Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools at a Glance
| Category | Google Search Console | Bing Webmaster Tools | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Monitoring indexing and traffic in Google Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode impressions | Monitoring Bing, Copilot citations, and research tasks Google's tool does not cover | Depends |
| Starting price | Free | Free | Tie |
| Ease of use (setup) | Verify each property (DNS for a Domain property) | Can import and auto-verify sites from Search Console | Bing, if Search Console is already set up |
| Key capability | URL Inspection and Page indexing data from Google's index | Search, indexing and AI citation data plus keyword, backlink and audit tools | Depends |
| Performance data history | 16 months | 16 months (announced 2024; help page still says six) | Tie |
| AI search reporting | AI Overviews and AI Mode impressions by page, country, device, date | Copilot and Bing AI citations, cited pages and grounding queries | Bing for detail; Google for Google's audience |
| IndexNow | Not supported | Supported, with an IndexNow report | Bing |
| Keyword research, site audit, competitor backlinks | Not documented | Included | Bing |
| Integrations | BigQuery bulk export, Looker Studio connector, API | Search Console import, Microsoft Clarity, API | Depends |
| Customization (users) | Owner, Full, Restricted; up to 100 non-owners | Administrator, Read/Write, Read only; URL-path scope | Depends |
| Support | Help center and community forum | Help center plus a documented support-ticket route | Bing |
| Overall | Use both; Search Console first for most companies | Depends | |
Each row is drawn from the official documentation cited in the sections below, checked October 6, 2026. “Not documented” means the vendor's help pages describe no such feature, not that we tested for it.
What Is Google Search Console?
Google Search Console is Google's free tool for site owners that reports how Google crawls, indexes and shows a site in Google Search, and lets owners fix and resubmit pages.
Google calls it “a free service offered by Google that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results”, and notes that you do not need it to be included in Google (About Search Console). Its core reports are Performance, Page indexing, URL Inspection, Sitemaps and Links. It requires a Google account and a verified property.
What Is Bing Webmaster Tools?
Bing Webmaster Tools is Microsoft's free tool for site owners that reports how Bing crawls, indexes and shows a site, and how often Copilot and other Bing-grounded AI answers cite it.
Bing's help lists Search performance, URL inspection, Site explorer, Sitemaps, IndexNow, URL submission, Backlinks, Keyword research, SEO reports, Site scan, Crawl control, Block URLs, a robots.txt tester and User management (Bing, Webmaster tools & features). Bing's removal guidance refers to “Copilot experiences that rely on Bing's index” (Bing removal help), and a June 2025 Bing post says Bing powers Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and “AI tools like ChatGPT” (Bing Webmaster Blog). That is Bing's own claim; we did not verify it against the other companies' documentation.
Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools: Pricing
| Item | Google Search Console | Bing Webmaster Tools |
|---|---|---|
| Tool | Free (“a free service offered by Google”) | Free (“Free and full of powerful features”, Bing, June 2025) |
| Paid tiers | None published | None published |
| Account needed | Google account | Microsoft, Google or Facebook account |
| Usage limits that act like a ceiling | Daily limit on indexing requests (unquantified); API quotas | URL submission quota (up to 10,000 URLs per domain per day); monthly Site Scan quota |
| Possible third-party cost | BigQuery bulk export: Google Cloud storage and query charges above the free usage level | None documented |
Pricing checked October 2026. Sources: Google, About Search Console; Bing Webmaster Blog, June 2025; Google, Start a new bulk data export; Bing, URL submission; Bing, Site Scan.
Indexing Diagnostics: URL Inspection and Index Reports
Google Search Console gives the more authoritative answer for Google: its URL Inspection tool reports the indexed version of a page straight from Google's index, including the Google-selected canonical, and offers a live test and an indexing request. Bing Webmaster Tools inspects URLs for Bing in a similar way and adds SEO and markup checks to every inspection.
Google. URL Inspection shows how Google discovered and crawled a URL, whether it is indexed, and which canonical Google chose; a live test checks whether the current page might be indexable, and you can request indexing, with “a daily limit of inspection requests for each property” (URL Inspection tool help). Google warns that “URL is on Google” does not guarantee the page will appear in results. Site-wide status sits in the Page indexing report, which lists reasons such as “Discovered – currently not indexed”; our guide to fixing “Discovered – currently not indexed” walks through that status.
Bing. URL inspection returns an Index card (discovery, crawl and index details, HTTP response and HTML), an SEO card with errors ranked by priority, and a Markup card covering Microdata, Microformats, Open Graph and JSON-LD; a Live URL tab shows what Bingbot sees (Bing URL inspection help). Site explorer browses the site by folder with filters for indexed URLs, 404–410 dead links, server errors, robots.txt blocks, noindex, redirects and “URLs selected but not yet crawled” (Site explorer help).
Search Performance Data and Retention
Google Search Console offers the richer traffic report: clicks, impressions, CTR and average position by query, page, country, device, search appearance and date, across web, image, video and news searches, with 16 months of history. Bing Webmaster Tools reports similar metrics for Bing and also counts clicks from links in its Chat responses.
Google. The Performance report defaults to three months and can switch to a 24-hour view with hourly data, plus daily, weekly or monthly granularity. Google introduced 16 months of Search performance data in 2018 (Search Central blog). Google notes a “1,000 row limitation” on report tables (generative AI report help); the BigQuery bulk export covers all performance data except anonymized queries (Google, bulk data export).
Bing. The Search performance report covers clicks, impressions, CTR and average position, plus crawl requests, crawl errors and indexed pages. Sources include Web, Chat, News, Images, Videos and Knowledge Panel; “Web and Chat” captures “Learn more links in the Chat response”. Keyword and page tables cover Web traffic only. Bing collects data only from the day you add a site, so “you cannot see backdated data”. On history, Bing announced 16 months in October 2024, but the help page still said “(up to) the past six months” when we read it on October 6, 2026.
Months of search performance history each company announced, checked October 10, 2026
Source: Google Search Central blog, Introducing the new Search Console (January 2018); Bing Webmaster Blog, October 2024, read October 10, 2026.
Bing's Search performance help page still said up to six months when we reread it on October 10, 2026. Bing also says it collects data only from the day a site is added.
AI Search Reporting: AI Overviews and AI Mode vs Copilot Citations
Bing Webmaster Tools reports more about AI answers: its AI Performance report shows how often Copilot and Bing's AI summaries cite your pages and which grounding queries led to those citations. Google Search Console's generative AI report covers AI Overviews and AI Mode, which matter more to most sites, but it reports impressions only.
Google. The generative AI performance report counts impressions, “how many times links to your site were shown to a user in a generative AI feature on Google Search”, for AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google says it rolled out to all websites as of August 31, 2026. It can be grouped by pages, countries, devices and dates, excludes Search Labs experiments, and “includes data from the Web search type” of the main report. Google's AI features guide says there are “no additional requirements” to appear beyond being indexed and eligible for a snippet. For what the report leaves out, see what Search Console shows for AI answers.
Bing. AI Performance covers Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and “select partner AI integrations”, which the help page does not name. It shows total citations, average cited pages, page-level citations and grounding queries (“the key phrases the AI used when retrieving content”), over 7 days, 30 days, 3 months or a custom range. Bing says the data is sampled and that citations do not represent “traffic, clicks, or user engagement”. Bing launched the report in public preview in February 2026; Intents, Topics, Citation Share and Compare were added later as preview features. Neither report shows the clicks AI answers send you; for that, see how to track AI referral traffic in GA4.
Sitemaps, URL Submission and IndexNow
Bing Webmaster Tools offers more ways to push URLs: sitemaps, manual submission of up to 10,000 URLs per domain per day, submission APIs and IndexNow, which also notifies other participating engines. Google Search Console relies on its Sitemaps report and per-URL indexing requests, and Google does not take part in IndexNow.
Google's Sitemaps report requires owner permission to submit. Bing's Sitemaps tool accepts XML, RSS 2.0, Atom and plain-text files and lists sitemaps imported from Search Console. Bing's URL submission help now calls IndexNow “Strongly Recommended” and says manual and API submission “may be deprecated in the future”. Bing's IndexNow report shows submitted URLs by source, crawl and index status, and “Important URLs Missed” that were indexed without an IndexNow notice. Google is not in the IndexNow.org list of participating engines. Step-by-step setup for both is in how to submit a sitemap to Google and Bing.
Keyword Research, Backlinks and Site Audits
Bing Webmaster Tools wins this category outright: it includes a keyword research tool with Bing search volumes, a backlink report that can compare your site with two others, an on-demand Site Scan audit and a Recommendations list. Search Console documents none of the first three and offers a sampled Links report.
- Keyword research: Bing's Keyword research tool shows search volume and trends for a root keyword, filtered by country, language and device over up to six months, with related, question and newly discovered keywords. Search Console shows only queries your site already appeared for.
- Backlinks: Google's Links report is “a sample” with 1,000-row tables and does not mark nofollow links. Bing's Backlinks report is “a representative set”, shows up to 1,500 referring domains with up to 10,000 backlinks each, and compares your profile with up to two other sites. Both offer link disavowal.
- Site audit: Bing's Site Scan crawls up to a monthly quota and reports errors, warnings and notices, storing up to five scans; Recommendations lists issues found on indexed pages by severity. Search Console has issue reports (Page indexing, Core Web Vitals, rich results) but its documentation describes no on-demand site crawl.
Setup, Users and Permissions
Bing Webmaster Tools is quicker to set up for a site already in Search Console, because it imports and auto-verifies those sites with their sitemaps. Google Search Console has the more detailed permission model, with verified and delegated owners, full and restricted users, and a published cap of 100 non-owners per property.
Google. Roles are Owner (verified or delegated), Full user, Restricted user and Associate; only owners add users, users need a Google account, and email groups cannot be added (Managing owners, users, and permissions). Bing. Roles are Read only, Read/Write and Administrator, with an “Access scope” field to limit a user to a URL path (Bing user management). Import from Search Console brings sites, sitemaps and user roles across, 100 sites at a time, up to 1,000 sites per account (Add and verify site). Google documents no equivalent import from Bing.
API and Data Export
Google Search Console has the stronger data pipeline: a REST API for performance queries, sitemaps and URL inspection, with published quotas, plus a daily bulk export to BigQuery. Bing Webmaster Tools has a JSON API, authenticated by API key or OAuth, that also accepts URL and full-content submissions.
Google's Search Console API can “view, add, or remove properties and sitemaps, run advanced queries for Google Search results data” and test pages. Published quotas include 2,000 URL inspections per site per day and 1,200 Search Analytics queries per minute per site. Bulk export to BigQuery runs daily, can be set up only by owners, and can incur Google Cloud charges. Bing's API uses an API key or OAuth 2.0, one key per user. Bing retired the SOAP and POX endpoints on August 31, 2026, leaving JSON/REST (Bing migration notice). The URL Submission API takes up to 500 URLs per batch.
Where Google Search Console Wins
- Audience: it is the only first-party view of Google Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode.
- Index truth: URL Inspection reports the Google-selected canonical and the indexed page.
- Traffic detail: search appearance, image, video and news search types, and an hourly 24-hour view.
- Data pipeline: BigQuery bulk export and published API quotas.
- Permissions: owner types, token management and a published user cap.
Where Bing Webmaster Tools Wins
- AI citation data: citations, cited pages and grounding queries for Copilot and Bing AI summaries.
- Research tools: keyword research and competitor backlink comparison.
- Auditing: Site Scan and Recommendations.
- Change notification: IndexNow support and reporting, and manual URL submission of up to 10,000 URLs per domain per day.
- Setup: import and auto-verification from Search Console.
Who Should Choose Google Search Console?
Best for: any company whose search traffic comes mainly from Google.
Starting price: free.
Primary strength: first-party indexing and performance data for Google Search, with AI Overviews and AI Mode impressions.
Main limitation: no documented keyword research, site audit or IndexNow support, and no AI clicks or queries.
Verdict: essential; set it up first.
Choose Google Search Console if: you need to know why Google has or has not indexed a page, which Google queries bring traffic, or how often Google's AI features show your links.
Avoid Google Search Console if: you expect it to replace keyword research, competitor backlink or site audit tools; its documentation describes none of them.
Who Should Choose Bing Webmaster Tools?
Best for: companies that want Bing and Copilot visibility data, or free keyword, backlink and audit tools.
Starting price: free.
Primary strength: AI citation reporting with grounding queries, plus research and audit tools in one account.
Main limitation: it covers Bing and Bing-grounded AI experiences only, and its AI data is sampled.
Verdict: the best second tool, and the only first-party AI citation report of the two.
Choose Bing Webmaster Tools if: you want to see which pages Copilot cites, need keyword volumes or a site audit without paying for a third-party tool, or publish changes often enough to use IndexNow.
Avoid Bing Webmaster Tools if: you plan to use it instead of Search Console; it cannot tell you anything about Google.
How to Choose Between Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
| If you need… | Choose |
|---|---|
| Why a page is not in Google | Google Search Console |
| Google AI Overviews or AI Mode impressions | Google Search Console |
| Which pages Copilot cites, and for what phrases | Bing Webmaster Tools |
| Keyword search volumes | Bing Webmaster Tools |
| A free technical SEO crawl of your site | Bing Webmaster Tools |
| Competitor backlink comparison | Bing Webmaster Tools |
| Instant notification of changed URLs | Bing Webmaster Tools (IndexNow) |
| Raw performance data in a warehouse | Google Search Console (BigQuery export) |
| A full picture of search and AI visibility | Both |
Final Verdict: Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools?
Google Search Console is the better primary tool for most company sites, because Google is where most of their search exposure is and no other source reports how Google indexes them. Bing Webmaster Tools is the better tool for AI citation detail and for free keyword, backlink and audit features. The choice depends on one question: which search engine and AI assistants your buyers use. Because both are free and Bing imports Search Console sites, the practical answer for nearly every company is to run both, with Search Console checked first. Neither tool can guarantee indexing, ranking or AI citation. To see what AI assistants actually say about you, pair them with a repeatable check of AI answers about your company.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bing Webmaster Tools worth setting up if most of my traffic comes from Google?
Usually yes, because it is free and setup can take minutes if you import your sites from Search Console, which Bing says verifies them automatically. It also offers reports Search Console does not document, including keyword research, a site audit and Copilot citation data.
Can I import my Search Console sites into Bing Webmaster Tools?
Yes. Bing lets you grant access to your Search Console account and import verified sites with their sitemaps, up to 100 sites at a time and 1,000 sites per account. Imported sites are verified automatically, and Bing says it imports new Search Console sitemaps when it periodically revalidates ownership.
Does Search Console show clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode?
Not as a separate figure. Google's generative AI performance report documents impressions only, grouped by page, country, device and date. Google says that data is part of the Web search type in the main Performance report, where clicks are counted together with other web results.
Does Bing Webmaster Tools show when Copilot cites my site?
Yes. Bing's AI Performance report, in public preview since February 2026, shows total citations, average cited pages, page-level citations and grounding queries across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner integrations. Bing says citations do not represent clicks or traffic, and the data is sampled.
How far back does each tool keep performance data?
Google has offered 16 months of Search performance data since 2018. Bing announced 16 months for its Search Performance report in October 2024, although its help page still said six months when we checked in October 2026. Bing's AI Performance report offers ranges up to three months or a custom range.
Does Google support IndexNow?
Google is not among the search engines listed by IndexNow.org as of October 2026. For Google, use the Sitemaps report, the robots.txt Sitemap line and URL Inspection's request indexing option.
Can I do keyword research in Google Search Console?
Search Console documents no keyword research tool. Its Performance report shows the queries your site already appears for. Bing Webmaster Tools includes a Keyword research tool with search volumes, trends, related keywords and question keywords from Bing searches.
Do the backlink reports show every link to my site?
No. Google describes its Links report as a sample, with tables capped at 1,000 rows, and Bing describes its Backlinks data as a representative set rather than a complete profile. Bing additionally lets you compare your backlinks with up to two other sites.
Who can add users in each tool?
In Search Console only property owners can add users, choosing Owner, Full user or Restricted user, with up to 100 non-owners per property. In Bing Webmaster Tools an Administrator adds users as Read only, Read/Write or Administrator and can limit access to a URL path.
How We Compared Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
We compared the two tools on indexing diagnostics, performance data and retention, AI reporting, submission methods, research and audit tools, users and permissions, API access and price, using only official Google, Microsoft and IndexNow documentation read on October 6, 2026. Bing's help pages load with JavaScript, so we read them in a browser. We did not test either tool hands-on for this article and did not measure data accuracy, indexing speed or support response times. Where documentation conflicts, as with Bing's data retention, we report both statements. Interface labels change; where documentation did not confirm a label, we describe the feature instead. Winner calls reflect documented features, not performance.
- official Google Search Console Help, About Search Console. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Console Help, Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Console Help, Generative AI performance report (Search). Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Central, AI features and your website. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Console Help, URL Inspection tool. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Console Help, Page indexing report. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Console Help, Sitemaps report. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Console Help, Links report. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Console Help, Managing owners, users, and permissions. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google for Developers, About the Search Console API and Usage Limits. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Console Help, Start a new bulk data export; Google Search Central Blog, Bulk data export, February 21, 2023. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Google Search Central Blog, Introducing the new Search Console, January 2018 (16 months of data). Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, Webmaster tools & features. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, Search performance. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, URL inspection and Site explorer. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, Sitemaps, URL submission and IndexNow. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, Keyword research, Backlinks, Site Scan and Recommendations. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, How to add users to your site and Add and verify site. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, SOAP and POX API Endpoints Retirement; Microsoft Learn, Getting access to the Bing Webmaster Tools API. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Tools Help, How do I permanently remove a URL or page from Bing or Copilot?. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Blog, Bing Webmaster Tools Extends Search Performance Data to 16 Months, October 2024. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Blog, Start Using Bing Webmaster Tools to Improve Your Site Visibility, June 17, 2025. Read October 6, 2026.
- official Bing Webmaster Blog, Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools Public Preview, February 2026. Read October 6, 2026.
- official IndexNow.org, participating search engines list. Read October 6, 2026.