Bing and Copilot: how to appear in Microsoft’s AI answers

Why the Bing index decides your visibility in Copilot, how to set up Bing Webmaster Tools and the AI Performance report, and what Microsoft says increases citations.

Published: · 4 min read

In short: Microsoft Copilot and AI summaries in Bing base their answers on the Bing search index. For your website to appear in them, it has to be in that index. Since February 2026, Bing Webmaster Tools also shows how often Microsoft’s AI cites your site. Below we explain how to set it up and what to do to earn more citations.

Why Bing matters for AI visibility

Many companies focus only on Google and ignore Bing because few people use it as a search engine. In the AI era, that is a mistake. Microsoft Copilot (in Windows, the Edge browser and Microsoft 365 apps), AI summaries in Bing search and selected Microsoft partner services all rely on the Bing index. If Bing doesn’t know your website, these tools won’t recommend it either.

Step 1. Add your website to Bing Webmaster Tools

Bing Webmaster Tools is Microsoft’s free tool, the equivalent of Google Search Console. The easiest way to add a site is to import it from Google Search Console — verification then happens automatically. You can also verify with a meta tag (e.g. in the Yoast SEO plugin), a file or a DNS record.

After verification:

  • submit your sitemap (e.g. /sitemap_index.xml from Yoast SEO),
  • check the indexing report to see which URLs Bing knows, which it skipped and why,
  • submit your most important pages manually with the URL submission tool if the site is new.

Step 2. Check the “AI Performance” report

On 10 February 2026, Microsoft released the AI Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools (as a public preview). It is the first official report from a major search engine that shows how often a site is cited in AI answers. It covers Microsoft Copilot, AI summaries in Bing and selected partner integrations, and shows:

  • total citations in the selected period,
  • the average number of cited pages per day,
  • the queries the AI used to retrieve your content (grounding queries, as a sample),
  • citations for individual URLs and trends over time.

The report does not show clicks or where in the answer your page appeared, and it does not cover ChatGPT. Even so, it shows clearly which topics and pages the AI already treats as valuable sources.

Step 3. Notify Bing of changes with IndexNow

IndexNow is a protocol that lets you notify Bing (and other participating search engines) immediately about a new or updated page. As a result, Copilot sees current content sooner — a new price list, for example. In WordPress you can enable IndexNow with a plugin, including Microsoft’s official plugin and some SEO plugins. Microsoft explicitly recommends keeping content fresh and using IndexNow to improve visibility in AI answers.

What Microsoft says increases citations

When announcing the AI Performance report, Microsoft shared guidance for site owners:

  • Go deeper on topics where you are already cited. The report shows where the AI treats you as a source — that is where to add more content.
  • Use a clear structure. Clear headings, tables and FAQ sections make it easier for the AI to pick the right passage.
  • Support claims with data. Examples, numbers and sources make content more credible.
  • Keep content current and submit changes via IndexNow.
  • Be consistent. Text, images and video should describe the same products, services and concepts using the same names.
  • Local businesses should create a Bing Places for Business profile and keep their address, opening hours and contact details up to date.

Common mistakes

  • Blocking Bingbot in robots.txt or through a server firewall, often by accident when blocking “all AI bots”. Bingbot is a search crawler, not a training crawler.
  • No sitemap, or a sitemap full of old, non-existent URLs.
  • Ignoring Bing because “nobody uses it”. What counts is not only the search engine but also Copilot and the services built on its index.

You can check in seconds whether Bingbot and other crawlers can access your website with our free AI readiness test.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bing Webmaster Tools free?

Yes. Bing Webmaster Tools, including the AI Performance report, is free. All you need is a Microsoft, Google or Facebook account and a verified website.

Does the AI Performance report include ChatGPT?

No. The report covers Microsoft Copilot, AI summaries in Bing and selected Microsoft partner integrations. Your presence in ChatGPT has to be checked separately, for example by regularly asking it a set of questions your customers ask.

How long does it take Bing to index a new website?

Usually from a few days to a few weeks. Submitting a sitemap, submitting URLs manually and using IndexNow speed this up noticeably.

Can you pay to be cited in Copilot?

You cannot buy a place among the sources of an answer. Microsoft Advertising ads can appear in Copilot and Bing, but they are labelled as sponsored and do not change the content of the answer.

Sources

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