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Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools

You don't choose between these two: both are free, and every site should verify with both. The useful question is what each one shows that the other doesn't.

Search Console is Google's record of your site in Google Search: queries, clicks, impressions, position, indexing and URL inspection. Bing Webmaster Tools covers Bing, and adds things Google doesn't offer: keyword research, a backlinks report, IndexNow submissions and, since a February 2026 public preview, an AI Performance report showing how often your pages are cited in Microsoft Copilot and Bing's AI summaries.

Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools side by side

From each product’s own site or our research, at the time of writing (September 2026). Prices and terms change, so check before you decide.

Comparison of Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
Feature	Google Search Console	Bing Webmaster Tools
Price	Free	Free
Performance history	16 months (per Google's 2018 launch post)	Up to 16 months
AI answers	AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic counted inside the Web search type; no separate report	AI Performance (preview): citations in Copilot and Bing AI summaries, citation share
Indexing	URL Inspection, sitemaps, index coverage	URL Inspection, sitemaps, IndexNow and URL submission
Backlinks	Links report (top linking sites)	Backlinks report
Keyword research	No	Yes
Site audit	No crawler; Core Web Vitals and rich results reports	Site Scan
Setup shortcut	Verify via DNS, HTML file, tag and more	Import sites from Search Console

Which should you pick?

Pick Google Search Console if…

Always. Google sends most search traffic for most sites.
You want URL Inspection straight from Google's index.
You want to find pages with impressions but few clicks, the fastest SEO wins we know.

Google Search Console’s site

Pick Bing Webmaster Tools if…

Also always. It takes minutes if you import from Search Console.
You want to see citations in Copilot and Bing's AI answers.
You want IndexNow to tell search engines about changes quickly.

Bing Webmaster Tools’s site

Where LaunchRanked fits

Disclosure: LaunchRanked is our product. Where we list it, we say so, and we place it under the use case it fits rather than at the top by default. Everything else here is from the vendors’ own sites or our research, and we say where they’re better.

Autopilot is built on Search Console. Each month it reads your queries and positions and rewrites titles and snippets on pages ranking on page 1–2 but earning few clicks. On Versely, our own product, that was the biggest single lever: 925 clicks and 152k impressions over three months, most of the growth after mid-August.

Search Console tells you what's happening; Autopilot ($49/mo, early access) acts on it. Our free tools also help with the checks both consoles point you to.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Bing Webmaster Tools if I have Search Console?

Yes. It's free, it covers Bing and the AI products built on it, and you can import your Search Console sites in a few clicks.

Does Search Console show AI Overviews traffic?

Google's documentation says appearances in AI features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in overall traffic under the Web search type. There's no separate AI report.

What is IndexNow?

A free, open protocol for telling participating search engines that a URL was added, updated or deleted. Bing Webmaster Tools supports it.

Sources we checked

Checked on their own sites on 23 September 2026. Prices and terms change, so check before you buy. Domain ratings are approximate third-party estimates.

Bing's about page requires JavaScript; Bing facts come from Microsoft's official Bing blogs.