145,17 @@ class AmazonConverseConfig(BaseConfig):
         citations_text, annotations = self._transform_citations_to_annotations(
             citationsContentBlocks
         )
+        citations_included_in_content = False
         if citations_text:
             if not content_str:
                 content_str = citations_text
+                citations_included_in_content = True
             elif content_str.strip() == ".":
                 # Bedrock may emit the cited sentence in citationsContent and only
                 # punctuation in text blocks; stitch them for user-facing content.
                 content_str = citations_text + content_str
-        if annotations:
+                citations_included_in_content = True
+        if annotations and citations_included_in_content:
             chat_completion_message["annotations"] = annotations
 
         if reasoningContentBlocks is not None:
diff --git a/tests/test_litellm/llms/bedrock/chat/test_converse_transformation.py b/tests/test_litellm/llms/bedrock/chat/test_converse_transformation.py
index fe651c62e13..2ac39a16e14 100644
--- a/tests/test_litellm/llms/bedrock/chat/test_converse_transformation.py
+++ b/tests/test_litellm/llms/bedrock/chat/test_converse_transformation.py
@@ -1714,6 +1714,160 @@ async def test_tool_message_search_results_maps_to_bedrock_search_result_block()
     )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_tool_message_empty_search_results_falls_back_to_content():
+    """Empty search_results must not skip normal tool content processing."""
+    from litellm.litellm_core_utils.prompt_templates.factory import (
+        BedrockConverseMessagesProcessor,
+        _bedrock_converse_messages_pt,
+    )
+
+    messages = [
+        {"role": "user", "content": "hello"},
+        {
+            "role": "assistant",
+            "content": None,
+            "tool_calls": [
+                {
+                    "id": "tooluse_empty_search",
+                    "type": "function",
+                    "function": {"name": "lookup", "arguments": "{}"},
+                }
+            ],
+        },
+        {
+            "role": "tool",
+            "tool_call_id": "tooluse_empty_search",
+            "content": "fallback tool text",
+            "search_results": [],
+        },
+    ]
+
+    result = _bedrock_converse_messages_pt(
+        messages=messages,
+        model="bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-haiku-4-5-20251001-v1:0",
+        llm_provider="bedrock_converse",
+    )
+    async_result = (
+        await BedrockConverseMessagesProcessor._bedrock_converse_messages_pt_async(
+            messages=messages,
+            model="bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-haiku-4-5-20251001-v1:0",
+            llm_provider="bedrock_converse",
+        )
+    )
+    assert result == async_result
+
+    tool_result = result[2]["content"][0]["toolResult"]
+    assert tool_result["toolUseId"] == "tooluse_empty_search"
+    assert "status" not in tool_result
+    assert len(tool_result["content"]) == 1
+    assert tool_result["content"][0]["text"] == "fallback tool text"
+
+
+def test_transform_response_omits_annotations_when_citations_not_stitched():
+    from litellm.llms.bedrock.chat.converse_transformation import AmazonConverseConfig
+    from litellm.types.utils import ModelResponse
+
+    response_json = {
+        "metrics": {"latencyMs": 100},
+        "output": {
+            "message": {
+                "role": "assistant",
+                "content": [
+                    {
+                        "citationsContent": {
+                            "content": [{"text": "cited sentence only in citations"}],
+                            "citations": [
+                                {
+                                    "location": {
+                                        "searchResultLocation": {
+                                            "start": 0,
+                                            "end": 5,
+                                        }
+                                    },
+                                    "source": "https://example.com",
+                                    "title": "Example",
+                                }
+                            ],
+                        }
+                    },
+                    {"text": "separate assistant answer"},
+                ],
+            }
+        },
+        "stopReason": "end_turn",
+        "usage": {
+            "inputTokens": 10,
+            "outputTokens": 5,
+            "totalTokens": 15,
+            "cacheReadInputTokenCount": 0,
+            "cacheReadInputTokens": 0,
+            "cacheWriteInputTokenCount": 0,
+            "cacheWriteInputTokens": 0,
+        },
+    }
+
+    class MockResponse:
+        def json(self):
+            return response_json
+
+        @property
+        def text(self):
+            return json.dumps(response_json)
+
+    config = AmazonConverseConfig()
+    result = config._transform_response(
+        model="bedrock/us.anthropic.claude-haiku-4-5-20251001-v1:0",
+        response=MockResponse(),
+        model_response=ModelResponse(),
+        stream=False,
+        logging_obj=None,
+        optional_params={},
+        api_key=None,
+        data=None,
+        messages=[],
+        encoding=None,
+    )
+
+    message = result.choices[0].message
+    assert message.content == "separate assistant answer"
+    assert message.model_dump().get("annotations") is None
+
+
+def test_extract_search_results_text_counts_hidden_tool_payload():
+    from litellm.litellm_core_utils.prompt_templates.common_utils import (
+        convert_content_list_to_str,
+        extract_search_results_text,
+    )
+    from litellm.litellm_core_utils.token_counter import token_counter
+
+    hidden = "x" * 500
+    message = {
+        "role": "tool",
+        "content": "small",
+        "search_results": [
+            {
+                "source": "s",
+                "title": "t",
+                "content": [{"text": hidden}],
+            }
+        ],
+    }
+
+    assert extract_search_results_text(message["search_results"]) == hidden
+    assert len(convert_content_list_to_str(message)) > len("small")
+
+    tokens_with_search = token_counter(
+        model="gpt-3.5-turbo",
+        messages=[message],
+    )
+    tokens_without_search = token_counter(
+        model="gpt-3.5-turbo",
+        messages=[{"role": "tool", "content": "small"}],
+    )
+    assert tokens_with_search > tokens_without_search
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_assistant_tool_calls_cache_control():
     """Test that assistant tool_calls with cache_control generate cachePoint blocks."""