See it on a real storeBots, pages and people sent by AI on an example store. No sign-up.Search engines, run by DuckDuckGo.
What is DuckDuckBot? DuckDuckGo's search engine crawler. Verifiable by IP ranges.
Run by DuckDuckGo.
Purpose: Search engines. A visit means your page is being crawled for a classic search index.
robots.txt name: DuckDuckBot.
Verifiable by IP ranges.
At a glance, the facts in one table.
DuckDuckBot at a glance. Taken from SenseGap's open bot directory, the same data that sorts every visit in the dashboard.
All bots| DuckDuckBot | |
|---|---|
| Operator | DuckDuckGo |
| Purpose | Search engines |
| User agent contains | DuckDuckBot |
| robots.txt name | DuckDuckBot |
| Verification | IP ranges |
| Documentation | None listed |
Purpose, what it does and why it came.
What DuckDuckBot does. SenseGap sorts every visit by purpose. DuckDuckBot is in the Search engines group.
DuckDuckBot is DuckDuckGo's search engine crawler that indexes pages for DuckDuckGo's search results.
What a visit means
A visit means your page is being crawled for a classic search index. SenseGap keeps search engines in your reports so you can compare AI activity with them.
Comparing how often a search engine and AI assistants read the same pages shows which content AI relies on more, or less, than search does.
Detection, the header SenseGap matches.
How SenseGap recognizes DuckDuckBot. By its User-Agent header. A separate check then decides whether the visit is real.
Every request carries a User-Agent header naming the software that sent it. SenseGap counts a request as DuckDuckBot when that header contains DuckDuckBot, in any letter case. The header is plain text, so any script can copy it. Matching the name is where recognition starts, not where trust starts.
/DuckDuckBot/iVerification, how to tell a real visit from a fake.
How to verify DuckDuckBot. DuckDuckGo publishes its IP ranges, so a real visit can be proven.
How we verify botsduckduckbot.json
Published by DuckDuckGo at duckduckgo.com. A real DuckDuckBot visit comes from an address in this list.
Open the listChecked on every visit
SenseGap runs this check on every visit that claims to be DuckDuckBot. A pass is marked Real. A visit that sends the name and fails is marked Fake, and stays out of your other reports.
robots.txt, rules you can copy.
Block or allow DuckDuckBot in robots.txt. Its robots.txt name is DuckDuckBot. Paste a group into the robots.txt at your site's root.
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Disallow: /User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Allow: /User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Disallow: /private/One rule catches people out. Under the robots.txt standard (RFC 9309), a crawler that finds a group naming it follows only that group and ignores your User-agent: * rules. If you add a DuckDuckBot group, repeat in it anything from the catch-all group you still want applied.
robots.txt is a request, not a lock. To enforce a block, match the User-Agent header at your server or CDN. In nginx:
# nginx, inside a server block
if ($http_user_agent ~* "DuckDuckBot") {
return 403;
}SenseGap reads your robots.txt and shows, bot by bot, what you allow and which bots fetched pages you disallowed. See what you get.
Trade-off, what blocking changes.
Should you block DuckDuckBot? It depends on what you want from DuckDuckGo. Here is what each choice means.
If you allow it
Your pages can rank and be found in that search engine.
If you block it
Your pages drop out of that search engine's results over time. For major engines this is rarely what a site wants.
DuckDuckGo, every bot it runs.
More bots from DuckDuckGo. DuckDuckGo runs 2 bots in the directory, each with its own job.
Search engines, other bots with the same job.
Other search engine crawlers. Same purpose, different companies.
Browse the directoryFAQ, DuckDuckBot in short answers.
DuckDuckBot, answered plainly
What is DuckDuckBot?
DuckDuckBot is DuckDuckGo's search engine crawler that indexes pages for DuckDuckGo's search results.
Who runs DuckDuckBot?
DuckDuckGo. SenseGap's directory has no documentation link for it yet.
What does a visit from DuckDuckBot mean?
A visit means your page is being crawled for a classic search index. SenseGap keeps search engines in your reports so you can compare AI activity with them.
What user agent does DuckDuckBot use?
Its User-Agent header contains "DuckDuckBot". SenseGap matches it regardless of letter case.
How do I block DuckDuckBot?
Add "User-agent: DuckDuckBot" followed by "Disallow: /" to your robots.txt. robots.txt is a request, not a lock; to enforce it, block the user agent at your server or CDN.
How do I know a visit is really DuckDuckBot?
DuckDuckGo publishes the IP ranges DuckDuckBot uses (duckduckbot.json), so check that the visiting address falls inside one of them. SenseGap runs these checks on every visit.
Does DuckDuckGo publish IP ranges for DuckDuckBot?
Yes, at https://duckduckgo.com/duckduckbot.json.
What happens if I block DuckDuckBot?
Your pages drop out of that search engine's results over time. For major engines this is rarely what a site wants.