Key takeaways
- Copilot’s web answers are grounded in Bing, so being well indexed in Bing is the foundation.
- Allow Bingbot, verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, and submit your sitemap there.
- Use IndexNow to notify Bing instantly when you publish or update pages.
- Copilot is heavily used at work — B2B content, comparisons and how-to guides perform well.
- Because ChatGPT search also draws on third-party search providers, Bing visibility can help there too.
How Copilot finds and cites web content
When a Copilot question needs current information, Copilot searches Bing, reads the top results and writes an answer with linked citations. If a page is not indexed by Bing, Copilot is unlikely to cite it.
Bing’s index is built by Bingbot, and Bing supports the IndexNow protocol, which lets you notify participating search engines the moment content is added, updated or removed. Faster indexing means new pages can reach Copilot answers sooner.
Copilot users are often in a work context — inside Edge, Windows or Microsoft 365 apps — asking practical questions about software, vendors, processes and how-tos. Clear, professional content that answers those questions directly is what gets cited.
Let Microsoft Copilot read your site
These are the user agents Microsoft uses. Check them in robots.txt and in your CDN or firewall — bot protection often blocks them silently.
| User agent | What it does | For visibility |
|---|---|---|
| Bingbot | Crawls and indexes pages for Bing, which grounds Copilot’s web answers. | Allow |
Example robots.txt rules
User-agent: Bingbot
Allow: /Microsoft supports meta directives such as nocache and noarchive to limit how content is used in Bing’s AI answers. Avoid them on pages you want cited.
Step-by-step: how to rank on Microsoft Copilot
- 1
Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools
Verify ownership (you can import directly from Google Search Console), submit your XML sitemap, and review crawl, index and SEO reports. Many sites have never looked at Bing and have easy-to-fix issues.
- 2
Turn on IndexNow
Implement IndexNow through your CMS, CDN or a plugin so every new or updated URL is pushed to Bing immediately. This shortens the time between publishing and being eligible for Copilot answers.
- 3
Fix Bing-specific technical issues
Bing can be less forgiving with JavaScript-rendered content. Make sure primary content is in the initial HTML, titles and meta descriptions are unique, and canonical tags are consistent.
- 4
Write clear, task-focused answers
Structure pages around the questions professionals ask, with short direct answers, numbered steps and comparison tables. Copilot quotes passages that stand on their own.
- 6
Optimise for local and shopping where relevant
Claim and complete Bing Places for Business for local queries, and keep product data structured with Product schema for shopping-style questions.
- 7
Track Copilot visibility monthly
Run your priority prompts in Copilot, record which sources it cites, and monitor Bing organic and copilot.microsoft.com referral traffic in analytics.
Common mistakes that keep brands out of Microsoft Copilot
- Never having verified the site in Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Assuming that ranking on Google means ranking on Bing — the indexes and signals differ.
- Leaving key content dependent on client-side JavaScript.
- Using noarchive or nocache directives on pages you want to appear in AI answers.
How to measure your Microsoft Copilot visibility
- Bing Webmaster Tools: indexed pages, impressions and clicks for priority queries.
- Monthly Copilot prompt tracking: mentions, citations and accuracy.
- Referral traffic from bing.com and copilot.microsoft.com in analytics.
- IndexNow submission success and time-to-index for new pages.
Microsoft Copilot ranking FAQ
Does Copilot use Bing or Google?
Microsoft Copilot grounds its web answers in Bing search. Optimising for Bing is the most direct way to improve Copilot visibility.
What is IndexNow and do I need it?
IndexNow is an open protocol that lets you instantly notify participating search engines, including Bing, when URLs change. It is not mandatory, but it speeds up indexing and is easy to set up on most platforms.
Is Copilot worth optimising for if Bing has low market share?
Copilot reaches users through Windows, Edge and Microsoft 365, not just bing.com. For B2B companies especially, those workplace users are often exactly the buyers you want.
Does Bing optimisation help with ChatGPT?
ChatGPT search combines OpenAI’s own index with third-party search providers, and Bing has historically been one of them. Strong Bing visibility is a sensible part of any ChatGPT strategy, alongside allowing OAI-SearchBot.
How long does it take to improve Copilot visibility?
With IndexNow and technical fixes in place, new pages can be indexed in Bing within days. Earning citations for competitive questions usually takes a few months of consistent content and authority work.