Google often receives most of the attention in SEO, but businesses should not rely on one search engine alone. Bing Webmaster Tools gives website owners and SEO professionals direct insights into how Bing discovers, crawls, indexes, and understands their websites. In 2026, it is also increasingly relevant as Microsoft expands Bing AI experiences and Copilot, making search visibility about more than traditional rankings.

Using Bing Webmaster Tools, you can:

• Monitor organic clicks and impressions.
• Track search queries and ranking pages.
• Check whether important URLs are indexed.
• Diagnose crawling and indexing problems.
• Submit XML sitemaps.
• Inspect individual URLs.
• Identify technical SEO problems.
• Analyse backlinks and referring domains.
• Perform keyword research.
• Submit new or updated pages to Bing.
• Use IndexNow for faster discovery.
• Review AI citations and AI search visibility.

For better organic visibility, technical SEO, indexing, and AI search presence, Bing Webmaster Tools supports a stronger SEO strategy. Explore our SEO services to improve rankings, traffic, and conversions.

How to Use Bing Webmaster Tools for SEO

Bing Webmaster Tools provides a range of features that help you monitor website performance, identify technical SEO issues, understand search queries, and improve how Bing crawls and indexes your pages. From setting up your website and submitting sitemaps to reviewing search performance and indexing reports, these tools can support a more complete SEO strategy.

In this guide, we explain what Bing Webmaster Tools is, how it works, how to set it up, and how to use its key features effectively in 2026.

Why Bing Webmaster Tools Matters

Bing Webmaster Tools matters more in 2026 because the way people search for information is changing. Traditional search engines are still important, but users are increasingly interacting with AI-powered search experiences, conversational search tools and generative answers.

Microsoft has been investing heavily in AI-powered search through Bing and Copilot. As a result, businesses need to think beyond traditional rankings and consider whether their content is being used as a trusted source inside AI-generated answers.

Bing Webmaster Tools helps businesses understand both traditional search performance and emerging AI visibility. This gives marketers a broader view of how their content performs across Microsoft’s search ecosystem.

Some of the main reasons businesses should use Bing Webmaster Tools include:

• It provides direct search data from Bing.
• It helps identify indexing and crawling problems.
• It provides keyword and page-level performance data.
• It can reveal technical SEO issues.
• It supports sitemap submission and URL inspection.
• It provides backlink information.
• It helps websites notify search engines through IndexNow.
• It increasingly supports AI visibility and citation analysis.

For businesses investing in SEO, AI SEO, or Generative Engine Optimisation, these insights can support better content, technical, and search visibility decisions.

How to Set Up Bing Webmaster Tools

Setting up Bing Webmaster Tools is relatively straightforward. Once your website is verified, you can start monitoring how Bing discovers and processes your website.

The first step is to sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools using a supported Microsoft or connected account. After signing in, you can add your website and complete the verification process.

There are two common ways to set up your website.

Import Your Website From Google Search Console

If your website is already verified in Google Search Console, Bing allows you to import website information directly.

This is often the easiest option for website owners who already manage SEO through Google Search Console because it can reduce the amount of manual configuration required.

Importing from Google Search Console can make setup faster while allowing you to begin accessing Bing-specific data without going through every setup step manually.

Verify Your Website Manually

You can also add your website manually and verify ownership directly.

Verification methods may include:

• DNS verification.
• XML file verification.
• Meta tag verification.
• CNAME or DNS configuration.

The best verification method depends on your website platform, hosting provider and technical access.

For many businesses, DNS verification is often a reliable option because it remains active even if your website design or CMS changes.

Understanding the Bing Webmaster Tools Dashboard

Once your website is verified, Bing Webmaster Tools provides a dashboard where you can monitor the most important information related to search performance, indexing and technical health.

Instead of checking every report randomly, it is better to create a consistent workflow.

For example, weekly checks can focus on:

• Organic clicks.
• Impressions.
• Keyword movement.
• Important page performance.
• Indexing issues.
• Technical warnings.

Monthly checks can include:

• Landing-page performance.
• Backlinks.
• Keyword opportunities.
• Site Scan results.
• AI citations.
• Competitor visibility.
• Search trends.
• Technical SEO changes.

This makes Bing Webmaster Tools more useful because you are not simply collecting data. You are using that data to identify opportunities and fix problems.

Search Performance

The Search Performance report is one of the most useful areas inside Bing Webmaster Tools. It helps you understand how users discover your website through Bing Search.

The report can provide data related to:

• Clicks.
• Impressions.
• Average position.
• Click-through rate.
• Search queries.
• Landing pages.

This information can help identify which keywords are already performing well and which pages need further optimisation.

How to Analyse Keywords

Keyword data can help you understand how your website appears for different search queries.

You should look for keywords that have:

• High impressions but low clicks.
• Rankings between positions 4 and 15.
• Increasing impressions.
• Declining positions.
• Strong commercial intent.
• Relevance to your services or products.

For example, if a keyword receives a large number of impressions but very few clicks, this may suggest that the title tag or meta description is not persuasive enough. It could also indicate that the page is not fully aligned with search intent.

Keywords sitting just outside the top positions may also offer opportunities. A page ranking around position 7 or 8 may improve with stronger content, better internal linking, more relevant backlinks or improved on-page optimisation.

How to Analyse Landing Pages

The landing-page report shows which pages are generating organic visibility in Bing.

This can help identify:

• Pages gaining impressions.
• Pages losing traffic.
• High-performing service pages.
• Weak commercial pages.
• Informational pages generating strong visibility.
• Pages with poor click-through rates.

You should compare your highest-performing pages with your most important commercial pages. A website may generate high traffic through blogs while service or product pages receive very little visibility. That means the website may be attracting traffic without supporting business growth effectively.

AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools

One of the most important recent developments in Bing Webmaster Tools is AI Performance reporting.

This area helps publishers understand how their content may be referenced across AI-powered Microsoft experiences.

This is important because modern SEO is no longer limited to traditional rankings. Businesses also need to understand whether their content is being used as a source in AI-generated answers.

AI Performance reporting can help analyse:

• Total citations.
• Cited pages.
• Grounding queries.
• AI visibility.
• Content topics.
• Search intent connections.

Total Citations

Total Citations shows how frequently content from your website has been used as a referenced source in supported AI search experiences.

This metric gives website owners an additional way to measure organic visibility.

A page may not always rank first in traditional search results but could still be cited inside an AI-generated response.

This means SEO performance increasingly needs to consider both rankings and citations.

Cited Pages

Page-level citation data can show which pages from your website receive AI visibility.

This is valuable because you can study the characteristics of successful pages.

Look at whether cited pages include:

• Clear answers.
• Strong heading structures.
• Detailed explanations.
• Original insights.
• Current statistics.
• Trusted sources.
• Strong internal links.
• Clear authorship.
• Structured data.
• Up-to-date information.

Once you identify common patterns, you can apply those principles to other important pages.

Grounding Queries

Grounding queries can help show the types of searches or topics associated with your content when AI systems retrieve your website. This can be particularly useful for content planning. For example, if your website is being cited for technical SEO queries, you may want to build more content around related areas such as:

• Website crawling.
• Indexing.
• Canonicalisation.
• JavaScript SEO.
• XML sitemaps.
• Core Web Vitals.
• Internal linking.
• Structured data.

Intents, Topics, Citation Share and Compare

Bing has also expanded AI visibility insights by providing more context around user intent, topic visibility, and competitive citations. These features help businesses understand not only whether they receive AI citations, but also why they are being cited and how their visibility compares with other sources.

Intents

Intent reporting helps identify the purpose behind user searches related to your content.

Users may be searching because they want to:

• Learn something.
• Compare options.
• Solve a problem.
• Research a service.
• Evaluate a product.
• Make a purchase.
• Find a provider.

Understanding search intent is important because modern SEO should optimise for the user’s goal rather than simply repeating exact-match keywords. If multiple keywords represent the same search intent, one comprehensive page may often perform better than several thin pages targeting each keyword separately.

Topics

Topic reporting provides broader information about the subjects associated with your website. This is useful for semantic SEO because search engines increasingly understand content based on entities, relationships and topical depth. For example, a website targeting technical SEO may want to build authority across supporting topics such as:

• Crawling.
• Indexing.
• Sitemaps.
• Robots.txt.
• Canonical tags.
• JavaScript SEO.
• Schema markup.
• Core Web Vitals.
• Internal linking.

Citation Share

Citation Share provides additional context around how often your website appears compared with other sources. This can help businesses understand whether their AI visibility is competitive. For example, receiving hundreds of citations may sound impressive, but the figure becomes more meaningful when compared against competitors. This allows businesses to identify whether they are gaining or losing visibility within AI-powered search results.

Compare

The Compare feature can help identify competing publishers or websites receiving stronger citation visibility.

This can support competitor research by helping you review:

• Content depth.
• Page structure.
• Authority.
• Topic coverage.
• Original data.
• Freshness.
• Expertise.
• Supporting references.
• Content formatting.

Instead of copying competitors, use this information to identify content gaps and improve the quality of your own pages.

URL Inspection

The URL Inspection tool helps diagnose why a specific page may or may not be indexed. If an important service, product, category or blog page is missing from Bing, URL Inspection should be one of the first tools you use.

It can provide information about:

• Crawling.
• Indexing.
• HTTP status.
• Robots.txt restrictions.
• SEO issues.
• Structured data.
• Live URL accessibility.

Checking Index Status

URL Inspection can help determine whether Bing has discovered, crawled and indexed a page. If a page is not indexed, possible causes may include:

• Noindex directives.
• Robots.txt restrictions.
• Duplicate content.
• Canonicalisation problems.
• Server errors.
• Weak or low-value content.
• New pages not yet discovered.

This makes the tool useful for diagnosing specific indexing problems.

Live URL Testing

Live testing allows you to check how Bingbot currently accesses a page.

This can help identify:

• JavaScript rendering issues.
• Server-side problems.
• Incorrect redirects.
• Bot blocking.
• Accessibility problems.

If a page looks fine to users but Bing cannot access the same content correctly, live testing can help identify the difference.

Site Explorer

Site Explorer gives you a broader view of how Bing understands your website structure. This is particularly useful for larger websites with multiple directories.

For example, an ecommerce website may include:

• /products/
• /categories/
• /brands/
• /blog/
• /guides/

Site Explorer can help determine how Bing is crawling and indexing each area.

You can use it to identify:

• Blocked URLs.
• Crawling errors.
• Redirects.
• Unexpected indexed URLs.
• Missing pages.
• Excluded pages.
• Directory-level problems.

This is helpful for websites with thousands of URLs because technical issues may affect one section without affecting the entire site.

XML Sitemaps

An XML sitemap helps search engines discover important pages on your website. Bing Webmaster Tools provides sitemap reporting so you can submit and monitor your XML sitemap. A good XML sitemap should include URLs that you want search engines to crawl and index.

You should generally avoid including:

• 404 pages.
• Redirected URLs.
• Noindex pages.
• Duplicate URLs.
• Staging URLs.
• Unnecessary parameter URLs.

For larger websites, splitting sitemaps into different categories can make reporting easier.

For example:

• Post sitemap.
• Page sitemap.
• Product sitemap.
• Category sitemap.
• Location sitemap.

This makes it easier to identify which section is experiencing indexing problems.

URL Submission

Bing Webmaster Tools allows users to submit URLs directly.

This can be useful after:

• Publishing a new page.
• Updating an important service page.
• Changing product information.
• Updating pricing.
• Fixing an indexing issue.
• Refreshing an old article.

URL submission can help notify Bing that content has changed. However, websites that update content frequently should also consider using IndexNow.

IndexNow

IndexNow allows websites to notify participating search engines when content changes.

Instead of waiting for search engines to discover updates through normal crawling, websites can send a direct notification.

IndexNow can be used when content is:

• Added.
• Updated.
• Removed.
• Changed significantly.

This is especially useful for websites where information changes frequently.

Examples include:

• Ecommerce stores.
• News websites.
• Job websites.
• Property websites.
• Event websites.
• Product catalogues.
• Price comparison websites.

Key Bing Webmaster Tools Features for SEO

Bing Webmaster Tools provides several features that help website owners improve crawling, indexing, keyword targeting, backlinks, technical SEO, and overall search visibility. These tools can be used alongside Google Search Console, Google Analytics 4, Microsoft Clarity, Ahrefs, Semrush, and other SEO platforms.

IndexNow

IndexNow helps supported search engines discover updated or newly published content faster. It does not guarantee indexing or higher rankings, but it can improve the content discovery process. It is especially useful for websites where pages change frequently, such as ecommerce stores, news websites, and large content platforms.

Keyword Research

Bing Webmaster Tools includes keyword research features that can help identify search opportunities, including:

• Blog topics
• Service keywords
• Product terms
• Long-tail searches
• Question-based keywords
• Informational queries
• Commercial searches

Keyword data should always be evaluated based on search intent. Similar terms such as technical SEO company, technical SEO agency, and technical SEO services may have the same intent, so one strong page may be more effective than creating separate pages for each keyword.

Backlink Data

The backlink section provides insights into websites linking to your pages. You can review:

• Referring domains
• Referring pages
• Anchor text
• Target pages
• Linking URLs

Use this data to identify content that naturally attracts links and discover opportunities for digital PR and link building. Focus on relevance, authority, anchor text, page context, and referring domain quality rather than backlink quantity alone.

SEO Reports and Site Scan

SEO Reports can identify common on-page and technical issues involving titles, meta descriptions, headings, alt attributes, and other SEO elements.

Site Scan provides a broader technical audit that can identify issues such as:

• Broken links
• Missing metadata
• Crawl errors
• Duplicate elements
• Missing alt text
• HTTP status problems
• Accessibility issues

Prioritize issues based on their potential impact. Crawlability, indexability, canonicalisation, duplicate content, site structure, and internal linking should generally receive attention before minor metadata issues.

Recommendations

Bing Webmaster Tools can provide SEO recommendations related to technical SEO, indexing, content, and page optimisation. Review each recommendation based on its actual business impact rather than applying every suggestion automatically.

Before making a change, consider whether it will improve crawling, indexing, relevance, user experience, or conversions.

Robots.txt Testing and Crawl Control

The robots.txt file controls which areas of your website compliant search engine crawlers can access. Bing Webmaster Tools can help test whether URLs are blocked by robots.txt rules.

Crawl Control can help larger websites manage how Bingbot accesses their servers. It may be useful for large ecommerce stores, publishing websites, enterprise sites, and websites with millions of URLs. However, crawl settings should not be used to hide underlying problems such as poor site architecture or server performance.

Microsoft Clarity Integration

Bing Webmaster Tools helps you understand how users discover your website, while Microsoft Clarity can provide insights into what visitors do after they arrive. Clarity offers behaviour data such as heatmaps, click patterns, scroll depth, and session recordings.

For example, a page may receive strong impressions and clicks but still generate few leads. User behaviour data may reveal problems with messaging, page structure, loading speed, or calls to action.

A complete SEO journey should therefore focus on:

Visibility → Click → Engagement → Conversion → Revenue

Bing Webmaster Tools vs Google Search Console

Bing Webmaster Tools and Google Search Console provide similar SEO data, but each focuses on its own search ecosystem. For most businesses, using both provides a more complete view of search performance.

Google Search Console helps monitor Google Search visibility, indexing, Core Web Vitals, search queries, and crawling. Bing Webmaster Tools provides Bing search performance, indexing insights, Site Scan, keyword research, backlink data, IndexNow, and AI-related search insights.

A complete SEO measurement setup can include:

• Google Search Console
• Bing Webmaster Tools
• Google Analytics 4
• Microsoft Clarity
• SEO crawling software
• Rank tracking tools

Using these platforms together helps businesses understand how search engines discover their websites, how users interact with their pages, and where SEO improvements can create the greatest impact.

How to Use Bing Webmaster Tools for SEO

Bing Webmaster Tools becomes valuable when you turn search data into actionable SEO improvements. A practical workflow helps you identify visibility opportunities, fix technical issues, improve content, and monitor results over time.

Step-by-Step Bing Webmaster Tools SEO Workflow

Step 1: Review Search Performance

Start by checking which keywords and pages are gaining or losing visibility. Focus on:

• High-impression queries
• Low CTR
• Position changes
• Commercial keywords
• Service pages
• Product pages

Step 2: Check Indexing and Crawling

Make sure your important pages are accessible and indexed by Bing. Prioritise:

• Homepage
• Main service pages
• Product categories
• Important blog posts
• Location pages

Use URL Inspection, Site Explorer, Site Scan, and SEO Reports to identify issues affecting crawling and indexing.

Step 3: Monitor Sitemaps

Check whether Bing is processing your XML sitemaps correctly. Make sure important URLs are included while low-value, duplicate, redirected, or non-indexable URLs are excluded.

Step 4: Use IndexNow for Updated Content

If your website publishes or updates content frequently, use IndexNow to notify participating search engines about new, updated, or removed URLs.

Step 5: Find Keyword Opportunities

Combine Search Performance data with Bing’s Keyword Research features. Look for queries where your website already has relevance but has not yet reached strong positions.

Step 6: Analyse Backlinks

Review backlink data to understand which pages and topics attract links. Look at:

• Referring domains
• Referring pages
• Anchor text
• Target pages
• Domain relevance

Step 7: Review Technical SEO Issues

Use Bing’s technical SEO reports to identify problems with:

• Broken links
• Missing metadata
• Duplicate elements
• HTTP status codes
• Missing alt text
• Crawlability
• Indexability

Step 8: Improve Content

Pages with strong impressions but weak clicks or rankings may need:

• Better titles
• Clearer introductions
• Direct answers
• Updated information
• Stronger internal links
• Relevant supporting content
• Clear author information
• Better calls to action

Step 9: Review AI Search Visibility

If AI performance data is available in your Bing Webmaster Tools account, review signals such as:

• AI citations
• Cited pages
• Topics
• Search intents
• Citation share
• Competitor visibility

Step 10: Measure and Improve Again

SEO is an ongoing process. After making changes, monitor performance and compare results over time.

Measure → Analyse → Improve → Test → Measure Again

How Bing Webmaster Tools Supports AI SEO and GEO

Search is increasingly incorporating generative AI, so businesses need content that works for both traditional search results and AI-powered experiences.

Content Best Practices for AI Search

Focus on:

• Clear and direct answers
• Accurate and trustworthy information
• Strong topical relevance
• Descriptive headings
• Original insights
• Expert commentary
• Fresh information
• Strong internal linking
• Structured data
• Clear author information
• Consistent business information

AI SEO and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) should focus on creating useful, reliable content rather than trying to manipulate AI systems.

Common Bing Webmaster Tools Mistakes

Mistakes to Avoid

Common mistakes include:

• Setting up the account and never checking it
• Looking only at clicks
• Ignoring impressions
• Overlooking indexing issues
• Not using IndexNow
• Focusing only on Google
• Fixing every automated warning without prioritisation
• Ignoring AI visibility
• Failing to compare performance over time
• Not connecting search data with conversions

Bing Webmaster Tools works best as part of an ongoing SEO workflow rather than a one-time setup task.

Why Choose Clickmasters for Bing SEO?

Clickmasters SEO Agency UK turns Bing Webmaster Tools data into actionable SEO strategies that improve search visibility and business growth.

• Data-Driven SEO – Use search, keyword, backlink, and technical data to find growth opportunities.
• Technical SEO Expertise – Fix crawling, indexing, sitemap, and technical issues.
• Bing + Google SEO – Build visibility across both major search engines.
• AI SEO & GEO – Optimise content for AI-powered search experiences.
• Continuous Optimisation – Monitor performance and improve your SEO strategy over time.
• Business-Focused Results – Focus on traffic, leads, conversions, and growth.

FAQs

What is Bing Webmaster Tools used for?

Bing Webmaster Tools helps website owners monitor and improve visibility in Microsoft Bing. It provides data about search performance, keywords, indexing, crawling, sitemaps, backlinks, technical SEO, and AI search visibility.

Is Bing Webmaster Tools the same as Google Search Console?

No. Both provide similar SEO functions, but Google Search Console focuses on Google Search, while Bing Webmaster Tools focuses on Microsoft’s search ecosystem.

Is Bing Webmaster Tools free?

Yes. Bing Webmaster Tools is free for verified website owners.

How do I submit my website to Bing?

Add your website to Bing Webmaster Tools, verify ownership, submit your XML sitemap, and use URL Submission or IndexNow to notify Bing about new or updated content.

What is IndexNow?

IndexNow is a protocol that allows websites to notify participating search engines when URLs are created, updated, or removed.

How do I check if Bing indexed my page?

Use URL Inspection in Bing Webmaster Tools to check the status of a specific URL and identify potential crawling or indexing issues.

Does Bing Webmaster Tools provide backlink data?

Yes. Its backlink features provide information about referring domains, referring pages, anchor text, and target pages.

Can Bing Webmaster Tools find SEO issues?

Yes. Site scans, SEO reports, URL inspections, and site explorers can help identify technical and on-page SEO issues.

Can Bing Webmaster Tools show keyword rankings?

Yes. Search performance data can provide query-level information such as impressions, clicks, and average position.

Can Bing Webmaster Tools track AI search visibility?

Bing provides AI performance insights that can include information about citations, cited pages, topics, intents, and other AI visibility signals, where available.

How often should I check Bing Webmaster Tools?

Most businesses can review key reports weekly and perform a deeper SEO analysis monthly. Larger websites may benefit from more frequent monitoring.