Bing SEO: a checklist from Bing's own webmaster guidelines
checklist // , 5 min read, by Darthwares
To be ready for Bing, a site needs to be reachable over HTTPS, allow Bing's crawler in robots.txt, publish an XML sitemap, and be verified in Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing does not publish a score for this. Its webmaster guidelines describe what it looks for, and the checklist below turns them into things you can verify.
On this page // 5 sections
The short version
- Microsoft publishes guidelines for Bing, not a score.
- Verify the site in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit your sitemap there.
- IndexNow lets you tell Bing about changed URLs straight away.
- Most Google groundwork carries over, but Bing has to be set up separately.
Why bother with Bing
Bing has a smaller share of search than Google, but its index reaches further than its own results page. Other search products and AI assistants draw on it. A site that Bing cannot crawl cleanly is missing from more places than Bing.
The checklist
Each item can be checked from outside the site, without access to Bing's tools, except verification itself.
| Check | What to look for | How to fix it |
|---|---|---|
| HTTPS | Every page loads over HTTPS and HTTP redirects to it | Install a certificate and add a permanent redirect |
| robots.txt | The file exists and does not block bingbot | Remove disallow rules that cover pages you want indexed |
| XML sitemap | A sitemap is linked from robots.txt and lists live URLs | Generate one and submit it in Bing Webmaster Tools |
| Verification | The msvalidate.01 meta tag or another verification method is in place | Add the site in Bing Webmaster Tools and follow the steps |
| Titles and descriptions | Each page has a unique title and meta description | Write them page by page, starting with the most visited |
| Canonical URLs | Duplicate pages point to one preferred URL | Add rel=canonical on the duplicates |
| Working links | Internal links do not lead to errors | Fix or redirect broken pages |
IndexNow: tell Bing when something changes
IndexNow is an open protocol for notifying participating search engines that a URL was added, updated or deleted. Instead of waiting for the next crawl, your site sends the URL to an endpoint and the engine can fetch it soon after. Bing supports it, as do several other engines.
Many platforms and CDNs can turn it on with a setting. On a custom site it is one HTTP request per change, plus a key file hosted at the site root.
How dotmap estimates Bing readiness
Because there is no Bing score to fetch, dotmap calculates its own estimate. It checks site-level signals such as HTTPS, robots.txt, the sitemap and Bing verification, and combines them with page-level issues from the latest audit. The result is labelled as an estimate everywhere it appears.
Common questions
Does Bing have an SEO score like Lighthouse?
No. Microsoft publishes webmaster guidelines and reports inside Bing Webmaster Tools, but no public score for a URL or a site.
If I rank on Google, am I fine on Bing?
Often, but not automatically. Bing crawls and indexes independently, so verification, sitemap submission and crawl errors need checking in Bing Webmaster Tools.
What is IndexNow?
IndexNow is an open protocol that lets a website notify participating search engines, including Bing, the moment a URL is added, changed or removed.
Primary sources and further reading
Prepared with AI-assisted drafting and checked against the primary sources below. These sources support the platform and measurement claims; the examples and recommendations are dotmap analysis, not results reported by the sources.