For years, Bing was the “second search engine” that most marketers looked down on as an afterthought, but that has changed. That’s a way of thinking that’s becoming obsolete. More than Bing.com is now powered by Bing’s index, including Microsoft Copilot, Windows Search, Edge browser search, and, crucially, ChatGPT’s web browsing capabilities. Without being found and indexed by Bing, content effectively cannot exist in a growing part of the AI-powered search ecosystem.

How Bing Actually Ranks Content.

In essence, Bing works in a relatively simple manner: it needs to find a URL, visit and render the page, learn its content, determine if it’s worth indexing, and ultimately determine if it’s worth showing for a specific search. While Bing doesn’t reveal an exact formula for how it determines the exact importance of each ranking factor, search intent and the actual usefulness of the content still play a much more important role than overusing exact-match keywords, just like modern Google ranking.

Where that visibility can occur, that’s what has changed. Structured pages can now be used as sources that are cited directly within Copilot and the AI-generated Bing summary, as well as in traditional search results on Bing.

The FAQ page for IndexNow: Bing’s Speed Advantage is now available.

One of Bing’s great features over Google is IndexNow, an open indexing protocol that enables a site to queue changes or new content for Bing at the time it is published, rather than relying on Googlebot to find it when it crawls. Without IndexNow, new pages can be left without being noticed for days, as Bingbot normally crawls less often than Googlebot. Using it, fresh pages are able to get into Bing’s index in a short period of time.

One of the easiest-to-take but most impactful technical measures you can take for quicker visibility is to use IndexNow, which most major platforms have built-in or plugins for, including WordPress, Shopify, Webflow, Ghost, and Squarespace.

How Copilot really pulls up information.

Microsoft Copilot is not only based on pre-trained knowledge. It makes use of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), which means that when it answers a query, it actively searches for real-time information in Bing’s index, instead of speculating on what it thinks the information would be. This means that the underlying content that Bing indexes is the basis that Copilot relies on; without a firm ranking on Bing, it is unlikely that a webpage will be included in an answer from Copilot.

What Makes a Difference?

The best way to ensure Bing and Copilot visibility is to have multiple factors come together:

Technical basics: crawlability, speed, indexing through Sitemaps and IndexNow.

Structured data (JSON-LD schema): aiding search engines and AI systems to better understand content, but not a guarantee of AI citations

Useful content: well-structured and comprehensible responses to actual questions asked by users, not content designed for the purpose of maximizing keyword density.

Regular monitoring: keeping an eye on search visibility and AI visibility metrics in Bing Webmaster Tools, and updating content when facts change, search intent evolves

With publishing done, SEO does not end.

Once you have published a page, it’s just the beginning. Monitoring, troubleshooting as problems arise, and refreshing content as new information becomes available and valuable are equally important as the initial optimization process, if not more so, because AI systems are now more inclined to prefer content that is constantly updated with fresh information rather than static and out-of-date.

The Bigger Picture

There isn’t a secret Bing ranking formula to follow. The approach that has proven to work well for years in search engines is still the best one to follow: create genuinely useful, well-structured content, do the technical basics right, and make it as easy as you can for both traditional search engines and AI-powered ones to find, understand, and trust.

FAQs

1. What is IndexNow and why does it matter for Bing SEO?

Microsoft’s push-based indexing protocol, IndexNow, is a new feature that will inform Bing as soon as the content gets published or updated, which means it will get indexed much quicker than when Microsoft performs a regular crawl.

2. Will having a high rank on Bing bode well for AI tools such as Copilot and ChatGPT?

Yes. AI answers are likely to reference websites that are well-visible in Bing, as both Microsoft Copilot and ChatGPT’s web search feature use Bing’s search index.

3. Will Copilot cite a page that has structured data? 5. Can a page be cited by Copilot without structured data?

Structured data (JSON-LD schema) is useful to search engines and AI systems to better understand content, but it is not a guarantee of AI citation.

4. What is the difference between Bing SEO and Google SEO?

Both have core elements of quality content, technical health, and relevance, but Bing’s tools, such as IndexNow and Bing Webmaster Tools, provide extra optimisation opportunities, and quicker ones, at that.

5. If the majority of traffic has already come from Google, is it worthwhile to optimize for Bing?

Increasingly, yes. With Bing’s index now becoming a key foundation for Copilot and ChatGPT’s web search, Bing optimization extends far beyond Bing.com.