Copilot and Bing: the index everyone forgets.
Bing is the most ignored surface in search and the one ChatGPT leans on. Verification, a sitemap and an IndexNow key cost very little and close a gap most competitors have left open.
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Key takeaways
- Why does Bing still matter? Because ChatGPT's web answers and Microsoft Copilot both draw on it. Being absent from Bing removes you from two AI surfaces at once.
- What is usually wrong? Nothing dramatic. The site was never verified in Bing Webmaster Tools, no sitemap was submitted, and nobody ever checked the indexed count.
- What is IndexNow? A protocol that pushes changed URLs to Bing and its partners instead of waiting to be crawled. It is free, and it is a one-line install.
- What does it cost? $149 as a one-time project, and it is included in every build and upgrade at no extra charge.
How do Copilot and Bing choose who to cite?
- Copilot answers from Bing's index, and so, in large part, does ChatGPT's browsing.
- Bing weights on-page clarity and exact-match relevance a little more literally than Google does.
- Bing Places is a separate listing from your Google Business Profile, and most businesses have never claimed it.
- IndexNow lets you push changes rather than wait for a crawl, and Bing honours it immediately.
- Competition for attention here is far thinner, because most agencies never look at Bing at all.
What do we do about it?
- Verify the site in Bing Webmaster Tools and import the settings rather than starting from scratch.
- Submit the sitemap, then check the indexed count against the real page count and fix the gap.
- Install an IndexNow key so every publish and every edit is pushed the same day.
- Claim and complete Bing Places, matching the Google Business Profile exactly.
- Report the Bing indexed count every month alongside the Google numbers, because it is the leading indicator for ChatGPT.
Copilot and Bing questions
On its own it is modest for most businesses. The reason to do it is that ChatGPT and Copilot read that index, which turns a small direct-traffic channel into the entry point for two AI surfaces.
Usually because nobody ever submitted a sitemap or verified the site. Occasionally a robots rule or canonical tag is blocking it. It is almost always a mechanical problem with a mechanical fix.
It is Bing's equivalent of a Google Business Profile, and it is separate. If you serve customers in a place, claim it and make the details match Google exactly. It takes one sitting.
It guarantees the URL is submitted immediately. Indexing is still Bing's decision, and thin or duplicate pages will be skipped regardless. It removes the waiting, not the quality bar.
We can check what is indexed from the public side. Verifying the site and submitting sitemaps needs access to Bing Webmaster Tools, which we set up under your account so it stays in your name.