The Bing Playbook I Actually Use — And Why It Now Reaches ChatGPT

Every SEO I know checks their Google Search Console first. Most haven’t logged into Bing Webmaster Tools in months — if they’ve ever logged in at all.

That’s a mistake I’ve been quietly capitalizing on.

Here’s the connection most SEOs don’t make: at least three major LLMs — including ChatGPT — pull from the Bing index for their search results. When you optimize for Bing, you’re not just targeting seven percent of the traditional search market. You’re seeding the index that feeds a significant slice of AI-assisted discovery.

I walked through the full playbook with Chris Garrett on the Unscripted SEO Podcast. Here’s what I actually do.

---

Step 1: Register in Bing Webmaster Tools

This sounds obvious, but most clients I pick up have never done it. Bing Webmaster Tools gives you crawl diagnostics, index coverage, and keyword data independent of Google’s ecosystem. It also unlocks the tools you need for the next steps. Create the account, verify ownership, submit your sitemap.

Step 2: Install the IndexNow Plugin

IndexNow is a protocol that pushes new content to the Bing index instantly — no waiting on Bing’s crawl schedule. There’s a WordPress plugin. Install it, connect it to your Bing Webmaster Tools account, and every new post you publish is indexed within hours instead of days or weeks.

For clients trying to establish topical authority in a niche, the speed matters. Getting indexed faster means getting into the Bing (and by extension, ChatGPT) context earlier.

Step 3: Complete Bing Business Verification

This one requires a postcard. Bing sends a physical verification card to your business address — old-school, I know, but the payoff is worth it. Once verified, your business appears on the local map inside ChatGPT search results.

That’s not a theoretical benefit. If someone asks ChatGPT about contractors, restaurants, or service providers near a specific location, verified Bing Business listings show up in the response. This is the most underused local SEO opportunity I’ve seen in years, and most local businesses have no idea it exists.

Step 4: Build Local Backlinks

Nothing exotic here, but the difference is intentionality. When I build local links for a client, I’m thinking about the Bing index as much as Google’s. Chamber of commerce listings, local news mentions, community event pages, neighborhood business associations — these create the geographic and topical signals Bing uses to evaluate local relevance.

A construction company organizing a community event and picking up a City Hall link, a local news mention, and a community event page listing — that’s what this looks like in practice. Real-world activity that the web notices.

Step 5: Leverage Social Signals

Bing has been using social signals since 2010. I know because Dwayne Forrester, a former member of the Bing search team, confirmed it publicly. Social engagement — shares, mentions, branded activity across platforms — feeds Bing’s relevance model in ways that Google either doesn’t use or doesn’t acknowledge.

Matt Brooks ran the clearest case study on this I’ve seen: a print shop client that he ran social campaigns for saw measurable Bing ranking improvements that tracked directly with social activity. Not Google — Bing.

The practical implication: if your client is active on social and you’re not measuring that in the context of Bing performance, you’re missing data.

Step 6: Run Barnacle SEO Across Owned Distribution Channels

The platforms Bing indexes most favorably are the same ones you should already be publishing on: Substack, Medium, LinkedIn Pulse, SlideShare, Reddit. I call this barnacle SEO — attaching yourself to structures that Bing (and by extension, LLMs) already trust.

Lily Ray documented how this works on the Google side: republishing underperforming site content as LinkedIn articles can capture SERP real estate through Google’s favoritism toward established UGC platforms. The same principle applies to Bing and the LLMs pulling from its index.

Each piece you publish on these platforms is another surface the AI can reference when it’s building a response about your industry, your brand, or your services.

---

Why This All Matters Now

A year ago, optimizing for Bing was a nice-to-have. Today it’s a direct path into the index that ChatGPT searches. That changes the ROI calculation entirely.

The businesses that show up in ChatGPT’s local results, that are cited in its informational responses, that appear when someone asks for recommendations in a specific niche — those are the businesses doing Bing optimization seriously. The ones that aren’t are invisible to a growing segment of search behavior, and they don’t know why.

I run this playbook for every local and regional client I work with. The time investment is low. The returns compound as AI search grows.

---

What cheeseburger.space Taught Me About Domain Assumptions

One last thing, because I get this objection a lot: “Bing doesn’t work for my industry” or “our domain isn’t established enough.”

I ranked a domain called cheeseburger.space for Nashville real estate queries. Intentionally absurd domain. Actual search visibility. The signals that matter — authority, internal link structure, topical relevance — outweigh the signals that feel like they should matter, like the domain name itself.

If cheeseburger.space can rank for real estate, your legitimate business domain can compete in Bing. You just have to show up and do the work.

---

Chris Garrett is the founder of Copyblogger and a veteran of the SEO and content marketing space. Catch his full episode on the Unscripted SEO Podcast for the full discussion on Bing, social signals, and AI visibility.