Bing Webmaster Tools is Microsoft's free equivalent of Google Search Console, and IndexNow is an open protocol that tells Bing and other participating search engines the moment a page changes. Both matter more than Bing's search share suggests, because Bing's index powers Microsoft Copilot and is used by several other AI assistants. Setup takes about ten minutes if you already use Search Console.
Why does Bing matter for AI search?
Bing matters because AI assistants need a search index to find fresh pages, and Microsoft's Copilot answers are grounded in Bing search results. Several other assistants and AI search products also draw on Bing data. If Bing has not crawled or indexed your page, those tools are much less likely to find and cite it.
Which assistant uses which index changes over time, and providers do not always publish the details. The practical point is simple: being properly indexed in both Google and Bing gives you the widest reach in classic and AI search. The guide to appearing in AI search covers the content side.
How do you set up Bing Webmaster Tools?
The fastest way is to sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools and import your sites from Google Search Console. Bing copies your verified properties and submitted sitemaps, so you do not need to verify ownership again.
If you do not use Search Console, add the site manually and verify it with one of these methods:
- An XML file uploaded to your site's root folder.
- A meta tag added to your home page's
<head>. - A CNAME record added in your DNS settings.
After verification, open Sitemaps and confirm your sitemap is listed. If not, submit it, for example https://www.example.in/sitemap.xml.
Which Bing reports should you check?
Check the same basics you check in Google: search performance, indexing and errors. The reports below are worth a monthly look.
| Report | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Search Performance | Clicks, impressions and queries, compared with Google |
| URL Inspection | Whether a specific page is indexed and any problems found |
| Site Explorer | How Bing sees your site's folders and URLs, with crawl errors |
| Sitemaps | Whether Bing can read your sitemap and how many URLs it found |
| Recommendations | Site-wide SEO issues Bing has detected |
Report names and features change, so if a menu item has moved, use the search box inside the tool.
What is IndexNow?
IndexNow is an open protocol, launched by Microsoft Bing and Yandex, that lets a website notify search engines when URLs are added, updated or deleted. Instead of waiting for a crawler to revisit, you send a short request and the participating engines are told straight away.
A URL submitted to one participating search engine is shared with the others. The full list of participants and the specification are on indexnow.org.
Google does not use IndexNow. Keep your XML sitemap and Search Console for Google, and use IndexNow alongside them.
How do you set up IndexNow?
Many sites can switch IndexNow on without code: check whether your CMS, SEO plugin or CDN offers it. Several popular ones do. To set it up yourself, follow three steps.
- Generate a key: a string of 8 to 128 letters, numbers or dashes.
- Host a text file containing only that key at your site root, for example
https://www.example.in/your-key.txt. - Each time a page changes, send its URL with your key.
A single URL can be sent as a simple GET request:
https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=https://www.example.in/courses/neet-coaching-delhi&key=your-keyFor many URLs at once, send a JSON POST to the same endpoint:
POST https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf-8
{
"host": "www.example.in",
"key": "your-key",
"keyLocation": "https://www.example.in/your-key.txt",
"urlList": [
"https://www.example.in/courses/neet-coaching-delhi",
"https://www.example.in/admissions-2027"
]
}A 200 or 202 response means the submission was received. It does not guarantee the page will be indexed.
When should you send IndexNow pings?
Send a ping when a page is published, meaningfully updated or deleted. For an education business, that might be a new batch announcement, updated fees, exam results or a closed course page that now returns 404.
Common mistakes
- Pinging every URL on the site daily even when nothing changed.
- Placing the key file somewhere other than the location you declared.
- Assuming IndexNow replaces a sitemap. It complements one.
- Blocking Bingbot in robots.txt or a firewall rule, often by accident during bot protection.
- Setting up Bing once and never checking it again.
Checklist
- Import your sites from Search Console into Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Confirm your sitemap is listed and read without errors.
- Turn on IndexNow through your CMS or CDN, or with your own key file.
- Check Bing's search performance and indexing reports monthly.
- Check that robots.txt and your firewall allow Bingbot.
Check this on your own site
Spider's free check tests this and about 100 other things on any page, and links each problem to a guide like this one.
