Where DuckDuckGo’s results come from
DuckDuckGo combines results from its own crawler, DuckDuckBot, with many other sources, most importantly Bing’s index. Sites that do well in Bing therefore usually do well on DuckDuckGo too.
DuckDuckGo and SEO
- Make sure your site is indexed in Bing, with Bing Webmaster Tools and a submitted sitemap.
- Don’t block DuckDuckBot in robots.txt.
- Local results rely heavily on Apple Maps data, so keep your Apple Business Connect listing accurate.
Advertising on DuckDuckGo
Search ads on DuckDuckGo come from Microsoft Advertising, without targeting based on personal tracking. Running Microsoft Advertising campaigns is the way to appear there.
DuckDuckGo example
A software company sees that a blog post ranks well on Bing but has little traffic from Google. It checks DuckDuckGo and finds the same post ranking in the top three there, which brings a few privacy-minded readers each week. The company then verifies the site in Bing Webmaster Tools and submits the sitemap so that new posts reach both engines faster.
DuckDuckGo SEO checklist
- Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit the sitemap.
- Make sure robots.txt allows DuckDuckBot and Bingbot.
- Check your listings on Apple Maps if you have a local business, since DuckDuckGo uses map data from partners.
- Do the usual SEO work: clear titles, helpful content, fast pages and good links.
- Do not expect personalised results, and check rankings in a private window.
DuckDuckGo mistakes
- Ignoring Bing indexing, which feeds many other search products.
- Believing you need special tricks. The same good SEO practices apply.
- Measuring only Google traffic and missing smaller sources.
DuckDuckGo FAQs
Does DuckDuckGo have its own index?
It has its own crawler and uses other sources, mainly Bing. See Bingbot and search engines.
How big is DuckDuckGo?
It is much smaller than Google. See our top search engines guide for current shares.