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How Do Bing, Copilot, and IndexNow Work Together?

They form a chain. IndexNow tells Bing that a page has been added, changed or removed. Bing then decides whether to crawl and index it. Microsoft Copilot retrieves content from Bing's index when it answers, and Bing Webmaster Tools reports which of your pages Copilot cited and for which grounding queries. Microsoft says IndexNow helps AI systems reference the most current version of a page, and that accurate lastmod dates in your sitemap help Bing prioritise recrawling. What IndexNow does not do is guarantee indexing or citation. It only shortens the time before Bing looks. Whether Copilot then uses the page depends on whether it is indexed, relevant and useful for the question.

How does the chain work?

Step Tool What happens
1. Notify IndexNow Your site pings an endpoint with the changed URL; Bing and other participants are told
2. Crawl and index Bing Bing decides when to crawl, based on crawl quota, scheduling and quality signals
3. Keep coverage Sitemaps Your XML sitemap, with accurate lastmod, gives Bing the full list and change dates
4. Retrieve Copilot For a question, Copilot runs grounding queries against Bing's index and cites pages it uses
5. Measure Bing Webmaster Tools AI Performance shows citations, cited pages and grounding queries

Does IndexNow tell Microsoft Copilot that my new product page is ready to retrieve?

Not directly. IndexNow notifies Bing, not Copilot. Bing then decides whether and when to crawl the page. Once the page is in Bing's index, Copilot can retrieve it when a question calls for it. The IndexNow FAQ is clear that submitting a URL does not guarantee indexing; each engine weighs crawl quota, scheduling and quality.

For product pages there is a second route. Microsoft Advertising says product feeds from Microsoft Merchant Center help inform Copilot's organic shopping results. So a new product should go into your Merchant Center feed as well as being announced through IndexNow. Feed options are compared in which AI platforms accept content feeds.

What does Microsoft say about IndexNow and AI answers?

In February 2026, when Microsoft launched AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools, it wrote that accurate, up-to-date content is important for inclusion and citation in AI-generated answers. It added that IndexNow "helps ensure that AI systems reference the most current version of a page when generating answers", by notifying search engines when content is added, updated or removed.

In 2025, Bing also stressed that sitemaps remain foundational alongside IndexNow. It said the lastmod field helps Bing prioritise URLs for recrawling, or skip them if unchanged, and that lastmod should use ISO 8601 format with both date and time. For AI-powered search, it said, freshness signals affect how quickly updates reach search results and AI answers.

How does Copilot use Bing's index?

Copilot grounds its answers in web content retrieved from Bing. Bing Webmaster Tools calls the searches it runs "grounding queries": the key phrases the AI used when retrieving content that it referenced in an answer. The AI Performance report shows:

  • Total citations of your pages in Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing, and some partner integrations. Bing describes these counts as a sample of overall citation activity, so compare trends over several weeks rather than single days.
  • Cited pages, and how many unique pages were cited each day.
  • Grounding queries, with a mapping between queries and pages added in 2026.
  • Intents, topics, citation share and comparisons, added in a June 2026 update.

Being ranked in Bing and being cited by Copilot are related but not identical, because Copilot picks passages that answer the question. The report is covered in what Bing Webmaster Tools shows for AI, and wider Bing optimisation in why Bing matters for AI search visibility.

How do you set up the chain?

  1. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools. You can import sites from Google Search Console.
  2. Submit your XML sitemap, with lastmod dates that change only when content changes, in full ISO 8601 format.
  3. Turn on IndexNow through your CMS, SEO plugin or CDN. Many platforms support it with a setting.
  4. Notify on real changes: new pages, meaningful updates and deletions. Do not resubmit unchanged pages.
  5. Check indexing in Bing Webmaster Tools' URL inspection for important pages.
  6. Watch AI Performance for citations and grounding queries, and compare them with the questions you want to be cited for.
  7. For products, keep a Microsoft Merchant Center feed in sync with your site.
  8. For local businesses, keep Bing Places current, since Copilot often cites it for local facts, as covered in why Copilot cites Bing Places but not your location page.

Why is my page still not cited after an IndexNow submission?

Work down the chain:

  1. Was the submission accepted? Your platform or the IndexNow endpoint should return a success response; a missing or wrong key means nothing was sent.
  2. Did Bing crawl the page? Check URL inspection and your server logs for Bingbot after the submission.
  3. Is it indexed? Pages can be crawled but not indexed if they are thin, duplicated or marked noindex. A page blocked by robots.txt is not crawled at all, so check for that at step 2.
  4. Does it answer the question? Compare your page with those Copilot cites for the grounding queries you care about, and look at what they cover that you do not.
  5. Is another source preferred? For local facts, Copilot often uses Bing Places; for products, merchant feeds.

Steps 3 and 4 are where a page that was submitted correctly usually needs work: a notification only gets the page seen; the content decides whether it is used.

What does IndexNow not do?

  • It does not guarantee indexing or citation.
  • It does not improve rankings or make Copilot prefer your page.
  • It does not reach Google, which does not use IndexNow.
  • It does not replace sitemaps, which Bing still treats as the foundation for full coverage.
  • It does not reach Perplexity, which is not a participant, as covered in whether IndexNow improves Perplexity visibility.

We have not measured how quickly IndexNow submissions turn into Copilot citations. This page is based on Microsoft's Bing Webmaster blog posts, Bing Webmaster Tools help and the IndexNow FAQ.

What might this look like in practice?

Consider an illustrative electronics retailer, Morvholt, that launched a new range of portable power stations. It added the product pages to its sitemap with timestamps, sent them through IndexNow from its ecommerce platform, and added the products to its Microsoft Merchant Center feed the same day. Bing crawled the pages within two days. A week later, Bing Webmaster Tools' AI Performance report showed the buying guide for power stations cited in Copilot answers, with grounding queries such as "best portable power station for camping". The team updated the guide's comparison table when a model sold out, and resubmitted it through IndexNow.

What do people ask about Bing, Copilot and IndexNow?

Does Copilot use Bing's index?

Yes. Copilot grounds its answers in content retrieved from Bing, and Bing Webmaster Tools reports those citations.

How fast does IndexNow get a page into Copilot?

There is no guaranteed time. IndexNow prompts Bing to crawl sooner; indexing and citation still depend on the page.

Do I still need a sitemap if I use IndexNow?

Yes. Bing says sitemaps remain foundational for full coverage, with IndexNow for immediate changes.

Can I see which queries led Copilot to my page?

Yes. Bing Webmaster Tools' AI Performance report shows grounding queries and cited pages.

Published by The Kovmere Team · updated Sep 29, 2026 · More resources