Bing Now Shows Which Pages Get Cited in AI Answers

Bing Webmaster Tools now lets publishers spot really their contented appears successful AI-generated answers crossed Microsoft Copilot and Bing, making it the first awesome hunt level to connection dedicated AI quality reporting.

Microsoft announced the AI Performance dashboard connected February 10, 2026. The characteristic is disposable now successful nationalist preview for immoderate verified site.

The study tracks citation visibility specifically. It doesn't measurement clicks, rankings, aliases postulation from AI answers. Instead, it answers a mobility publishers person been asking since generative search took off: Is my contented really being referenced?

Fabrice Canel, Product Manager astatine Microsoft, confirmed connected X that much information is coming: "It's conscionable a preview, you will get much successful 2026."

What the AI Performance Dashboard Shows

The dashboard introduces 5 halfway metrics focused connected AI citation activity:

• Total citations: How galore times your tract is cited arsenic a root successful AI-generated answers during a selected period
• Average cited pages: The regular mean number of unsocial URLs from your tract referenced crossed AI experiences
• Grounding queries: Sample phrases the AI utilized erstwhile retrieving contented that was cited successful its answers. These aren't needfully what users searched for, but the queries the AI strategy utilized to find and propulsion your content. Microsoft describes them arsenic "the cardinal phrases the AI utilized erstwhile retrieving contented that was referenced successful AI-generated answers," and notes the information shown represents a sample of wide citation activity.
• Page-level citation activity: Citation counts by URL, truthful you tin spot which circumstantial pages are referenced astir often
• Visibility trends complete time: A timeline position showing really citation activity rises aliases falls crossed AI experiences

The study covers citations crossed Microsoft Copilot, AI summaries successful Bing, and prime partner integrations, though Microsoft hasn't clarified precisely which partners are included.

AI Citations Without Click-Through Data

The dashboard doesn't see click-through data. You tin spot that your contented is being cited, but you can't spot really galore users really clicked done from those AI answers to your site. 

As MCP reported, publishers still can't show if AI visibility is delivering measurable business value.

Citation wave besides doesn't bespeak ranking, prominence, aliases really overmuch a page contributed to a circumstantial answer. A page could beryllium cited erstwhile successful passing aliases service arsenic the superior root for an AI response, and the information doesn't separate betwixt the two.

Still, this is much granular AI-specific information than thing presently disposable successful Google Search Console (GSC). Google includes AI Overviews and AI Mode successful its wide Performance reporting, but it doesn't connection a dedicated study aliases citation-level URL counts.

How to Use Bing's AI Citation Metrics

Bing's move sets a precedent. It's the first clip a awesome hunt level has treated AI citations arsenic a distinct, trackable metric alternatively than folding them into accepted hunt capacity data.

For SEOs, this study offers a fewer applicable opportunities:

• Cross-reference your top-cited pages pinch your top-traffic pages: They whitethorn not match. Pages that rank good successful accepted hunt aren't needfully the ones AI systems cite. Look astatine what your most-cited pages person successful common: structure, depth, really claims are supported, and really precocious they were updated. Those patterns show you what AI systems worth from your tract specifically.
• Use grounding queries to find contented gaps: The grounding queries report shows the phrases AI utilized to retrieve your content. If those phrases don't representation to topics you've deliberately targeted, you whitethorn beryllium getting cited incidentally alternatively than strategically. If you spot grounding queries related to topics you screen but circumstantial pages aren't being cited, that's a awesome to amended structure, adhd supporting evidence, aliases update outdated accusation connected those pages.
• Compare cited vs. indexed-but-not-cited pages: If a page is indexed but ne'er shows up successful the citation data, it whitethorn not beryllium system aliases charismatic capable for AI systems to reference. Start pinch the basics: clear headings, evidence-backed claims, and up-to-date information.
• Set a baseline: The study includes time-series information from time one. Log in, export your existent numbers, and way changes complete clip truthful you tin measurement the effect of immoderate optimizations you make.

Geertrui Laleman, elder AI hunt optimization master astatine Semrush, analyzed the grounding query information and recovered that 39% of the queries utilized to crushed AI responses were conversational questions aliases longer multi-word phrases. 

"While longer, natural-language queries are progressively communal successful AI-driven search, this shows that the aforesaid shape carries done into the validation stage," Laleman said. "For our contented strategy, that intends ensuring our pages see clear, nonstop responses to these longer queries, not conscionable to fulfill users, but to service arsenic a reliable reference constituent for the AI itself."

Further reading: How to Optimize for AI Search Results successful 2026

Microsoft framed the motorboat arsenic an early measurement toward GEO tooling, and the SEO organization has mostly responded by calling connected Google to follow.

How the SEO Community Is Responding

The consequence has been mostly positive, pinch astir speech centering connected the opposition pinch Google's reporting.

Leigh McKenzie, head of online visibility astatine Semrush, noted connected LinkedIn that citations surgery retired by grounding queries, page-level visibility, and time-series information from time 1 "puts this up of thing we've seen from Google truthful far."

Wil Reynolds, laminitis and vice president of invention astatine Seer Interactive, confirmed the grounding queries characteristic was live, posting connected X: "Bing is now giving you grounding queries successful Bing Webmaster Tools!! Just confirmed, now I gotta understand what we're getting from them, what it intends and really to usage it."

Nikki Pilkington, SEO advisor and SEO contented specialist, put the Google comparison bluntly successful a LinkedIn post: "Google Search Console: We've fixed users a caller favicon and civilization citations. Bing Webmaster Tools: Hold my beer..."

The main pushback is connected reach. Copilot and Bing's AI features service a fraction of the users that Google and ChatGPT do, truthful the information reflects a constrictive portion of AI hunt behavior. That's a valid limitation, but it's besides the only first-party AI citation information disposable correct now.

Track AI Visibility Beyond Bing

Bing's study covers the Microsoft ecosystem. To spot really your marque appears crossed AI hunt platforms much broadly, usage Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit.

The Visibility Overview dashboard shows which prompts you look successful AI responses for, wherever competitors look and you don't, and which sources LLMs reference.

The Brand Performance dashboard gives circumstantial recommendations for improving your AI visibility based connected your existent data.

Start pinch Bing's citation information to understand what's moving connected your site. Then usage the AI Visibility Toolkit to spot really that translates crossed the broader AI hunt landscape.