How is this different from Google Analytics?

Google Analytics shows you traffic. Shadow shows you traffic, AI bot activity, what AI platforms say about your brand, AND tells you what to do about all of it. It's analytics + AI intelligence + action steps in one tool.

Do I need to install anything?

For basic monitoring (bot detection, AI perception, readiness score) — nope, just enter your URL. For full visitor analytics (clicks, behavior, sessions), add one script tag. One-click integrations for Vercel, Shopify, WordPress, and more.

Will it slow down my site?

No. The script is under 5KB and loads async. Zero impact on page speed or Core Web Vitals. External monitoring has literally no impact — it watches from the outside.

What AI bots does Shadow detect?

All of them. GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, Bytespider, Amazonbot, and dozens more. The Shadow Network means new bots get identified across all users instantly.

What do you mean by "actionable steps"?

Shadow doesn't just show you graphs. It says things like: "ChatGPT has your pricing wrong — add structured data to /pricing to fix it" or "Your bounce rate on /features is 68% — here's why and what to change." Specific, do-it-today recommendations.

Can Shadow block bots?

Shadow is a telescope, not a shield. It shows you who's visiting and what AI says about you. It generates block rules and robots.txt configs you can apply — but it doesn't intercept traffic.

Yes. Shadow never collects PII. IP addresses are hashed after classification. No cookies on your visitors. All Shadow Network data is anonymized. GDPR compliant by design.

What is DuckAssistBot and what does it do?

DuckAssistBot is a web crawler operated by DuckDuckGo. It fetches page content to generate AI-powered answers in DuckDuckGo's search results — specifically for features like DuckAssist (AI summaries) and Duck.ai (the DuckDuckGo AI chat product). When a user searches DuckDuckGo and triggers an AI-generated answer, DuckAssistBot may have retrieved your page to provide that answer. It's a live retrieval crawler, not a training data harvester — the content is used to answer specific queries in real time.

What's the difference between DuckAssistBot and DuckDuckBot?

DuckDuckBot is DuckDuckGo's main web indexer — it crawls the web to build the search index, similar to Googlebot. Blocking DuckDuckBot removes your site from DuckDuckGo search results entirely. DuckAssistBot is a separate, specialized crawler used specifically for AI-powered answer features (DuckAssist, Duck.ai). Blocking DuckAssistBot only prevents your content from appearing in AI-generated summaries — your traditional search ranking in DuckDuckGo is unaffected.

Does blocking DuckAssistBot hurt my DuckDuckGo search rankings?

No. Blocking DuckAssistBot only affects your visibility in DuckDuckGo's AI-generated answer features. Your pages can still be indexed and ranked in regular DuckDuckGo search results via DuckDuckBot. The robots.txt rule for DuckAssistBot is separate from the rule for DuckDuckBot — you can block one without affecting the other.

Is DuckAssistBot used to train AI models?

DuckDuckGo has not claimed that DuckAssistBot collects data for AI model training. Based on public documentation, it's designed for live retrieval — fetching pages on demand to generate real-time AI answers. This contrasts with training crawlers like GPTBot or CCBot that collect web content to build datasets used to train language models. DuckAssistBot behaves more like a search assistant that reads pages to answer questions than a bulk data collector. That said, the exact disposition of retrieved content is not fully documented.

Should I block DuckAssistBot if I already block GPTBot?

Not necessarily — they serve different purposes. GPTBot collects training data for OpenAI models. DuckAssistBot retrieves content for live query responses. Some publishers block all AI crawler activity as a matter of principle; others distinguish between training data harvesters (block) and AI search agents (allow, because it's equivalent to appearing in AI search answers). If you want to appear in DuckDuckGo AI answers — which can drive traffic — consider allowing DuckAssistBot even if you block training crawlers.

What's the irony of DuckDuckGo deploying a web crawler?

DuckDuckGo built its brand on privacy — the tagline 'The search engine that doesn't track you' resonates because Google's data collection model is what it explicitly positions against. But all search engines require web crawlers to function, and AI-powered answers require crawlers that actively read page content on demand. DuckAssistBot accesses your content to serve DuckDuckGo users — without your permission, and without a way for you to monetize or consent to that access beyond robots.txt opt-out. The privacy promise DuckDuckGo makes is to its users, not to publishers whose content it reads.

DuckDuckGoRespects robots.txtAI Retrieval

How to Block DuckAssistBot: DuckDuckGo's AI Answer Crawler

DuckDuckGo built its brand on privacy — then deployed a crawler to read your pages and generate AI answers. DuckAssistBot powers DuckAssist and Duck.ai. Here's how to block it without losing your DuckDuckGo search ranking.

Updated March 2026

DuckDuckBot ≠ DuckAssistBot

DuckDuckGo operates two separate crawlers. Blocking one does not affect the other:

DuckDuckBotMain search index crawler. Builds DuckDuckGo's search results. Blocking removes your site from DuckDuckGo search entirely.

DuckAssistBotAI answer crawler. Fetches pages to generate AI summaries for DuckAssist and Duck.ai features. Blocking only removes you from AI answers.

What Does DuckAssistBot Do?

When a DuckDuckGo user searches for something that triggers an AI-generated answer, DuckAssistBot fetches relevant web pages to generate that answer. This powers two features:

DuckAssist

AI-generated summaries that appear above search results for certain queries. These are sourced from Wikipedia and other web pages.

Duck.ai

DuckDuckGo's standalone AI chat product where users can ask questions and get AI-powered answers with web sources.

DuckAssistBot is a retrieval crawler, not a training crawler. It fetches pages on demand to answer specific queries — it doesn't bulk-harvest content for model training. This makes it functionally similar to ChatGPT-User or Gemini-Deep-Research.

The user agent string is: DuckAssistBot/1.0 (+https://duckduckgo.com/duckassistbot)

How to Block DuckAssistBot in robots.txt

Add this to your robots.txt to opt out of DuckDuckGo's AI answers:

robots.txtBlock AI answers, keep search

# Block DuckDuckGo AI answers
User-agent: DuckAssistBot
Disallow: /

# Keep DuckDuckGo search indexing (do NOT block DuckDuckBot unless intended)
# User-agent: DuckDuckBot
# Disallow: /

robots.txtBlock everything from DuckDuckGo

# Block both search indexing and AI answers
User-agent: DuckDuckBot
Disallow: /

User-agent: DuckAssistBot
Disallow: /

Don't confuse the bot names

DuckDuckBot = search index (blocking kills your DuckDuckGo rankings). DuckAssistBot = AI answers only. Make sure you're blocking the right one.

The Privacy Irony

DuckDuckGo's brand is built entirely on privacy — "the search engine that doesn't track you." But that promise is to users, not publishers. DuckAssistBot accesses your content to serve DuckDuckGo users without your explicit consent, monetization opportunity, or even a guaranteed attribution link.

This isn't unique to DuckDuckGo — every search engine crawler does something similar. But it's worth noting that the company most vocal about respecting user consent operates a crawler that reads publisher content to generate AI summaries that may reduce click-through traffic.

What Blocking Does (and Doesn't) Do

What it stops

• Your content appearing in DuckAssist AI summaries
• Your pages being used as sources in Duck.ai answers
• DuckAssistBot fetching your content on demand

What it doesn't stop

• Your rankings in DuckDuckGo search (unaffected)
• Other AI crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, etc.)
• Google or Bing rankings
• DuckDuckGo displaying your site in regular search results

Frequently Asked Questions

Is DuckAssistBot a training crawler?

No. DuckDuckGo has not indicated that DuckAssistBot collects data for AI model training. It's a retrieval crawler — it fetches pages in real-time to generate answers for specific user queries. However, the exact disposition of retrieved content is not fully documented.

How much traffic does DuckDuckGo actually drive?

DuckDuckGo has approximately 100 million daily searches. Its market share is small compared to Google, but its users tend to be privacy-conscious tech professionals — often a high-value demographic for B2B and tech content publishers.

Should I block DuckAssistBot if I block GPTBot?

Not necessarily. GPTBot collects training data; DuckAssistBot retrieves content for live AI answers. Some publishers block all AI activity as a matter of principle. Others distinguish between training crawlers (block) and AI search/retrieval (allow, because it drives traffic). It depends on your content strategy.

Does DuckAssistBot respect robots.txt?

Yes. DuckDuckGo has a strong public commitment to publisher norms and has documented DuckAssistBot with a verifiable help URL. A robots.txt block is sufficient.

Related Guides

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How to Block OAI-SearchBot

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