How does Copilot find the pages it recommends?
Microsoft's documentation states that when Copilot uses web search, it parses your prompt, generates a search query and sends it to the Bing Search service. So if a page is not in Bing, Copilot will struggle to read it. This comes from the Microsoft Learn page on Microsoft 365 Copilot (the work version), checked on 2026-11-06; the page's metadata date is 2026-07-09.
Whether the consumer Copilot site works exactly the same way was not confirmed against an official source this time: unverified. Microsoft has also not published how Copilot ranks or picks sources, and we do not guess.
Step one: how do you get a page into Bing's index?
1. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools
You can import directly from Google Search Console. Step by step in How to set up Bing Webmaster Tools: import, sitemap and IndexNow step by step.
2. Submit the sitemap, with the real modification time as lastmod
Bing says it crawls right after submission and rechecks at least daily. Sitemap details are also in How to set up Bing Webmaster Tools: import, sitemap and IndexNow step by step.
3. Notify new and changed pages with IndexNow
IndexNow is a real-time supplement and does not guarantee indexing. See What is IndexNow, and does it matter for AI search?.
4. Check the indexed page count in Bing Webmaster Tools
The indexed page count is the first number to watch. Without indexing, nothing else matters.
What is Microsoft's new AI Grounding preference?
Bing's 2026-10-30 blog post separates two things: training (content may be used to train models) and grounding (content used as input to generate answers in Bing, Copilot and Microsoft 365, and which can cite the source). Microsoft stresses that traditional search indexing and ranking is not grounding, that neither preference guarantees traffic or inclusion, and that neither affects your eligibility in regular Bing search.
| Preference | How to set it | Values |
|---|---|---|
| AI Training | In robots.txt use the __usage_ai-training user agent, or a page-level marker (page level wins) | Allow / Disallow as in robots.txt |
| AI Grounding | Page level only: meta tag or X-Robots-Tag; robots.txt has no site-wide setting | Allow (default), DisallowExtended, Disallow |
To let Copilot cite you, do nothing: the default is Allow. You only need to set it if you do not want to be cited, for example:
<meta name="Bingbot" content="ai-grounding:disallow">
DisallowExtended means only Microsoft's own products (Copilot, Microsoft 365) may use the page, excluding third-party grounding services. The timetable (published by Microsoft):
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 2026-12-15 | Bing Webmaster Tools starts accepting temporary grounding preferences |
| 2027-02-01 | New preferences take effect as pages are crawled |
| 2027-03-01 | Deadline: NoArchive and NoCache are no longer read as preferences |
| 2027-09-30 | Temporary preferences expire |
If your pages currently use NoArchive or NoCache, this timetable applies to you. Source: Bing's 2026-10-30 blog post, checked on 2026-11-06.
How do you know whether Copilot cites you?
Bing Webmaster Tools opened the AI Performance report in public preview on 2026-02-10. It shows how your content is cited in Microsoft Copilot, Bing's AI summaries and some partner experiences: total citations, average cited pages, grounding queries (Microsoft says they are a sample), citations per URL and the trend.
Microsoft says plainly: the report reflects how often pages are cited, not page ranking, authority or placement within an answer.
What does a real site's Bing data look like?
Data from MochiStamp (a LINE sticker site), read on 2026-11-06:
| Metric | Number | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Pages indexed by Bing | 9 → 27 | 2026-10-22 → 11-02 |
| Bing impressions / clicks | 56 / 2 | 2026-10-20 to 11-03 |
| Google search impressions / clicks | 2,784 / 73 | 2026-10-13 to 11-05 |
| GA4 sessions from source bing / organic | 3 (0 engaged) | 2026-10-14 to 11-01 |
None of the three sites' GA4 sources contains a Copilot or Microsoft source, so we cannot say how many visits Copilot brought and we do not give a number. Bing's volume is far smaller than Google's; what you can do is keep Bing in good order as one entry point for AI citations.
How is this different from other AI assistants?
ChatGPT depends on OpenAI's own crawlers, see How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my product?; Gemini depends on Google's index, see How do I get Google Gemini to recommend my product?; for Claude see How Do I Get Claude to Recommend My Product?. What Copilot shares with them is that your content has to be read first; the difference is that Copilot's entry point is Bing. Whether ChatGPT also uses Bing is covered in Does ChatGPT search use Bing's index? Should you submit to Bing?.
FAQ
Does Microsoft Copilot use Bing's index?
Microsoft Learn states that when Microsoft 365 Copilot uses web search, it generates a query and sends it to the Bing Search service. Whether the consumer Copilot is exactly the same was not confirmed against an official source: unverified.
Should I submit to Bing Webmaster Tools?
Yes. It is the most direct way to get pages into Bing's index: import from Google Search Console, then submit the sitemap.
What is the default AI Grounding preference?
The default is Allow, meaning your content may be used to generate answers and be cited. Disallow and DisallowExtended must be set at page level.
How do I see whether Copilot cites me?
Use the AI Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools (public preview since 2026-02-10). Microsoft says it shows citation frequency, not ranking.
Can I be guaranteed a Copilot recommendation?
No. Microsoft has not published ranking rules, and says neither preference guarantees traffic or inclusion.
Sources
- Microsoft · Data, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft Copilot （Checked 2026-11）
- Bing · Your content, your choice: clearer preferences for training and grounding (2026-10-30) （Checked 2026-11）
- Bing · Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools (public preview) （Checked 2026-11）
- kagentx evaluations: the data on the case study pages; each example gives its date.