How to get your site indexed by Bing (and why it matters for Copilot)
Import your site to Bing Webmaster Tools from Search Console, submit the sitemap and turn on IndexNow. Microsoft Copilot answers from Bing's index.
LLaunchScaler·Published ·7 min read
To get indexed by Bing, add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools by importing it from Google Search Console, submit your XML sitemap there, and turn on IndexNow so Bing is told about new and changed URLs the moment they publish. If your site is already in Google Search Console, the first step reuses that setup, so the whole job is short.
These steps matter more than Bing's share of search suggests. Bing's own guidelines say Bing and Microsoft Copilot rely on the same crawling, indexing and ranking foundation, so a site missing from Bing's index is also missing from what Copilot can cite.
Why does Bing indexing matter for Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot answers from Bing's index. Bing's webmaster guidelines state that "Bing and Copilot search experiences rely on the same core crawling, indexing, and ranking foundation as traditional search," and that following them keeps URLs eligible for "grounding results and citations." A page Bing never indexed is not available to Copilot as a source.
The guidelines also spell out directives that change what Copilot can do with a page you have indexed:
Directive
Effect in Bing and Copilot, per Bing's guidelines
noindex
The URL should not appear in Bing search, Copilot experiences or grounding API results.
nosnippet, data-nosnippet
Bing does not display captions, which "may limit Copilot citation quality."
noarchive
Questions, answered
What people ask about this
01
How do I get my website indexed by Bing?
Sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools, import your site from Google Search Console (or add and verify it manually), submit your XML sitemap, and turn on IndexNow so Bing hears about new and changed URLs as they happen.
Prevents content from being used in Copilot responses and grounding results.
nocache
Limits Copilot to the URL, title and snippet, reducing citation depth.
If you added noarchive or nocache years ago for an unrelated reason, they now decide whether Copilot can quote you. The Copilot citation guide covers what makes a page likely to be cited once it is indexed.
Step 1: How do you add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools?
Open a free Bing Webmaster Tools account (you can sign in with a Microsoft, Google or Facebook account), then choose Import from Google Search Console. Bing lists your verified Search Console sites with their sitemaps; select them and click Import, and they are added and verified automatically, with no DNS record or file to upload.
Go to Bing Webmaster Tools and sign in.
Choose Import sites from Google Search Console and grant Bing access to your Search Console account.
Select the sites to add (up to 100 per import) and click Import.
Confirm each site shows as verified.
Import is the fastest route because it reuses the ownership you already proved to Google, and Bing keeps checking the connection: during its periodic validation, any new sitemap in your Search Console account is imported automatically. You can disconnect the link later under Profile.
If you don't use Search Console, add the site manually and verify it one of four ways: DNS auto verification through Domain Connect (for supporting DNS providers), a BingSiteAuth.xml file uploaded to the site root, a <meta> tag at the end of the homepage <head>, or a CNAME record at your DNS host. Bing's help says it usually takes about 48 hours for data to appear after a site is added.
Step 2: How do you submit your sitemap to Bing?
Open Sitemaps in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit the full URL of your sitemap, such as https://example.com/sitemap.xml. If you imported from Search Console, your Google sitemaps are usually already there. Bing accepts XML sitemaps and sitemap index files, RSS 2.0, Atom 0.3 and 1.0, and plain text files with one URL per line.
Bing's guidelines are specific about what a sitemap should contain. It should list only canonical URLs, reflect the current site structure, drop deleted or redirected URLs promptly, and include freshness signals such as lastmod. The guidelines add that accurate lastmod values and HTTP validation headers such as ETags help Bing detect changes more reliably.
Also add the sitemap to robots.txt with an absolute Sitemap: line, so every crawler that reads the file finds it. The Google sitemap submission guide covers building a clean sitemap once for both engines.
Step 3: How do you turn on IndexNow?
IndexNow is a protocol for telling participating search engines that a URL was added, changed or deleted. Bing calls it "strongly recommended" and says its older URL submission methods may be deprecated as IndexNow adoption grows. The quickest way to turn it on is through your platform: many CMSs, SEO plugins and Cloudflare send IndexNow notifications for you.
Your setup
How to turn IndexNow on
Cloudflare in front of the site
Enable Crawler Hints on the zone's Caching Configuration page. It sends IndexNow notifications based on cache misses, on every plan.
WordPress
Install an IndexNow plugin; Bing's IndexNow help lists a WordPress plugin as a supported source.
Shopify, Wix, Drupal, Joomla and others
Check the platform's settings or plugin library; IndexNow.org lists these CMSs as supporting it natively or through plugins.
Custom stack
Host a key file and send a POST request on publish, as below.
For a custom stack, the manual setup has two parts. Generate a key of 8 to 128 characters (letters, numbers and dashes), save it as https://example.com/<key>.txt containing only the key, then POST changed URLs to https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow with your host, key and a urlList of up to 10,000 URLs. A 200 or 202 response means the submission was received. The IndexNow setup guide has the full request, response codes and the rules for when to ping.
IndexNow does not replace the sitemap. IndexNow.org recommends both: the sitemap for the complete inventory, IndexNow for what changed.
Can you submit URLs to Bing by hand?
Yes. In Bing Webmaster Tools, open Submit URLs, enter one URL per line and click Submit. Bing's help says manual submission accepts up to 10,000 URLs per domain per day, resetting at midnight UTC, and your site's own quota can be set lower. Use it for a handful of key pages on day one, not as an ongoing process.
The limits worth knowing, from Bing's URL Submission help:
The quota applies to the domain, not to each subdomain.
The last 1,000 submitted URLs are listed in the submission history.
"Repeated manual submissions do not accelerate indexing."
If your quota looks low, Bing says it is set by several parameters and you can request more through support.
The URL Submission API accepts the same 10,000 per domain per day in batches of up to 500, but it only notifies Bing, and Bing recommends IndexNow instead.
Why is Bing not indexing my site?
Check the same blockers you would for Google, from Bingbot's side. A robots.txt rule, a noindex, a page nothing links to, duplicate URLs and thin content all keep pages out. Bing Webmaster Tools has its own URL Inspection tool, and its IndexNow report groups submitted URLs by reason, which is the fastest way to see which one applies.
Cause
Where to confirm it
Fix
robots.txt blocks Bingbot
The robots.txt file, and URL Inspection in Bing Webmaster Tools
Remove the Disallow that matches, or a User-agent: bingbot group that blocks it.
A noindex tag or header
IndexNow report, "No-Index Tag"
Remove it from the template or server config.
No sitemap and no links to the page
Sitemaps report; the page's internal links
Submit the sitemap and link the page from indexed pages with plain <a href> links.
Duplicate URLs
IndexNow report, "Canonical URL Exists"
One canonical URL per page, as Bing's guidelines ask.
Content not selected
IndexNow report, "Content Quality"
Improve the page; Bing may choose not to index URLs that don't meet its selection criteria.
Firewall or bot protection blocks Bingbot
Server or CDN logs for Bingbot requests
Allow verified Bingbot through the WAF.
Bing's guidelines also ask for 301 redirects for permanent moves, 302s only for changes of less than two days, and a 404 for removed content, with the change sent through IndexNow so outdated URLs stop appearing in Copilot answers.
How do you see whether Copilot cites your site?
Open AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools. Released as a public preview in February 2026, it shows how often your pages are cited as sources in Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and some partner integrations, with total citations, average cited pages per day, grounding queries, and citation counts for each URL.
Bing is careful about what the numbers mean. A citation is not a click: its help says citations "do not represent traffic, clicks, or user engagement." Grounding queries are grouped, generalized phrases rather than individual user questions, and a site with sparse citations may see none at all, which Bing says is expected and not a penalty. The AI Performance report guide walks through each metric and the newer Intents, Topics and Citation Share views.
Check what Bingbot and AI crawlers can read
Bing Webmaster Tools reports what Bing already crawled. To check what your pages send to crawlers right now, run the free scan on LaunchScaler with just your address and no account. It runs 156 checks across 6 of its 7 categories, including robots.txt rules that block pages you want ranked, noindex in the meta tag or the X-Robots-Tag header, a missing sitemap or Sitemap: line, a sitemap with no lastmod dates, and firewall rules that return 403 or a challenge to AI retrieval bots.
Bing does not publish a time frame. Its help says data for a newly added site usually takes about 48 hours to appear in Webmaster Tools, and submitting a URL does not guarantee it will be indexed.
03
How many URLs can I submit to Bing per day?
Bing's help says manual URL submission in Webmaster Tools accepts up to 10,000 URLs per domain per day, resetting at midnight UTC, though the quota for a given site can be lower. IndexNow is the method Bing recommends.
04
Does Bing indexing affect Microsoft Copilot?
Yes. Bing's webmaster guidelines say Bing and Copilot search experiences rely on the same crawling, indexing and ranking foundation, so a page Bing has not indexed is not available for Copilot to cite.
05
Why is Bing not indexing my site?
The usual causes are the same as for Google: a robots.txt block on Bingbot, a noindex tag, no sitemap or links pointing at the pages, duplicate URLs, or content Bing chose not to select. Bing's URL Inspection tool shows which applies to a given URL.
Google treats rel=canonical as a hint and weighs redirects, sitemaps, links, HTTPS and hreflang. Make every signal name one URL and Google usually follows.
No. Google says the Indexing API only covers pages with JobPosting or BroadcastEvent markup. For other pages, use sitemaps, links and Request indexing.
