Skip to content
SideIncomeHQ
Tool deep dive

Bing Webmaster Tools: free tools Google does not give you

Almost every guide mentions Bing Webmaster Tools in a sentence and moves on to Google, which skips a tool that costs $0 and takes about 20 minutes to set up.

That is a mistake, not because Bing sends much traffic, but because it hands you keyword volumes with real numbers, a built-in technical site scan, and instant indexing via IndexNow, all free.

Setup runs about 20 minutes, there is no paid tier waiting behind it, and $0 is the whole price.

See the free toolsCompare alternatives

Last updated

Price
Free
Setup
~20 minutes
Best at
Free extras
Watch for
Bing audience
At a glance
Free tools Bing gives you that Google does not
Bing Webmaster: Free. Paid site audit: $129/mo. Paid keyword tool: $29/moBing WebmasterKeyword data, site scan, IndexNowFreePaid site auditEquivalent in an all-in-one$129/moPaid keyword toolEquivalent exact volumes$29/mo
Bars drawn to scale, per month. Free tiers shown in amber.
Webmaster desk with printed site report annotated in amber ink beside angled monitors
Quick facts
Built for
Your site's performance in Bing, plus free research tools Google does not offer
Price
Free, with no paid tier
Setup shortcut
Import your properties directly from Google Search Console
Underrated feature
Keyword Research with actual numbers, not bucketed ranges
Why it matters now
Bing's index feeds several AI assistants and Copilot experiences

some competitors might be buying from link farms that hide their… domains from Simrush and from AIS, but obviously they don't hide them from Bing. And so this is a place they'll turn up.

David Quaid, SEO consultant since 2002; founder, Primary Position (NYC) Source: Free SEO Tools with David Quaid, The Edward Show, E871
Why this matters

A capability the free tool has that the paid market leaders don't, the strongest non-obvious argument for keeping a free backlink source in the stack.

$0
Cost
No paid tier, no upsell, no seat limits
~20 min
To set up properly
Less if you import from Search Console
16 months
Of data retained
Comparable to Search Console

Feature set checked August 2026. Microsoft adds to this dashboard regularly and rarely announces it loudly.

The real argument for setting it up

Bing Webmaster Tools setup takes about 20 minutes, and the shortcut is the direct import from a verified Search Console property rather than a fresh DNS verification.

It is not the traffic. For most sites Bing delivers a modest fraction of what Google does, and no amount of dashboard attention changes that materially. The argument is that Microsoft gives away, for free, three things Google either charges for indirectly or does not offer at all.

Free keyword volumes with actual figures instead of Keyword Planner's wide buckets. A technical site scan built into the dashboard, where Google offers nothing equivalent.

And IndexNow, which pushes changed URLs for near-immediate crawling rather than queueing one request at a time. Any one of those justifies twenty minutes; together they make skipping it hard to defend.

Setting up in twenty minutes

  1. Sign in and import from Search Console. Verification carries across; this is the whole setup for most people.
  2. Or verify manually with a DNS record, XML file or meta tag if the import does not fit your setup.
  3. Submit your sitemap, exactly as you did for Google.
  4. Enable IndexNow, either in the dashboard or through your CMS plugin.
  5. Run the Site Scan and read the findings. This is the payoff on day one.

The keyword tool nobody talks about

Bing's Keyword Research returns actual search volumes, not the 100–1K style ranges Keyword Planner shows unless you are spending on ads.

The figures describe Bing's audience, which skews older and more desktop-heavy, so do not treat them as Google volumes. But when two keywords sit in the same Keyword Planner bucket and you cannot tell them apart, a real number from Bing is often the tiebreaker. And it is free.

Stapled website crawl report with reading glasses and an amber sticky flag
Feature by feature

What it offers, against the Google equivalent

Three rows in this table have no Google counterpart, or a materially worse one. Those three are the reason to bother.

Bing Webmaster Tools features compared with the equivalent Google offering
Bing Webmaster Tools features compared with the equivalent Google offering
Keyword ResearchSearch volumes with actual figures, plus related termsKeyword Planner. But bucketed into ranges unless you advertise
Site ScanA crawl-based technical audit inside the dashboardNone. You need Screaming Frog or a paid platform
IndexNowPush new and changed URLs for near-immediate crawlingRequest indexing, one URL at a time, with a queue
Search PerformanceQueries, clicks, impressions and position, Bing-sideSearch Console Performance
BacklinksYour own profile plus a limited competitor comparisonSearch Console shows your links only
URL InspectionHow Bing sees and renders a specific pageSearch Console URL inspection

IndexNow, and why it is genuinely useful

IndexNow is an open protocol that notifies participating search engines the instant a URL is published, updated or removed. Instead of waiting for a crawler to come round, you tell it. Many content platforms and SEO plugins support it out of the box, so enabling it is often a checkbox rather than a project.

The benefit is largest for sites that publish or update frequently, and for anyone who has ever changed a URL and then waited weeks to see the change reflected. Google does not participate in the same way, its request-indexing flow is manual and queued, so this remains one of the clearest places where Bing's tooling is simply better.

The AI angle, stated carefully

Bing's index underpins several AI assistant and Copilot experiences, which means being present and correctly indexed there is no longer purely a question of Bing's own search share. That is worth knowing, and worth not over-reading. Nobody outside those companies knows precisely how retrieval and citation work, and the field is changing quickly.

The practical response is unchanged. Be indexed, be well structured, be genuinely useful. Every reliable route into an AI answer runs through the same fundamentals that earn ordinary rankings, which is why we treat AI visibility as a reason to do the basics properly rather than as a separate discipline.

Worth doing on day one

  • Import from Search Console: two clicks, done.
  • Submit the sitemap and enable IndexNow.
  • Run Site Scan and fix whatever it flags. This is free technical auditing.
  • Bookmark Keyword Research as your free volume tiebreaker.

Not worth doing

  • Building a separate Bing strategy. There is no meaningful second playbook.
  • Checking it weekly. Monthly is generous for most sites.
  • Treating Bing keyword volumes as Google volumes: different audience.
  • Worrying about Bing rankings before Google ones are healthy.

Nobody installs Bing Webmaster Tools for the Bing traffic. You install it for the free keyword and backlink data Google does not hand out.

SideIncomeHQ editorial
Why this matters

Judge it on the data, not the search share. It is also the index a meaningful share of AI assistants read from.

Three free wins

Three things to take from Bing back to your Google work

Every one of these improves a site that gets almost all its traffic from Google.

Win 1

Free technical audit

Site Scan finds broken links, missing titles and redirect faults without installing anything. Those faults are the same ones hurting you in Google. The crawler that found them is irrelevant.

Win 2

A second opinion on queries

Bing's performance report sometimes surfaces query phrasings Search Console filters out as too rare. Those are content ideas you would not otherwise have seen.

Win 3

Real volume numbers

When Keyword Planner gives you a 100–1K bucket for two candidate keywords, Bing's actual figures usually break the tie for free.

How much attention it deserves

Set it up once, check it monthly, and act on the Site Scan. That is the correct level of investment for almost every site. Bing is not where your traffic decision gets made, and treating it as a second front is how people end up busy rather than effective.

What it deserves is the twenty minutes: because the free tools inside it are better than several things people pay for, and because a second independent view of your own site occasionally catches something the first one missed.

Source: Google Search Central SEO Starter Guide

Where this fits in the wider stack

Microsoft's webmaster suite is part of the free stack in our full tool comparison, after Search Console and Analytics 4. Its Site Scan overlaps usefully with Screaming Frog, and its keyword numbers complement Keyword Planner.

Where this sits
The spending ladder, bottom rung first
Free stack ($0): Search Console, GA4, Trends, Keyword Planner. Budget suite ($11–49): Mangools, Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic. Mid all-in-one ($49–129): SE Ranking, Morningscore. Paid platform ($99–449): Ahrefs, Semrush, Surfer The highlighted rung is free.Paid platformAhrefs, Semrush, Surfer$99–449Mid all-in-oneSE Ranking, Morningscore$49–129Budget suiteMangools, Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic$11–49Free stackSearch Console, GA4, Trends, Keyword Planner$0YOU ARE HERE
Rung one. Twenty minutes of setup for three tools you would otherwise pay for.
Method

How we researched Bing Webmaster Tools

No multi-month hands-on trial of Bing Webmaster Tools sits behind this page, and nothing here implies one does. The figures come from the vendor's own published documentation and plan pages, checked in August 2026, read alongside the pattern of complaints and praise in public user reviews.

Our full sourcing standard, including the four claims we deliberately never make, is set out in our what we do and do not claim.

The commercial part, stated plainly

  • There are no affiliate links on this page. The tool it covers is free.
  • The order of our recommendations is not for sale, and never has been.
  • Full terms are in our disclosure policy.
FAQ

Bing Webmaster Tools: your questions, answered straight

Can I import my Search Console property instead of verifying again?

Yes. Bing documents a direct import from a verified Search Console property, which is why setup is usually minutes rather than a DNS round trip. Import it, then confirm the site is actually being crawled before you draw conclusions from the reports.

Does Bing Webmaster Tools give keyword data Google does not?

It does: Bing publishes keyword research data with no free Google equivalent, since Keyword Planner reports advertiser demand in ranges rather than organic numbers.

Is Bing Webmaster Tools worth using if most of my traffic is from Google?

Yes, for reasons that have little to do with Bing traffic. It is free, it takes about twenty minutes, and it gives you three things Google does not: keyword research with actual search volumes rather than bucketed ranges, a built-in technical site scan, and IndexNow for pushing URL changes for near-immediate crawling. Even if Bing sends you very little traffic, those tools are useful for a site that ranks primarily on Google.

How do I set it up?

Sign in and choose the option to import your sites from Google Search Console. It carries verification across and is by far the fastest route. Otherwise verify manually with a DNS record, an XML file or a meta tag, then submit your sitemap. Data begins accumulating from verification onward and does not backfill, which is the same argument for doing it sooner rather than later.

What is IndexNow?

An open protocol, backed by Bing among others, that lets you notify search engines the moment a URL is published, updated or deleted, rather than waiting for a crawl. Many CMS platforms and plugins support it directly. On a site that publishes frequently it is a genuine advantage, and it is one of the clearest cases where Bing's tooling is simply ahead of Google's manual request-indexing queue.

Is Bing's keyword data better than Google Keyword Planner?

In one specific way, yes: it gives you actual numbers rather than the wide ranges Keyword Planner shows to accounts without ad spend. The caveat is that the figures reflect Bing's search population, which skews older and more desktop-oriented than Google's. Use it for relative comparison and to break ties between keywords stuck in the same Keyword Planner bucket, not as a direct substitute for Google volumes.

Does Bing matter more now because of AI assistants?

It has become a more interesting question than it used to be. Bing's index underpins several AI assistant and Copilot experiences, so presence in that index is no longer only about Bing's own search share. This is worth noting rather than over-claiming. The practical advice is unchanged, because being properly indexed and genuinely useful is what earns inclusion in either place.

What is the Site Scan feature?

A crawl-based technical audit built into the dashboard: broken links, missing titles and descriptions, redirect problems and similar issues, with no desktop software required. It is less thorough than a dedicated crawler, but it is free, cloud-based and requires nothing installed. For a small site it can substitute entirely for a separate audit tool.

How much traffic does Bing actually send?

For most sites, a modest single-digit percentage of Google's, though it varies a lot by audience: older, desktop-heavy and enterprise audiences skew noticeably higher. Check your own Analytics rather than assuming. The setup case does not rest on the traffic anyway; it rests on the free tools and the second, independent view of your own site.

Do Google and Bing rank pages the same way?

Broadly similar fundamentals, different emphases. Both reward useful, well-structured, technically sound pages. Bing has historically been somewhat more responsive to exact-match signals and social presence, and its index updates on a different cadence. In practice you do not need a separate strategy: a site built properly for Google performs reasonably in Bing without special effort.

Twenty minutes, three free tools, no catch

Import from Search Console, run the Site Scan, and keep the keyword tool bookmarked. See how it fits with the rest of the free stack.

See the free stack

Sources

  1. Bing Webmaster ToolsMicrosoftread 2026-09-05
  2. SEO Starter Guide: The BasicsGoogle Search Centralread 2026-09-05

Want your tool or offer in front of this audience?

We take a small number of sponsored posts and advertising placements each month, every one of them labelled. Tell us what you are promoting and we reply within two business days with rates and the next open slot. Everything we publish sits on SideIncomeHQ, and the archive is open before you decide.

Enquire about a sponsored post

Rates and formats come back with the reply. Every placement is labelled.

Advertise with us