What does the Bing Webmaster Tools AI Performance report show?
It shows how often your pages are cited as sources in Microsoft Copilot, AI summaries in Bing and some partner integrations, in public preview since February 2026. You see total citations, cited pages per day, a sample of the queries the AI used and citations per URL. It does not show clicks, placement in the answer, or anything about ChatGPT specifically.
Facts
- Microsoft launched AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools as a public preview on February 10, 2026, covering Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner integrations. (Bing Webmaster Blog: Introducing AI Performance (Feb 2026))
- The report has Total Citations, Average Cited Pages per day, grounding queries, page-level citation activity and trends over time; Microsoft says grounding queries are a sample of overall citation activity. (Bing Webmaster Blog: Introducing AI Performance (Feb 2026))
- Microsoft says page-level counts reflect how often pages are cited, not their importance, ranking or placement in the answer. (Bing Webmaster Blog: Introducing AI Performance (Feb 2026))
- IndexNow sends one notice of a changed page to every participating engine: Amazon, Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex and Yep. Google is not one of them. (IndexNow FAQ)
- OpenAI says its systems take about 24 hours to follow a robots.txt change for OAI-SearchBot, the crawler ChatGPT search depends on. (OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers)
- Google's equivalent, Search Console's generative AI performance report, counts impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode rather than citations. (Search Console Help: Generative AI performance report (Search))
What does each metric mean?
Each metric answers a different question; none of them is a click or a visit.
| Metric | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Total Citations | How many times your pages were shown as sources in the period |
| Average Cited Pages | How many different pages of your site were cited per day, on average |
| Grounding queries | A sample of the phrases the AI searched with when it retrieved your content |
| Page-level citations | Which URLs were cited and how often |
| Visibility trends | How citation activity changed over time |
How do I read the grounding queries?
They are the searches the AI ran behind the scenes, not what the person typed, and they are only a sample. Use them to see which questions your pages already answer, then compare them with the questions your customers actually ask and write pages for the missing ones.
Does it show ChatGPT citations?
Microsoft names Copilot, Bing's AI summaries and "select partner integrations" without listing the partners, so do not read it as a ChatGPT report. ChatGPT search also depends on OpenAI's own crawler, OAI-SearchBot, which you must allow separately.
How does it compare with Google's report?
Bing counts citations per page and gives sample queries; Google's generative AI report in Search Console counts impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Neither shows clicks from AI answers, so pair both with visits measured on your own site.
easyIndex records those AI visits and which AI crawlers read each page, and notifies Bing via IndexNow when a page changes.
Step by step
- Add and verify your site. Sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools and verify ownership.
- Submit the sitemap. Submit sitemap.xml so Bing knows every page you want indexed.
- Turn on IndexNow. Host the IndexNow key file and notify Bing whenever a page is published or changed.
- Open AI Performance. Pick a date range and note total citations and which pages are cited.
- Compare queries with your pages. List grounding queries no page answers well and plan a page for each.
Common mistakes
- Reading citations as clicks or visits.
- Treating the report as a ChatGPT report.
- Drawing conclusions from the grounding queries as if they were complete.
- Expecting IndexNow to update Google.
How easyIndex solves it
Your coding agent publishes the pages over MCP; easyIndex audits each one, checks it live, notifies Bing via IndexNow and measures AI visitors and AI crawler reads, the part Bing's report does not show, and records which sources ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini cite for your tracked questions in the monthly citation scan your agent runs. US$ 30 per website a month, with a 7-day free trial.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI products does the report cover?
Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner integrations, which Microsoft does not list by name.
Why does my report show no citations?
Your pages may not be indexed in Bing yet, or they have not been cited in the period. Check indexing and the sitemap first.
Does IndexNow increase citations?
It helps Bing see new and changed pages sooner. Whether a page is cited still depends on how well it answers the question.
Can I see where in the answer my page appears?
No. Microsoft says the counts do not reflect placement within the answer.
Continue reading
- How does easyIndex work, what do I need, and how long until results?
- How much does easyIndex cost?
- Does ChatGPT use Bing to find websites?
- How do I get my company recommended by Microsoft Copilot?
- How do I read the AI Overviews and AI Mode report in Search Console?
- How do I know if AI assistants cite my company?
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