DuckAssistBot
SafeUser-agent: DuckAssistBot
Category: AI & LLM Bots
SEO impact if blocked: 2/10
DuckDuckGo
2 crawlers operated by DuckDuckGo
https://duckduckgo.com/Who DuckDuckGo is, for site owners
DuckDuckGo operates 2 crawlers in our directory, filed under AI & LLM Bots and Search Engines. Of those 2, 2 rated safe for crawl behaviour.
Blocking DuckDuckGo carries an SEO impact score of 2/10 to 10/10 across its crawlers. The highest-impact crawler is DuckDuckBot: Critical - Blocking removes you from search results.
Our recommendation for DuckDuckGo, set by its least reassuring crawler (DuckDuckBot, rated safe): Never block - it will remove your site from major search results.
DuckDuckGo at a glance
| Operator | DuckDuckGo |
|---|---|
| Crawlers in directory | 2 |
| Categories | AI & LLM Bots, Search Engines |
| SEO impact if blocked | 2/10 to 10/10 |
| Crawl behaviour | 2 rated safe |
| Website | duckduckgo.com |
| Official crawler docs | DuckDuckGo crawler documentation |
Crawlers operated by DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckBot
SafeUser-agent:
DuckDuckBotCategory: Search Engines
SEO impact if blocked: 10/10
How to block or allow DuckDuckGo in robots.txt
These rules cover all 2 crawlers DuckDuckGo operates. Add them to the robots.txt file at the root of your domain.
Block DuckDuckGo completely
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Disallow: /
Allow DuckDuckGo explicitly
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Allow: /
robots.txt is a request, not an enforcement mechanism. A crawler that ignores it needs a block at the server or CDN layer. Rules are case-sensitive on the path and matched against the user-agent token, not the full user-agent string.
Frequently asked questions about DuckDuckGo
What crawlers does DuckDuckGo run?
DuckDuckGo operates 2 crawlers in our directory: DuckAssistBot (user-agent DuckAssistBot), DuckDuckBot (user-agent DuckDuckBot).
Should I block DuckDuckGo?
Never block - it will remove your site from major search results. That guidance follows this operator's least reassuring crawler, DuckDuckBot, rated safe, because allowing an operator allows every crawler it runs. The SEO impact score for blocking is 2/10 to 10/10, where 10 means blocking costs you the most visibility.
How do I block DuckDuckGo in robots.txt?
Add the following to robots.txt at your domain root: User-agent: DuckAssistBot then User-agent: DuckDuckBot then Disallow: /. One Disallow line covers all 2 user-agent tokens.
Does blocking DuckDuckGo hurt my search rankings?
The highest-impact crawler here is DuckDuckBot, rated: Critical - Blocking removes you from search results. DuckDuckBot is a search-indexing crawler, so blocking it can remove your pages from the corresponding search results. Block it only if you intend to leave that index. The remaining 1 crawler in the list above does not affect search indexing and can be blocked separately.