DuckDuckGo is private, but it is not AI-free out of the box. Its standard experience includes AI-assisted answers, and there is a separate AI chat tool too. If you would rather just see links, here is how to turn the AI answers off and what the setting actually covers.

Turning off AI-assisted answers

  1. Go to DuckDuckGo and open its search settings (the menu or the settings link on the page).
  2. Find the AI features section, sometimes labelled "AI-assisted answers."
  3. Set it to off.
  4. Save your settings so the choice sticks on that browser.

That removes the AI summary from your results. It is a clean toggle and it works. The thing to know is that the toggle starts in the "on" position, so this is something you opt out of rather than into.

what stays
Turning off AI answers does not remove DuckDuckGo's separate AI chat tool from existing. It just keeps the AI summary off your normal results page. The setting is also browser-specific unless you sync it, so you may need to repeat it across devices.

The simpler route: never have it on

If you find yourself turning AI off everywhere, the easier answer is a page that never had it. Bare shows ranked links and, at most, one sourced quick fact. There is no AI answer box and no setting to manage, because there is nothing to switch off. No account, no history, no behavioral profile either.

DuckDuckGo's toggle is the right tool if you want AI sometimes and plain links other times. Bare is the right tool if you want plain links, full stop.