What Is DuckAssistBot?
DuckAssistBot is a web crawler that scans websites to collect content for DuckDuckGo's AI-assisted answers feature, which generates brief responses to search queries using natural language technology and Wikipedia sources. You can see how often DuckAssistBot visits your website by setting up Dark Visitors Agent Analytics.
Agent Type
Expected Behavior
AI assistants fetch web content on-demand in response to specific user queries during conversations. Unlike crawlers that systematically index websites, these assistants make targeted, one-off requests to retrieve current information that supplements their training data. Traffic is unpredictable and driven entirely by what users ask about. You might see no requests for weeks, then sudden bursts when topics related to your content become relevant. The retrieved content is used to generate responses through retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
Detail
| Operated By | DuckDuckGo |
| Last Updated | 1 hour ago |
Top Website Robots.txts
Country of Origin
Top Website Blocking Trend Over Time
The percentage of the world's top 1000 websites who are blocking DuckAssistBot
Overall AI Assistant Traffic
The percentage of all internet traffic coming from AI assistants
Top Visited Website Categories
User Agent String
| Example | DuckAssistBot/1.2; (+http://duckduckgo.com/duckassistbot.html) |
Access other known user agent strings and recent IP addresses using the API.
Robots.txt
In this example, all pages are blocked. You can customize which pages are off-limits by swapping out / for a different disallowed path.
User-agent: DuckAssistBot # https://darkvisitors.com/agents/duckassistbot
Disallow: /Frequently Asked Questions About DuckAssistBot
Should I Block DuckAssistBot?
Generally no. DuckAssistBot fetches content to answer user questions in real-time conversations. Blocking it prevents users from getting current information about your content when they ask. This can hurt discoverability and user experience. Allowing access helps users find and engage with your content through AI-powered search and assistance.
How Do I Block DuckAssistBot?
If you want to, you can block or limit DuckAssistBot's access by configuring user agent token rules in your robots.txt file. The best way to do this is using Automatic Robots.txt, which blocks all agents of this type and updates continuously as new agents are released. While the vast majority of agents operated by reputable companies honor these robots.txt directives, bad actors may choose to ignore them entirely. In that case, you'll need to implement alternative blocking methods such as firewall rules or server-level restrictions. You can verify whether DuckAssistBot is respecting your rules by setting up Agent Analytics to monitor its visits to your website.
Will Blocking DuckAssistBot Hurt My SEO?
Blocking AI assistants won't affect traditional search engine rankings, but it may reduce your content's discoverability through AI-powered search and conversational interfaces. As users increasingly rely on AI assistants for information discovery, blocking these tools could limit your reach in emerging search paradigms.
Does DuckAssistBot Access Private Content?
AI assistants generally only fetch publicly accessible web content to answer user questions. They don't typically have credentials to access private or authenticated content, unless specifically configured by users to access their personal accounts or private systems. Most commercial AI assistants operate within public web boundaries.
How Can I Tell if DuckAssistBot Is Visiting My Website?
Setting up Agent Analytics will give you realtime visibility into DuckAssistBot visiting your website, along with hundreds of other AI agents, crawlers, and scrapers. This will also let you measure human traffic to your website coming from AI search and chat LLM platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.
Why Is DuckAssistBot Visiting My Website?
DuckAssistBot visited your site because a user asked a question that your content could help answer. The assistant identified your site as a relevant source and fetched the information to provide a more accurate or up-to-date response. This typically happens when users ask about topics, events, or information that your site covers.
How Can I Authenticate Visits From DuckAssistBot?
Agent Analytics authenticates agent visits from many agents, letting you know whether each one was actually from that agent, or spoofed by a bad actor. This helps you identify suspicious traffic patterns and make informed decisions about blocking or allowing specific user agents.