Bing's New AI Citation Tool: Should You Care?

Happy Monday morning! Hope you're on your second coffee by now.

Bing Webmaster Tools launched an "AI Performance Report" last week. We've been testing it at SEO Growth, and I wanted to share what we've found.

The tool tracks when your content gets cited in AI-generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, Bing's AI summaries, and partner platforms.

Here's what it shows:

• Which pages are cited in AI answers

• How often citations happen over time

• What "grounding queries" (search phrases) trigger your content

Here's what it doesn't show:

• Traffic

• Clicks

• Conversions

• Enquiries

Sound familiar? It's the same pattern we saw with featured snippets years ago. Everyone got excited about "position zero" visibility. Then they checked their analytics and realised it wasn't moving the needle.

The Real Question

Getting cited in an AI answer means your content was referenced. That's it. It doesn't mean someone visited your site. It doesn't mean they called you. It doesn't mean you got a lead.

I've worked with businesses that had perfect technical SEO, loads of visibility, and zero enquiries. I've also seen messy websites that converted like crazy because they understood what drove action.

Visibility without action is just vanity.

What This Actually Means for Your Business

If you're tracking AI citations, track what happens after:

• Did enquiries increase?

• Did organic traffic change?

• Did anything actually move in your business?

Otherwise, you're just counting mentions.

The tool shows "grounding queries" – phrases the AI used when retrieving your content. These aren't full user questions. They're grouped keywords that might give you insights into what topics your content covers well.

Should You Use It?

Sure. It's free data from Bing. Check it monthly if you're curious about AI visibility trends.

But don't kid yourself into thinking citations equal results. Track what matters: leads, calls, sales.

Your analytics will tell you if AI citations are worth the attention. Here's the help doc if you want to read more.

Want to talk through what this means for your business? I'm happy to jump on a call and look at your specific situation. Book a time with me here.