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Bing now shows you which AI answers cite your website, and since October 13 its Topics Portfolio beta also lists the questions where competitors get cited and you do not. The tool is called Bing AI Performance, it lives inside the free Bing Webmaster Tools, and it is the first report from a major search engine that tells owners where AI assistants are using their pages. Microsoft announced the Topics Portfolio addition on its Bing Webmaster blog.
We are FOG Digital Marketing in San Antonio, and we track AI visibility for local businesses. Most owners have never opened Bing Webmaster Tools, so this report is a quiet advantage for the ones who do. Below is what the report shows, what the numbers mean, what is still unclear, and a six step plan you can finish this week.
Key Takeaways
- Bing Webmaster Tools includes an AI Performance report that shows how often your content is cited in AI generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, Bing and select partner experiences.
- On October 13, 2026, Microsoft added a beta tab called Topics Portfolio that groups the questions behind those citations into broader topics.
- Topics Portfolio lists Top Opportunity Queries, which are strong queries where other sites are cited and yours is not, with citation volumes shown as ranges.
- The tab only appears if Bing has sufficient data for your site, so smaller sites may see fewer topics or none.
- Microsoft calls the numbers directional signals for planning, and the report has no click data yet.
- The report is free, takes about 15 minutes to open and read, and works even if you never advertise on Bing.
What Did Bing Just Add to Webmaster Tools?
Bing Webmaster Tools has an AI Performance report that launched in public preview in February 2026. According to Microsoft’s June update on AI visibility insights, it shows how your content appears in AI generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, Bing and select partner AI experiences. Two terms matter. A citation is a reference to your site inside an AI answer, and a grounding query is the question that triggered that citation.
On October 13, Microsoft added Topics Portfolio as a beta tab beside Citations and Pages. Microsoft’s Topics Portfolio announcement explains that it groups your grounding queries into broader themes, then shows how much demand each theme has and how crowded it is. Search Engine Roundtable covered the same launch the same day and noted there is no click data yet.
Why does this matter to a business owner? Because Bing AI Performance is a direct look at the questions AI systems already connect to your website. Google has not offered an equivalent report for its AI answers in the same detail, and that makes Bing’s data a rare window into how AI assistants choose sources.
Why Should a San Antonio Business Care About Bing AI Performance?
Bing is not where most of your customers search. PPC Land reported that Bing’s US search share was between 3.2 and 3.8 percent in early 2026, citing Datos data. So why spend time here? Because the report is not really about Bing traffic. Copilot and other AI experiences pull from Bing’s index, which means citations in this report show whether your pages are readable, trustworthy and useful enough for an AI to quote.
Think of Bing AI Performance as a free practice test. If AI answers on Microsoft products cite a competitor for “how much does a roof repair cost in San Antonio” and never cite you, that same gap probably shows up elsewhere. The fix is the same everywhere: a page that answers the question clearly, with facts, in the first sentence.
The data is also useful because it comes from real questions, not a keyword guess. Our AI search optimization work starts with exactly this kind of evidence, and we pair it with the Google side we covered in our post on the Search Console AI report.
What Do the Bing AI Performance Numbers Actually Mean?
The table below translates each part of the report into plain language, along with the move we recommend for each one.
| Report Item | What It Means | Why It Matters | Your Move |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citations | How often your content is cited inside AI generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, Bing and select partner experiences | Shows whether AI answers use your pages at all | Note which pages get cited and protect them |
| Grounding queries | The queries that triggered a citation in an AI answer | Reveals the real questions your pages answer | Write new sections that match these questions |
| Citation Share | Your citations as a percentage of all citations shown for the same grounding query | Shows how much of a topic you own | Track the trend monthly, not daily |
| Topic Size and Sites Cited | Approximate total citations in a topic and the approximate number of sites cited | Tells you how crowded a topic is | Start where you already have citations |
| Top Opportunity Queries | Strong queries where other sites are cited and yours is not, shown as ranges | Gives you a ready made content to do list | Build or expand one page per query |
| Date window | Choose one, two or three months | Longer windows smooth out noise | Compare the same window each month |
Two cautions from Microsoft’s own notes. Topic grouping is done by AI and may sometimes be imperfect, and branded queries can show up as opportunities even though they are about a company name. Treat every number as a direction, not a verdict, and use the thumbs up and thumbs down controls on each topic to tell Bing what does not fit your business.
What Should I Do With the Opportunity Queries?
Start with the topics where your citations are already concentrated, then work through the opportunity queries inside them. That advice comes straight from Microsoft’s announcement, and it is sound. A topic where you already earn citations proves that Bing trusts your site for that subject, so adding a stronger page there has the best odds of paying off.
For each query you pick, decide whether you need a new page or a better version of an existing one. A good answer page opens with a direct, quotable sentence, gives a specific number or range, explains what changes the price or timeline, and ends with a clear next step. Our team builds these with technical SEO services behind them, so schema, crawling and speed are not holding the content back.
Do not chase every query. Pick the three that match services you actually sell in San Antonio, and ignore anything that is really a competitor’s brand name. A small, focused update beats a long list you never finish.
How Do I Set Up Bing AI Performance This Week?
You can complete the setup below in about an hour, and most of it is a one time job.
6 Steps to Use Bing’s AI Report This Week
Open Bing Webmaster Tools and verify your site
Sign in free, then add your site or import it from Search Console so Bing can confirm you own it.
Check that Bing can crawl your pages
Make sure robots.txt does not block Bingbot and your sitemap is submitted.
Open the AI Performance report
Look at Citations and Pages first to see which of your pages AI answers already use.
Switch to Topics Portfolio if it appears
Pick a three month window and start with the topics where your citations are concentrated.
Work through the opportunity queries
Pick the three that match services you actually sell and note which page should answer each.
Update or add one page, then recheck in 30 days
Answer the question in the first sentence, add facts and a clear call to action, then compare.
If your site is small, the Topics Portfolio tab may not appear at all, because Microsoft hides topics with too little site presence. That is not a failure. Use the Citations and Pages view instead, and let our San Antonio SEO team help you build the pages that earn your first citations.
One more habit worth keeping: save a screenshot of the report each month. Because the numbers are approximate and Bing offers only a three month window, your own history is the best way to see whether your changes are working.
Common Mistakes We See Right Now
- Never opening Bing Webmaster Tools. The report is free, and without a verified site you see nothing at all.
- Ignoring Bing because its search share is small. The value is the AI citation data, not the traffic, and it shows how AI systems judge your pages.
- Treating approximate numbers as exact. Microsoft calls them directional signals, and opportunity volumes appear as ranges.
- Chasing branded opportunity queries. Microsoft says branded queries can appear in the list, so skip any that are really competitor names.
- Blocking Bingbot by accident. An old robots.txt rule or a security plugin can keep Bing from reading your pages, and then no report can help you.
- Writing vague pages. AI answers favor pages that state a clear answer, a number and a next step, not long introductions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Bing AI Performance?
Bing AI Performance is a report in Bing Webmaster Tools that shows how often your content is cited in AI generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, Bing and select partner experiences. It launched in public preview in February 2026 and gained a Topics Portfolio beta tab on October 13, 2026.Is the Bing AI report free?
Yes, it is part of the free Bing Webmaster Tools. You only need to verify that you own your website, which you can do by importing it from Search Console.Why don’t I see the Topics Portfolio tab?
Microsoft shows the tab only if there is sufficient data for your site. Topics with too little site presence or activity are hidden, so smaller sites may see fewer topics or none, and our technical SEO team can check whether Bing is crawling you properly.Does the Bing report show clicks or leads?
No, not yet. Search Engine Roundtable noted the Topics Portfolio beta has no click data, so use it to find gaps in your content and measure leads separately in your analytics.Will fixing opportunity queries help me in Google and ChatGPT too?
Probably, though no one can promise it. A page that answers a real question clearly, with facts and structure, is what AI systems tend to quote everywhere, so the work carries over even though the report is Bing’s.
Bing gave owners a rare look at the questions AI connects to their websites, and the owners who check it this week will see gaps their competitors have not noticed. Spend an hour setting up Bing AI Performance, pick three queries that match your services, and update one page at a time. FOG Digital Marketing helps San Antonio businesses turn this kind of data into pages that get cited.
Is Your Business Showing Up in Bing's AI Answers?
Bing now shows which AI answers cite your website and which questions your competitors win. FOG Digital Marketing sets up Bing Webmaster Tools, reads the AI report and builds the pages that earn citations for San Antonio businesses. Book a free 30 minute call and we will tell you where to start.
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