Most business owners set up Google Search Console and stop. That made sense when Bing was a small slice of searches. It makes less sense now that ChatGPT search and Microsoft Copilot draw on Bing’s index to find the pages they cite. If Bing hasn’t crawled and indexed your pages, those assistants are less likely to mention you, however well you rank on Google. Bing Webmaster Tools is free, quick to set up, and the only direct view you get into how Bing sees your site.
Why Bing matters beyond Bing
- Bing’s own search. It is the default in Microsoft Edge and behind web results in Windows search.
- ChatGPT search and Copilot. Both draw on Bing’s index, so being indexed there is a precondition for being cited.
- AI citation data. Bing Webmaster Tools now includes an AI Performance report, released as a preview in early 2026, that counts how often Copilot and Bing’s AI answers cite your pages and which searches led to it.
- IndexNow. Bing accepts instant notices when pages change, which shortens the wait between publishing and being indexed.
This is one piece of the wider work on our SEO and AI visibility page.
Before you start
- Use an account the business owns. Sign in with the company’s Microsoft or Google account, the one tied to your business email, not a contractor’s personal login. Add other people as users afterward, and remove them when they leave.
- Set up Google Search Console first if you haven’t. It makes the Bing setup a few clicks.
- Know your sitemap address. Most sites use
/sitemap.xml. On Wix’s headless hosting, Wix controls that address, so a custom-built sitemap lives somewhere else. Our Wix Headless development page explains why.
Setting it up, step by step
Step 1: Sign in
Go to bing.com/webmasters and sign in with the business account.
Step 2: Add and verify your site
You have two routes.
Import from Google Search Console. Choose the import option, sign in to Google and allow access. Bing lists the sites already verified in your Search Console account, along with their sitemaps. Pick the ones to bring over. Bing keeps checking ownership through that connection, so leave it in place.
Verify by hand. Enter your site’s address and pick one method:
- Meta tag. Bing gives you a line to place in the head of your home page:
<meta name="msvalidate.01" content="CODE-FROM-BING" />On a Wix editor site this goes in Wix’s site verification settings. On a custom or headless site, your developer adds it to the page code.
- XML file. Upload the
BingSiteAuth.xmlfile Bing gives you to the root of your site, if your host lets you place files there. - DNS record. Add the record Bing gives you at the company that manages your domain. Add only that one record. Don’t edit or remove the MX and TXT records that run your email; a careless change there can stop your mail.
Step 3: Submit your sitemap
Open the Sitemaps section and submit the full address of your sitemap. If you imported from Google, check that the sitemaps that came across are the right ones: a wrong sitemap in Search Console comes over as a wrong sitemap in Bing. Come back a day or two later and confirm Bing read it without errors and found roughly the number of pages you expect.
Step 4: Check robots.txt
Use the robots.txt tester to confirm Bingbot can reach your public pages. While you are there, make sure you aren’t blocking the AI search crawlers too. Our guide on how to show up in AI answers includes a sample robots.txt block and explains which crawler does what.
Step 5: Inspect your key pages
Run URL Inspection on your home page, your main service or category pages and one or two product or article pages. It tells you whether each page is indexed and lists any problems Bing found. If an important page isn’t indexed, fix what it reports, then submit the page for indexing.
Step 6: Turn on IndexNow if your host supports it
IndexNow is an open protocol: when a page is added, changed or removed, the site sends a short notice to a participating search engine, and the notice is shared with the others. The site proves ownership with a key file at its root. Wix sends these notices automatically for premium sites built on its own pages. On a custom or headless front end, confirm with your developer that notices go out for the addresses visitors actually use, or have the site send them on each release.
Step 7: Claim Bing Places if you serve customers locally
If you have a public business address, claim your listing in Bing Places for Business and match the name, phone and hours to your website exactly.
What to check every month
Set a recurring reminder and work through this list. Once you know where each report lives, it is a short job.
- Search Performance. Clicks, impressions, top searches and top pages. Compare with the previous month and look for pages that dropped.
- AI Performance. Total citations, which pages get cited, and the searches behind them. Pages that never appear may need clearer facts or FAQs.
- Sitemaps. The last date Bing read each one, any errors, and whether the page count still matches your site.
- Indexed pages. Use Site Explorer to see what Bing has indexed. Look for important pages missing and for old addresses that should have been redirected.
- New pages. Run URL Inspection on anything published that month.
- Recommendations and Site Scan. Fix the problems Bing flags, such as missing titles, duplicate descriptions and broken links.
- Access. Confirm verification is still valid and the user list only includes people who should have it.
Problems we look for on headless sites
- Two titles or two canonical tags on a page. Wix adds its own, and a headless site should strip them so each page has exactly one. Doubled tags leave crawlers unsure which address is the real one.
- The wrong sitemap submitted. On Wix’s headless hosting, submitting
/sitemap.xmlpoints Bing at the address Wix controls, not your custom sitemap. Submit the custom one. - Old addresses still live. After a redesign, old pages should send a 301 redirect to their new home so Bing moves its record to the new address.
Your next step
If you’d like Bing Webmaster Tools set up properly, with the sitemap, verification and AI crawler rules checked, get in touch through our contact page. It is one of the first things we do on any SEO and AI visibility project.