What Is the AI Performance Report in Bing Webmaster Tools?
The AI Performance report is a Bing Webmaster Tools report that shows how often pages from a site you manage are cited as sources in AI-generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner AI integrations, and which grounding queries those citations are associated with.
Microsoft introduced it as a public preview in a Bing Webmaster Blog post dated February 10, 2026, with total citations, average cited pages, grounding queries, page-level citation activity and a timeline (Bing Webmaster Blog). A Grounding Query – Page Mapping view followed on March 23, 2026 (Microsoft Advertising), and Intents, Topics, Citation Share and Compare on June 16, 2026, all as preview features (Bing Search Blog).
The report covers URLs on your own verified site. It does not show coverage you earned on other publishers' sites, and it says nothing about Google. How it sits beside Google's reporting is covered in Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools; Google's own AI report counts impressions, not citations, as explained in what Search Console shows for AI answers.
How to Read the AI Performance Report at a Glance
| Step | Action | Expected result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Open AI Performance for a verified site | The dashboard loads for one site |
| 2 | Set the date range | Every figure covers one stated period |
| 3 | Read Total Citations and Average Cited Pages | A baseline for volume and breadth |
| 4 | Read page-level citation activity | A list of cited URLs with counts |
| 5 | Read grounding queries | Grouped phrases tied to citations |
| 6 | Use Grounding Query – Page Mapping | Pages for a query, or queries for a page |
| 7 | Check Intents, Topics, Citation Share and Compare | Context, themes, relative share and change over time |
| 8 | Export and record what you found | A dated CSV or Excel file and a short note |
Time: about 30 minutes for a first read (our estimate). Tools: Bing Webmaster Tools, a spreadsheet. Cost: none; Bing Webmaster Tools is free, and the Microsoft pages we read attach no charge to the report. Skill level: beginner.
What You Need Before Starting
- A verified site in Bing Webmaster Tools. If the site is not there yet, see how to verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools; importing from Google Search Console is the quickest route.
- Pages Bing can index. Bing says the report “reflects only content that is eligible for indexing” and that Bing respects robots.txt and other supported controls (Bing Webmaster Tools Help).
- A question. For example: which of our pages does Copilot cite, and for which phrases? Did citations change after we updated the company fact page?
- A place to keep dated exports. Bing describes the data as sampled and still being refined, so a monthly record is what makes comparisons possible (our recommendation, not a Bing rule).
Step 1: Open AI Performance for Your Site
Sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools, choose the site and open AI Performance from the site's menu. The help page names the report but does not document a menu path, so look for the label “AI Performance”. It covers three surfaces: “Microsoft Copilot”, “AI-generated summaries in Bing” and “Select partner AI integrations”. Bing does not name the partners (Bing Webmaster Tools Help).
Expected result: a dashboard for one site. Verify: the site shown in the selector is the one you mean, including the right protocol and subdomain. Common mistake: expecting ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity data. The report covers Microsoft's surfaces and unnamed partners only.
Step 2: Set the Date Range Before Reading Any Number
Every metric is defined for “the selected date range”. Bing lists the available ranges as 7 days, 30 days, 3 months and a “Custom range (within available historical data)”. Data “is refreshed daily, with a short processing delay”, and Bing says historical data is available “only for the time ranges shown in the dashboard” (Bing Webmaster Tools Help).
Length of each preset date range, in days
Source: Bing Webmaster Tools Help, “AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools”, available time ranges. Read October 11, 2026.
Bing states the longest preset as “3 months”, not a number of days; its bar is drawn at 90 days for scale only. A custom range is also offered, limited to available historical data, and Bing does not publish how far that history goes.
The chart shows that the longest preset is roughly twelve times the shortest, so a figure means little until its range is written beside it.
Process: pick one range, such as 30 days, and keep it for every metric you copy down. Expected result: a fixed window. Verify: the range control shows the same dates in every tab you open. Common mistake: comparing a 7-day figure with a 30-day one.
Step 3: Read Total Citations and Average Cited Pages
These two numbers are the baseline. Bing's definitions, from its help page and launch post:
| Metric | What Bing says it counts | What Bing says it does not show |
|---|---|---|
| Total Citations | “The total number of times your content was visibly referenced or shown as a source in AI‑generated answers during the selected date range” | Placement: the count is given “without indicating placement or presentation” within an answer |
| Cited pages | “The number of unique pages from your site that were cited on a given day” | Which answer used them |
| Average Cited Pages | “The average number of unique pages that were cited per day over the selected time range” | “ranking, authority, or the role of any page within an individual answer” |
Sources: Bing Webmaster Tools Help; Bing Webmaster Blog. The help page adds a note that applies to the whole report: “AI Performance does not measure rankings, authority, performance, or importance. It simply shows which content was cited.”
Process: read the two together. Rising Total Citations with flat Average Cited Pages suggests the same pages are being cited more often; rising Average Cited Pages suggests more of the site is being used. That reading is ours, from the definitions. Expected result: two numbers for one range. Common mistake: splitting the figures by Copilot versus Bing summaries. The help page says the data is aggregated across supported surfaces and documents no split by surface.
Step 4: Read Page-Level Citation Activity
The Pages view lists URLs from your site with their citation counts for the range. Bing says it “reflects how often pages are cited, not their importance, ranking, or role within a response” (Bing Webmaster Tools Help).
Process: sort by count and note the top ten URLs. Then ask whether those are the pages you would want an AI answer to rely on (the about page, a product page, a published figure), whether important pages are missing, and whether any cited page is out of date. Microsoft's launch post frames the report as a way to “Validate which pages are already being used as references in AI answers” and to spot pages “that are indexed but less frequently cited” (Bing Webmaster Blog). Expected result: a short list of cited URLs and a list of gaps. Common mistake: calling the top URL your “best-ranking” page in Copilot.
Step 5: Read Grounding Queries as Grouped Phrases
Bing defines grounding queries as “the key phrases the AI used when retrieving content that was referenced in AI-generated answers.” The help page is explicit that they “are not full user questions or prompts”; they are grouped phrases, and a page about solar energy might appear under “solar energy” or “solar panels”. The number beside each phrase is how often your content was referenced in AI answers for it during the range (Bing Webmaster Tools Help).
Three limits apply, all from the same page: phrasing “may be determined differently across supported AI experiences and partners”; the data “does not show individual AI answers, exact prompts, or why a specific page was referenced”; and “The data shown represents a sample of overall citation activity.”
Process: read the list for recurring themes, such as the company name, a product category or an executive's area of expertise. Expected result: three to five themes. Common mistake: treating the list as a keyword report with search volumes.
Step 6: Use Grounding Query – Page Mapping
The mapping connects the two lists. Bing says to “Select a grounding query to view its cited pages, or select a page to view its associated grounding queries”, and notes that one query may map to several pages and vice versa. You can filter by only one at a time; for cross-referencing, Bing suggests exporting the filtered data (Bing Webmaster Tools Help).
Process: select your most important theme and see which page carries it, then select your most important page and see which phrases pull it in. Expected result: a page-to-theme map. Common mistake: worrying when the same query-and-page pair shows different counts depending on which way you filter. Bing says grounding queries and pages “may each be sampled over slightly different time windows”, and that this “does not indicate missing or incorrect data.”
Step 7: Check Intents, Topics, Citation Share and Compare
Microsoft said on June 16, 2026 that these four were “now beginning to roll out in preview” (Bing Search Blog). The help page's FAQ describes each (Bing Webmaster Tools Help):
| Feature | What Bing says it does | Caveat Bing gives |
|---|---|---|
| Intents | Classifies grounding queries by intent. Its examples: Informational, Media, Navigational, Commercial, Learn and Solve, Research, Live Event, Local, Comparison, Planning, Utility, Creation, Conversational, Other | Labels come from AI/ML classifiers and may not match your view, especially for multi-intent queries |
| Topics | Groups related grounding queries into themes, such as Solar Energy or Cloud Security | May be an “imperfect fit” for niche domains; topic-by-page filtering needs an export |
| Citation Share | “the percentage of citations attributed to your site out of all citations shown for a specific grounding query” | Does not name competitors; “does not represent rankings, traffic, or a quality score” |
| Compare | Overlays a previous period, for example the last 30 days against the prior 30, or two custom ranges | Shows what changed, not why |
A worked example with hypothetical numbers: if answers grounded on one query showed 200 citations across all sites and 10 pointed to your site, your Citation Share for that query would be 5%. Microsoft calls the metric “an observational metric – not a ranking system or a competitive scoreboard” (Bing Search Blog).
Process: check Citation Share for your three most important grounding queries, then use Compare against the prior period. Expected result: a share and a direction for each. Verify: if the four tabs are missing, they may not have reached your account; the report is still in preview.
Step 8: Export and Record What You Found
Bing says you can export grounding query data with citation counts, page-level citation data and time-series metrics, and that “Exports are available in CSV and Excel formats.” Exports reflect whatever filter is applied (Bing Webmaster Tools Help). The help page does not mention an API for this report, and we found no Microsoft announcement of one.
Process: export each view unfiltered, name the files with the date range, and write a two-line note: what changed and what you did on the site in that period. Repeat monthly with the same range (our recommendation). Expected result: a dated file you can compare next month.
How to Verify It Worked
- Ranges match: every figure in your note carries the same start and end dates.
- Cited pages are yours and current: each top URL resolves and says what you expect.
- Mapping agrees in direction: pages you see for a query also appear in the Pages view, allowing for sampling differences in the counts.
- Claims are modest: the note says “cited N times in Microsoft AI answers over this period”, not “ranked” or “drove traffic”. Bing says a citation “does not represent traffic, clicks, or user engagement” (Bing Webmaster Tools Help). Visits from AI assistants are measured separately; see how to track AI assistant referral traffic in GA4.
Common Problems and Fixes
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No grounding queries appear | Limited citation activity in the range; Bing says this “does not indicate a penalty or exclusion” | Widen the range to 3 months |
| Totals differ between Pages, grounding queries and the timeline | Data is aggregated and sampled; Bing says totals “may differ across views” | Report one view's total and name it |
| Same query and page show different counts by filter direction | Each may be sampled over a slightly different window | Expected; compare trends, not single counts |
| Intents, Topics, Citation Share or Compare are missing | Preview features rolling out | Check again later; use the report's feedback option |
| Citations moved with no site change | Bing lists user demand, freshness, model updates, partner refresh cycles and topic shifts | Use Compare over matching periods; do not credit one edit |
| An important page is never cited | Bing's reasons include relevance, clarity, depth, age, or other sources being preferred | Confirm it is indexed and not blocked; update it; notify Bing of changes with IndexNow |
What Not to Do
- Do not report citations as rankings or traffic. Consequence: an executive believes a page “ranks” in Copilot. Correction: quote Bing's own wording that citations are not rankings, clicks or traffic.
- Do not present grounding queries as what customers asked. Consequence: content is written for phrases nobody typed. Correction: describe them as grouped phrases from sampled data.
- Do not treat Citation Share as a competitor scoreboard. Consequence: conclusions the data cannot support. Correction: Bing does not show which other sites hold the rest.
- Do not use the report as proof that a paid placement worked. Consequence: citations are credited to the wrong cause. Correction: the report covers URLs on your own site; a sponsored article on another site is advertising, should be labeled as such, and nothing in Microsoft's pages says payment influences citations.
- Do not promise citations. Consequence: a commitment nobody can keep. Correction: Bing says its content suggestions “do not guarantee citation outcomes”.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the AI Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools show?
It shows how often pages from your verified site are cited as sources in AI-generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner AI integrations, with total citations, average cited pages, page-level counts and grounding queries. Microsoft launched it as a public preview on February 10, 2026.
What are grounding queries in Bing Webmaster Tools?
Bing defines them as the key phrases the AI used when retrieving content that was referenced in AI-generated answers. They are grouped phrases, not full user questions or prompts, and Bing says the data is a sample of overall citation activity.
What is Citation Share in Bing Webmaster Tools?
Citation Share is the percentage of citations attributed to your site out of all citations shown for a specific grounding query. Bing says it does not name competitors and does not represent rankings, traffic or a quality score. It is a preview feature added in June 2026.
Do citations in Bing's AI Performance report mean clicks or traffic?
No. Bing says a citation means your content was visibly referenced or shown in an AI-generated answer and does not represent traffic, clicks or user engagement. Measure visits separately in web analytics.
Can I export AI Performance data from Bing Webmaster Tools?
Yes. Bing says you can export grounding query data, page-level citation data and time-series metrics in CSV and Excel formats, and that exports reflect the filter currently applied. The help page does not mention an API for this report.
Why do I see no grounding queries for my site?
Bing says grounding queries may not appear when there is limited citation activity for your site in the selected date range, and that this does not indicate a penalty or exclusion. Try the 3-month range, and check that your pages are indexable in Bing.
Sources and Methodology
This guide is built from Bing's help article on AI Performance, two Microsoft blog posts and one Microsoft Advertising post, all read on October 11, 2026. The help article loads by script; we read its full text as served by Bing's own help system. We did not have a Bing Webmaster Tools account with citation data for this guide, so the steps follow the documentation, not a test account, and the menu location is not documented. The reading order, the monthly export routine, the 30-minute estimate and the Citation Share worked example are ours. The report is in preview and Microsoft says results “may be refined as additional data is processed”, so definitions may change.
- official Microsoft, AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools, Bing Webmaster Tools Help. Surfaces, metric definitions, date ranges, refresh, sampling, mapping, export formats, FAQ on Intents, Topics, Citation Share and Compare. Read October 11, 2026.
- official Microsoft, Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools Public Preview, Bing Webmaster Blog, February 10, 2026. Launch, scope, definitions, sample caveat. Read October 11, 2026.
- official Microsoft Advertising, The AI Performance dashboard: Your view into where your brand appears across the AI web, March 23, 2026. Grounding Query – Page Mapping. Read October 11, 2026.
- official Microsoft, New AI Visibility Insights in Bing Webmaster Tools: Intents, Topics, Citation Share, Compare, Bing Search Blog, June 16, 2026. Preview rollout and Citation Share description. Read October 11, 2026.