What Is Bing Webmaster Tools?
Updated 29 September 2026
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Bing Webmaster Tools is a free site console from Microsoft that shows how your pages perform in Bing search and helps you fix crawling and indexing problems. You verify your site, submit sitemaps and URLs, inspect how Bing's crawler sees a page, and review keywords and backlinks. You can import a site straight from Google Search Console. In Malaysia it matters less for Bing's own traffic than because Bing feeds Microsoft Copilot's answers.
What does Bing Webmaster Tools do?
Bing Webmaster Tools does for Bing roughly what Search Console does for Google: it shows your site from the search engine's side. Bing's crawler is called bingbot, and the console reports what bingbot found, indexed, and flagged.
The tools group into a handful of jobs. You submit content, inspect how it was read, and study the demand and links around it.
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Search Performance | Shows the queries, clicks, and impressions you get in Bing |
| Sitemaps | Submits and resubmits your sitemap to Bing |
| URL Submission | Submits URLs "for potential immediate crawls and indexation" |
| URL Inspection | Inspects "Bing's indexed version of a specific URL" and its issues |
| Site Explorer | Navigates your site structure to surface redirects and crawl issues |
| Keyword Research | Shows "the phrases and keywords that searchers are looking for in Bing" |
| Backlinks | Reports referring pages, referring domains, and anchor texts |
Source: feature descriptions from Bing Webmaster Tools Help, accessed August 2026.
The console also carries an IndexNow tool, so you can ping Bing the moment a page changes. That closes the gap between publishing and being crawled.
How do you set it up?
Setting up Bing Webmaster Tools takes minutes, and the fastest route reuses Google. If you already run Google Search Console, you can import your site directly rather than starting from scratch.
Bing says that with "a verified Google Search Console account, you can import the settings" and property (Bing Webmaster Tools Help, accessed August 2026). The selected sites then "get automatically verified in Bing Webmaster Tools", so Google's confirmation carries over. One import, and Bing trusts the same ownership Google already checked.
If you prefer, you can verify manually instead. The usual options are an XML file uploaded to your site, a meta tag, or a DNS record, the same pattern Search Console uses.
Does Bing Webmaster Tools matter in Malaysia?
Bing Webmaster Tools matters more than Bing's raw traffic suggests, and the reason is AI. Bing runs a distant second to Google in Malaysia, with about 4.68% of searches in July 2026 against Google's roughly 92% (StatCounter, retrieved August 2026).
On search share alone, that would make Bing a low priority for most local businesses. The picture changes once you follow where Bing's index goes.
Bing grounds Microsoft Copilot, which fetches from Bing when web information helps its answer. So being visible in Bing feeds the citations Copilot shows, which is a growing surface even where Bing's own search stays small. We cover that trade-off in full in whether Bing and Copilot matter in Malaysia.
In our experience, owners set up Search Console and stop there. The import route makes Bing near-free to add, so we treat it as a low-effort second signal rather than a separate project.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bing Webmaster Tools free?
Yes, it is free to use. You need only a Microsoft account and a verified site, with no paid tier for the core reports. Every feature, from Search Performance to URL Inspection and backlinks, is included at no cost. Like Google Search Console, it is one of the genuinely useful tools that costs a business nothing.
Is Bing Webmaster Tools the same as Google Search Console?
No, they are separate tools for separate search engines, though they do similar jobs. Google Search Console reports your presence in Google Search; Bing Webmaster Tools reports your presence in Bing. The layouts and some metrics differ, but both cover performance, indexing, and site health. You can run both, and Bing can import your setup from Google to save time.
Do I need Bing Webmaster Tools if Google dominates in Malaysia?
Not strictly, but it is worth the few minutes to add. Google carries about 92% of Malaysian searches, so Bing's direct traffic is small. The value now is that Bing grounds Microsoft Copilot, so Bing visibility can feed AI answers. Given the one-click import from Search Console, the effort is low enough that most sites should set it up.
What is IndexNow inside Bing Webmaster Tools?
IndexNow is a way to tell Bing instantly when a page changes, and the console includes a tool for it. Instead of waiting for bingbot to re-crawl on its own schedule, you ping the search engine the moment you publish or update a page. It is optional, but it shortens the delay between a change going live and Bing reflecting it.
How is Bing Webmaster Tools different from Bing search itself?
Bing search is what the public uses to find pages; Bing Webmaster Tools is the private console where you manage how your own site appears there. Search returns results to visitors, while the console shows you the data behind your results and the controls to fix problems. One is the shop front, the other is the back office for your own listing.
Add the second signal in a few minutes
Storming Solutions runs SEO, AEO, and GEO for Malaysian businesses from Kuala Lumpur, and Bing Webmaster Tools is a standard part of how we set a site up. We add it not for Bing's traffic alone, but because its index now feeds Microsoft Copilot's answers.
Not sure whether your site is verified in Bing, or what to do with the data once it is? Ask us on WhatsApp, or start with our guide to SEO in Malaysia. Our SEO, AEO and GEO service covers every engine that quotes you, not just the biggest one.