Microsoft introduced AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools (public preview, February 2026) — a dashboard that shows how publisher content appears across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing, and select partner integrations.
For the first time in Bing’s webmaster suite, site owners can see citation activity: how often content is referenced as a source in generative answers, which URLs are cited, sample grounding queries, and trends over time. Microsoft explicitly framed the launch as an early step toward Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) tooling inside Bing Webmaster Tools.
Key metrics in the dashboard
- Total citations in AI-generated answers for your selected date range
- Average cited pages per day
- Grounding queries — sample phrases used when retrieving cited content
- Page-level citation counts
- Visibility trends over time
Microsoft notes that citation counts reflect how often pages are referenced, not ranking position or “importance” inside a single answer. Bing also respects robots.txt and other supported owner controls. For fresher AI inclusion, the post highlights IndexNow so engines learn about adds, updates, and removals quickly.
Local businesses get a specific nudge: register with Bing Places for Business so address, hours, and contact details stay current and eligible for AI responses to location queries.
Microsoft’s guidance for improving inclusion is familiar to SEO practitioners: deepen expertise on cited topics, improve structure and clarity (headings, tables, FAQs), support claims with evidence, keep content fresh, and reduce ambiguity across text, images, and video. Those steps help Copilot reuse your pages accurately — and they also strengthen ordinary Bing and Google results.
Why it matters for AiGEO users
Many SMBs only watch Google. Copilot and Bing AI are quieter for some audiences but still influence research and B2B discovery — especially in Microsoft 365-heavy workplaces. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, enable IndexNow where practical, keep Bing Places current, and review which pages earn citations. Clear headings, evidence-backed claims, FAQ-style clarity, and updated service pages help both classic search and AI answers — the same playbook AiGEO users already apply across SEO and GEO.
Source: Bing Webmaster Blog — Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools Public Preview (10 Feb 2026)