Bing Webmaster Tools: Setup, Sitemaps and IndexNow Guide

Key takeaways

Bing is the second search engine in the US and also feeds Microsoft Copilot answers.
The fastest setup is importing your verified sites from Google Search Console.
Submit your XML sitemap and keep its lastmod dates honest.
Turn on IndexNow so Bing hears about new and changed pages without waiting for a crawl.

9.89%of US searches went to Bing in Sept. 2026 (StatCounter)

50,000URLs per sitemap file (Bing)

Feb. 2026Bing added an AI Performance report for Copilot citations

This guide is the Bing side of the job. For Google's tool, read my guide to Google Search Console; the two complement each other and you should have both.

What is Bing Webmaster Tools?

Bing Webmaster Tools is a free Microsoft service that shows how Bing sees your website. You verify that you own the site, submit sitemaps, inspect individual URLs, see the searches that bring clicks from Bing, check backlinks and get alerts about crawling problems. It is the Bing equivalent of Google Search Console, with a few extra reports.

Is Bing SEO worth it for a small business?

A basic setup is worth it. Bing had 9.89% of US searches in September 2026 and 4.74% in Colombia, according to StatCounter, and Bing Webmaster Tools now reports citations in Microsoft Copilot. Bing rewards the same basics as Google, so you rarely need separate work, just the setup and an occasional check.

Figures come from StatCounter for the United States and Colombia; they measure page views from each engine, so read them as habits, not exact counts. How the engines work and why the basics carry over is in how search engines work.

How do you add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools?

The quickest way is to import from Google Search Console. Sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools, choose Import on the My Sites page, sign in with Google, approve access and pick the sites you want. Bing says imported sites are verified automatically and can bring their sitemaps with them, so there is no code to add.

Go to Bing Webmaster Tools and sign in.
On My Sites, choose Import from Google Search Console.
Sign in to Google and allow Bing to read your verified sites.
Select the sites to import and confirm.
No Search Console? Add the site manually and verify it with one of the methods Bing offers, such as a meta tag or a DNS record.

Bing describes the import in its Webmaster Blog announcement. If your Search Console is not set up yet, do that first: it is the tool that matters most for Google.

How do you submit a sitemap to Bing?

Open the Sitemaps section in Bing Webmaster Tools and paste the full URL of your XML sitemap, or add a Sitemap line to your robots.txt so Bing discovers it automatically. Each sitemap file can hold up to 50,000 URLs. Keep the lastmod date equal to the real date the page content changed, not the date the file was generated.

Bing gives that advice in its post on sitemaps in AI powered search, where it also recommends checking each sitemap's status, last read date and errors in the tool. If you are not sure what your sitemap is or where it lives, read my XML sitemap guide.

What is IndexNow?

IndexNow is an open protocol that lets your site tell search engines right away when a URL is added, updated or deleted, instead of waiting for them to crawl. It is supported by Microsoft Bing, Naver, Seznam.cz, Yandex and Yep, and participating engines share the URLs they receive with each other. It does not guarantee indexing.

The list of supporters is on IndexNow.org, and the rules for search engines require sharing submitted URLs with the others. Bing's IndexNow guide says plainly that using it does not guarantee pages will be crawled or indexed. Google is not on the list, so for Google you still rely on sitemaps, links and Search Console, as I explain in how to get indexed by Google.

How do you set up IndexNow?

Many platforms, SEO plugins and CDNs can send IndexNow pings for you, so check your settings first. To do it yourself, generate an API key, host it as a text file on your domain, then send changed URLs to an IndexNow endpoint. Submit only URLs that actually changed, and confirm in Bing Webmaster Tools that they arrived.

Check whether your CMS, SEO plugin or CDN already offers IndexNow and turn it on.
If not, generate an API key on Bing's IndexNow page.
Upload the key as a UTF-8 text file, usually at the root of your domain.
Send new, updated or deleted URLs, one at a time or in bulk.
Do not resend unchanged pages: Bing counts every submitted URL toward your crawl quota.

Bing also recommends using sitemaps and IndexNow together: the sitemap covers the whole site, IndexNow covers individual changes.

Which Bing Webmaster Tools reports should you check?

Start with Search Performance for clicks and searches, Sitemaps for processing errors and URL Inspection for a page that is missing. Then look at Backlinks, which can compare your links with a competitor's, and the AI Performance report, which shows how often Copilot and Bing AI summaries cite your pages. Once a month is enough.

Report	What it tells you	When to open it
Search Performance	Clicks, impressions and searches on Bing	Monthly
Sitemaps	Whether Bing read your sitemap and any errors	After launches and big changes
URL Inspection	Whether one URL is indexed and why not	When a page is missing
Backlinks	Sites linking to you, compared with competitors	Quarterly
AI Performance	Citations in Copilot, Bing AI summaries and some partners	Monthly

The AI Performance report launched in public preview in February 2026 and shows total citations, cited pages and sample grounding queries. The backlink comparison was covered by Search Engine Land; I use it in how to check backlinks.

Where Bing fits in your SEO routine

Set it up once, submit the sitemap, turn on IndexNow and look at it monthly next to Search Console. If Bing shows crawl errors that Google does not, treat it as an early warning. Setting up both tools and reading them together is part of my technical SEO work, and the AI citation data feeds my AI search optimization service. As an SEO consultant, I can check both in a free diagnosis: book it here.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bing Webmaster Tools free?

Yes. It is a free Microsoft service for site owners.

Does Google use IndexNow?

Google is not among the engines listed on IndexNow.org. Use sitemaps and Search Console for Google.

Do I need to verify my site again if I import from Search Console?

No. Bing says imported sites are verified automatically.

Does optimizing for Bing hurt my Google rankings?

No. Both reward the same basics: crawlable pages, clear content and good links.

How often should I check Bing Webmaster Tools?

Once a month is enough for most small businesses, plus after launches or migrations.

About the author

Juan José Giraldo is an SEO consultant in Medellín, Colombia, with 5+ years of experience. He works on technical and local SEO for 600+ US car dealerships at Reunion Marketing, an Inc. 5000 agency, and supervises the SEO of 18 US online stores with more than 3 million products at Prontomowers. Read more · LinkedIn.

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Bing Webmaster Tools: a 20-minute setup that covers Bing, Copilot and IndexNow.