SEO

Bing Webmaster Tools

Q: Is Bing Webmaster Tools free?

Yes, completely free — just like Google Search Console. There is no premium version, no feature gating and no rate limits in the UI. The backlink report is free as well.

Q: Do I need to use BWT if I already have Google Search Console?

Not strictly, but it is recommended. Bing's traffic share in Germany is small at 6-8 %. However, the Bing backlinks are a free second data source alongside Ahrefs/DFS/SE Ranking. And since February 2026 BWT has been the only search platform with the AI Performance Report for Copilot citations — a genuine treasure trove of GEO data.

Q: How do I verify my website with Bing Webmaster Tools?

There are three options: (1) a meta tag inserted into the HTML head, (2) an XML file uploaded to the web root, (3) a CNAME DNS record. Or — the fastest route — import from Google Search Console: BWT offers a one-click migration of verified GSC properties.

Q: Can Rankmio synchronise BWT data automatically?

For the AI Performance Report, so far only via CSV import at /geo/bing-ai/upload. Microsoft has not yet published an API for this report. As soon as the API arrives, Rankmio will add auto-sync — the CSV upload will remain as a fallback. The classic BWT search performance API could in theory be integrated, but this has not been built so far because no user has actively asked for it.

Also known as: BWT, Bing WMT, Bing webmaster tools

Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT) is Microsoft's free official tool for site owners — the Bing equivalent of Google Search Console. It provides data on search queries from Bing, indexing status, crawl statistics from Bingbot, backlink reports and, since February 2026, the AI Performance Report with Copilot citations. This makes Microsoft the first search platform to supply first-party data on AI citations. Access is via bing.com/webmasters, with login through a Microsoft, Google or Facebook account. The property is verified by meta tag, XML file or CNAME DNS record.

The most important BWT reports

Search performance — clicks, impressions, CTR and position per search query and URL — the equivalent of the GSC performance report, but for Bing.
Sites — indexing status and crawl errors.
SEO reports — technical site checks with a list of issues (missing meta data, thin content, slow loading times).
Backlink report — completely free, based on Bing's own index and independent of Ahrefs/DFS/SE Ranking.
URL submission API plus IndexNow integration for immediate re-crawling.
AI Performance (since 02/2026) — Copilot citations with grounding queries, intents and topics.

BWT versus Google Search Console

Two separate data universes. Bing holds a 6-8 % market share in Germany, so its visible traffic contribution is correspondingly smaller. However, the Bing backlink report is free and independent — useful for cross-validation. And the AI Performance Report is unique: no other search platform (not even Google) currently shows first-party AI citation data. Anyone who takes AI visibility seriously connects their own Bing property to a tool such as Rankmio in order to have the BWT data in a single unified dashboard.

API access and automation

The classic Bing Webmaster API covers search performance, sitemaps, crawl statistics and URL submission. It is less popular than the GSC API, because the smaller traffic delta rarely justifies the integration effort. As of July 2026 the AI Performance Report is not accessible via API — only through the CSV export in the UI. Rankmio has therefore built a CSV import that parses both variants of the BWT AI report (Overview and Cited Queries) tolerantly — including German headers and umlaut normalisation.

Example from practice

Example: An SME blog from Frankfurt sees 4,200 monthly clicks from Google in GSC and ignores Bing for a long time. After verifying in BWT, the owner discovers that Bing brings only 320 classic clicks per month — but the new AI Performance Report shows 187 Copilot citations over the same period, spread across 42 URLs, with clear grounding queries such as ”unterschied gmbh und ug frankfurt”. For the owner this is the first hard figure showing that Copilot actively uses their advice articles as a source — and the basis for the next content iteration.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bing Webmaster Tools free?

Yes, completely free — just like Google Search Console. There is no premium version, no feature gating and no rate limits in the UI. The backlink report is free as well.

Do I need to use BWT if I already have Google Search Console?

Not strictly, but it is recommended. Bing's traffic share in Germany is small at 6-8 %. However, the Bing backlinks are a free second data source alongside Ahrefs/DFS/SE Ranking. And since February 2026 BWT has been the only search platform with the AI Performance Report for Copilot citations — a genuine treasure trove of GEO data.

How do I verify my website with Bing Webmaster Tools?

There are three options: (1) a meta tag inserted into the HTML head, (2) an XML file uploaded to the web root, (3) a CNAME DNS record. Or — the fastest route — import from Google Search Console: BWT offers a one-click migration of verified GSC properties.

Can Rankmio synchronise BWT data automatically?

For the AI Performance Report, so far only via CSV import at /geo/bing-ai/upload. Microsoft has not yet published an API for this report. As soon as the API arrives, Rankmio will add auto-sync — the CSV upload will remain as a fallback. The classic BWT search performance API could in theory be integrated, but this has not been built so far because no user has actively asked for it.

Used in Rankmio for

Import Bing AI performance data into Rankmio

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Last updated: 2026-07-02 · Browse all glossary entries