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AI crawler

What is DuckAssistBot?

DuckAssistBot is DuckDuckGo's crawler that fetches pages for its AI-assisted answers; DuckDuckGo says it is not used to train AI models.

AI search and answersFollows robots.txtIP list
Operator
DuckDuckGo
Purpose
AI search and answers. Indexes pages so AI answers can cite and link to you. Blocking it can remove you from those answers.
robots.txt token
DuckAssistBot
Sample user agent
DuckAssistBot/1.2; (+http://duckduckgo.com/duckassistbot.html)User agents change with versions. Match on the token, not the full string.
Follows robots.txt
Yes, according to DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo says opting out takes up to 72 hours.
How to verify
Check the IP against DuckDuckGo's published list.Its list matches DuckDuckBot's, so the IP alone cannot tell the two apart.
Sources
DuckDuckGo documentationDuckDuckGo IP list
Last reviewed

Allow or block DuckAssistBot

Block DuckAssistBot
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
Disallow: /

Asks DuckAssistBot not to crawl any page. Well-behaved crawlers stop; it does not stop anyone who ignores robots.txt.

Allow DuckAssistBot
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
Allow: /

Lets DuckAssistBot crawl everything. You only need this if a broader rule would otherwise block it.

Should you block it?

Keep DuckAssistBot allowed if you want to appear, with a link, in DuckDuckGo's answers. Blocking it is the fastest way to disappear from them.

Write a full policy with the AI Crawler Policy Generator

How to verify a DuckAssistBot request

  1. Find the IP address of the request in your server or CDN logs.
  2. Get DuckDuckGo's published list (DuckDuckGo IP list).
  3. Check whether the IP falls inside one of the ranges. If it doesn't, the request is not from DuckAssistBot, whatever its user agent says.

Its list matches DuckDuckBot's, so the IP alone cannot tell the two apart.

Test DuckAssistBot requests

Questions about DuckAssistBot

Is DuckAssistBot safe to allow?

DuckAssistBot reads public pages; it does not log in or submit forms. Whether to allow it depends on whether you want DuckDuckGo's product to use your pages.

How do I know a request is really DuckAssistBot?

Check the request against what DuckDuckGo publishes: Check the IP against DuckDuckGo's published list. The user agent alone proves nothing.

How often does DuckAssistBot visit?

It depends on your site; DuckDuckGo doesn't publish a schedule. Referscope shows the real visits.

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