AIO Citations Exposed in Bing
Bing Opens the Door to AI Citation Insights with New AI Performance Report
For the first time, Bing is giving website owners real visibility into how their content is used in generative AI responses — and it marks a big shift in how we measure content discovery in the age of AI.
On February 10, 2026, Microsoft officially rolled out AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools as a public preview. This dedicated dashboard lets you see how often your content is cited by AI systems across Microsoft Copilot, Bing AI summaries, and supported partner integrations.
What’s New in AI Performance
Instead of focusing solely on clicks and rankings like traditional search analytics, Bing’s AI Performance report measures AI citation visibility — meaning when your pages are referenced as sources in AI-generated answers.
Where to find it:
Under AI Performance in Bing Webmaster tools
The new dashboard currently tracks:
• Total Citations
How many times your content is referenced as a source in AI answers during a selected period.
• Average Cited Pages
The daily average number of unique URLs from your site that are cited across AI experiences.
• Grounding Queries
A sample of the internal phrases AI systems used to locate and cite your content when generating answers.
• Page-Level Citation Activity
Breakdowns of which URLs from your site are referenced most often.
• Visibility Trends Over Time
A timeline showing how citation activity increases or decreases.
Unlike traditional search reporting, this update doesn’t include click-through data — it focuses purely on how often your content is used to support AI-generated answers.
Why This Update Matters
This is the first time a major search platform has given publishers first-party AI citation data inside an official tool. Until now, AI search visibility has been largely opaque — marketers had to rely on third-party estimates or indirect signals.
With the new AI Performance report, you can now:
• Confirm which pages are being used as sources in AI answers
• See what kinds of queries trigger those citations
• Compare citation trends over time
• Identify gaps where strong content might not yet be cited
This moves generative search optimization — what some call Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — from speculation to measurement.
How to Use AI Citation Data Strategically
The metrics open up new strategic opportunities:
Identify High-Value AI Content
Pages with frequent citations are seen as trusted knowledge sources — even if they don’t drive traditional search traffic yet.
Improve Underutilized Pages
If high-impression content isn’t being cited, refining structure, clarity, and topical depth can boost AI visibility.
Grounding Queries as Intent Signals
Grounding queries give insight into how AI interprets search intent, revealing opportunities beyond standard keyword tools.
Track Trends Instead of Guessing
The timeline lets you correlate updates with changes in AI visibility — valuable for measuring optimization impact.
What Bing AIO Doesn’t Show … Yet
- It doesn’t report clicks or CTR for AI citations. You’ll still need analytics tools to measure actual traffic impact.
- The grounding query list is a sample, not a full data log. It reflects patterns but won’t show every query.
A New Frontier for Search Visibility
Search is no longer just about blue links. AI-powered answers increasingly deliver insight without a click. Being cited within those answers is a new form of visibility — and Bing’s AI Performance report is the first major tool to make that measurable.
If your content powers AI answers, you now have the data to prove it.