01 · Operator
Who operates DuckAssistBot
- Company
- DuckDuckGo
- Type
- AI search crawler
- Official docs
- duckduckgo.com
02 · Behavior
What DuckAssistBot does
DuckAssistBot crawls pages in real time to produce DuckAssist answers in DuckDuckGo Search. DuckDuckGo states the data is not used to train AI models. Disallowing it in robots.txt takes effect after 72 hours.
03 · Impact
Why DuckAssistBot matters for your site
If you allow it
- Your pages can be cited as sources in DuckAssist answers
- DuckDuckGo says the data is not used for AI training
If you block it
- Removes your site as a source for DuckAssist answers
- Reduces crawl load
04 · Allow
How to allow DuckAssistBot
robots.txt
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
Allow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "DuckAssistBot")
Action: Skip › All Super Bot Fight Mode rules
# Also check Security › Bots: "Block AI bots" can block it regardless of robots.txt.WordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
Allow: /nginx
# nginx serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure no rule like this blocks it:
# if ($http_user_agent ~* "DuckAssistBot") { return 403; }Apache
# Apache serves every user agent by default.
# Make sure .htaccess has no rule like this:
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} DuckAssistBot [NC]
# RewriteRule .* - [F,L]05 · Block
How to block DuckAssistBot
DuckAssistBot follows robots.txt, so one rule is enough. Use a server or CDN rule only to stop spoofed copies.
robots.txt
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
Disallow: /Cloudflare
# Security › WAF › Custom rules › Create rule
Expression: (http.user_agent contains "DuckAssistBot")
Action: BlockWordPress
# WordPress serves a virtual robots.txt. Edit it with your SEO plugin:
# Yoast: SEO › Tools › File editor · Rank Math: General Settings › Edit robots.txt
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
Disallow: /nginx
# In your server { } block:
if ($http_user_agent ~* "DuckAssistBot") {
return 403;
}Apache
# .htaccess
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} DuckAssistBot [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>06 · User agents
User agents we see for DuckAssistBot
The user agent published by the operator:
DuckAssistBot/1.2; (+http://duckduckgo.com/duckassistbot.html)07 · Verification
Is it really DuckAssistBot?
DuckAssistBot’s operator publishes no IP ranges or hostnames, so requests cannot be verified. Treat the user agent as a claim, and watch your logs for unusual request rates.
FAQ
Questions about DuckAssistBot
Is DuckAssistBot used to train AI?
No. DuckDuckGo states the data DuckAssistBot collects is not used in any way to train AI models.
How long does it take for a robots.txt block on DuckAssistBot to work?
DuckDuckGo says the change takes effect after 72 hours.
Where can I find DuckAssistBot's IP addresses?
DuckDuckGo lists them on its DuckAssistBot help page; it does not publish a separate JSON file there.
Last reviewed Oct 6, 2026