What is Diffbot-User?
Diffbot-User fetches URLs on behalf of human users interacting with Diffbot software. You can set up Agent Analytics to see when Diffbot-User visits your website.
Category
| Operated By | Diffbot |
| Source | Official Website |
| Triggered By | User action |
| Used for AI Model Training | Not expected |
| Affects AI Chat & Search Visibility | Yes |
| Expected To Follow Robots.txt | Yes |
Why Is Diffbot-User Visiting My Website?
A user asked Diffbot's assistant a question your page could help answer. Diffbot-User retrieved the page to support its response, often with a citation linking back to your site.
Should I Block Diffbot-User?
Usually not. Blocking Diffbot-User can keep your pages out of AI-generated answers and eliminate potential citation traffic. It does not improve traditional search rankings. Almost none of the top websites we track currently have robots.txt rules for Diffbot-User.
How Do I Block Diffbot-User Using Robots.txt?
Add this rule to your robots.txt file to block Diffbot-User from accessing your website, or use Automatic Robots.txt to block all AI assistants at once. You can customize which pages are blocked by swapping out / for a different path.
User-agent: Diffbot-User # https://knownagents.com/agents/diffbot-user
Disallow: /Insights for Diffbot-User
As of November 10, 2026, this data reflects agent visits measured across thousands of websites using Agent Analytics, combined with daily scans of the top 1000 websites and their robots.txt files.
Robots.txt Compliance
Country of Origin
Robots.txt Blocked Percentage
Diffbot-User Traffic
Frequently Asked Questions
What Traffic Patterns Should I Expect From Diffbot-User?
Diffbot-User makes isolated, on-demand requests rather than crawling your site. Traffic follows user demand, ranging from sporadic fetches to steady visits for a popular assistant.
Does Diffbot-User Follow Robots.txt Rules?
Diffbot-User is expected to follow robots.txt rules, so a disallow rule is the appropriate first step if you want to block it. Automatic Robots.txt can add and maintain that rule, while Agent Analytics lets you verify whether Diffbot-User respects it.
Is Diffbot-User Used for AI Model Training?
Not ordinarily. Diffbot-User is not categorized as an AI training scraper or data provider, so AI model training is not its expected purpose.
Does Blocking Diffbot-User Affect AI Search or Citations?
Yes, for requests handled by Diffbot-User. Blocking it can prevent the assistant from retrieving your pages for an answer or linking to them, but a separate crawler may control automatic AI search indexing.
Does Diffbot-User Access Private Content?
Not ordinarily. Diffbot-User fetches pages as an anonymous visitor without a stored login. Content protected by a paywall or login remains out of reach.
How Can I Verify a Request From Diffbot-User?
Agent Analytics tracks Diffbot-User visits in real time. You can also check your server logs for requests whose user-agent string contains "Diffbot-User". Look for a single-page request with no follow-up navigation. Because Diffbot-User does not publish a verification method, any client can claim its identity and a log match is only a clue.
How Is Diffbot-User Different From Other Diffbot Agents?
Diffbot operates separate agents for different purposes, so each agent should be evaluated and controlled independently.
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