Why do keyword research for Bing?
Bing is the default search engine in Microsoft Edge and Windows, and its search index also powers Microsoft Copilot's web answers. If your customers use Microsoft products at work or at home, some of them may find businesses like yours through Bing.
Bing has its own search volumes, costs per click and advertiser competition, and they do not always follow Google's numbers. This tool shows Bing's side, so you can plan pages and ads for both search engines instead of guessing from Google data alone.
Where the Bing keyword data comes from
The keyword ideas and numbers come from Microsoft Advertising, the platform that runs ads on Bing (formerly called Bing Ads). For each idea you get:
- Monthly Bing search volume: about how many times a month people search for the keyword on Bing.
- CPC: the cost per click advertisers see for the keyword on Microsoft Advertising.
- Competition: low, medium or high, a measure of how competitive the keyword is among advertisers.
Ideas are sorted by search volume, so the biggest searches sit at the top. You can check seven countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Germany and France. Export the full list to CSV when you are done.
How to read the results
Expect smaller volumes than Google. Fewer people search on Bing than on Google, so the same keyword usually shows a lower monthly volume here. Judge keywords against each other within Bing rather than against Google numbers.
Use CPC as a value signal. A high cost per click means advertisers are willing to pay for that search, usually because it leads to sales. Even if you never run ads, high-CPC keywords often point to the searches that bring buyers rather than browsers.
Read competition as paid competition. The competition level describes advertisers, not organic rankings. A keyword with high ad competition can still be easy to rank for organically, and the reverse is also true. To judge how hard a keyword is to rank for on Google, use the keyword difficulty checker.
How to use Bing keyword data
Bing data is useful for more than ads. Here are four ways to put it to work:
- Plan Microsoft Advertising campaigns. Start with high-volume ideas that match what you sell, then check each CPC against what a new customer is worth to you.
- Find content ideas. Look through the list for questions and problems your pages do not answer yet, and plan new pages or sections around them.
- Compare with Google. Run the same seed in our keyword generator to see Google volume, keyword difficulty and search intent. Keywords that do well on both engines make strong priorities.
- Build a shared plan. Export the list to CSV and add it to your keyword plan or campaign sheet, so content and ads work from the same data.
Bing, Copilot and AI search
Because Bing's search index also powers Microsoft Copilot's web answers, Bing is part of how your brand shows up in AI search, not only in the classic list of results. Pages that are in Bing's index are pages Copilot can draw on when it searches the web.
A few basics help. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, submit your XML sitemap there and check that your important pages are indexed. Then make sure those pages answer the questions in your keyword list clearly and directly.
Bing Webmaster Tools also shows the searches that already bring your site impressions and clicks on Bing, which is a good check on the ideas you find here. For a plan that covers Google, Bing and AI assistants together, see our AI search optimization service.
Tips for better Bing keyword research
Small changes in how you search give you a better list. Try these:
- Try several seeds. Use your product name, the problem you solve and the words customers use on sales calls.
- Check each country you sell in. Volumes and costs differ by market, so run the same seed for every country that matters to you.
- Look past the top of the list. Lower-volume ideas are often more specific, and specific searches tend to show clearer intent.
- Group ideas by intent. Sort the exported list into buying, comparing and learning searches, then match each group to a page type: service pages, comparison pages or guides.