Bing Indexing via IndexNow
IndexNow is an open protocol developed jointly by Microsoft (Bing) and Yandex. The mechanic is straightforward: rather than waiting for Bing's crawler to discover your page on its own schedule, you actively push a signal — an HTTP request containing the URL and an authentication key. Bing responds by pulling that URL into a prioritized crawl queue ahead of everything it would have picked up passively.
How IndexNow actually works under the hood
You place a plain-text key file at the root of your server. FastIndexing generates that key and then fires the IndexNow API request to api.indexnow.org. From there, Bing receives and processes the signal internally — and Yandex picks it up simultaneously from the same endpoint. One API call, two search engines.
An important framing note: IndexNow is a crawl signal, not an indexing guarantee. Bing still applies its own quality judgment before adding a URL to the index. Thin content, duplicate pages, or technically broken URLs do not get a pass because you signaled them. The protocol moves your URL to the front of the line; what Bing does with it once it crawls is Bing's call.
Why Bing Matters for AI Search (Copilot)
Microsoft Copilot — in the browser, in Windows, in Teams and Office 365 — pulls live web content directly from the Bing index. If your pages are not indexed in Bing, Copilot cannot cite them. That is not speculation; it is the documented architecture: Copilot with web grounding uses Bing as its underlying data source.
This changes the prioritization math for a lot of sites. Even if your audience is primarily a Google audience by habit, any research that runs through Microsoft tooling — Edge, the Windows search bar, Copilot in Word or Excel — routes through Bing. B2B companies operating in Microsoft-365 environments should pay particular attention: a vendor that does not appear in Copilot is invisible at the AI-assisted stage of the buying process.
### Bing indexing as an AI visibility signal
AI search layers weight recency alongside relevance. When Bing receives an IndexNow signal the moment you publish, Copilot can draw on that content in real time rather than waiting for the next passive crawl cycle to surface it. For news publishers, event pages, e-commerce product listings, or any content with a short shelf life, that timing difference is concrete. A crawl that happens three weeks late returns information that is already stale.
For a full breakdown of how to get indexed on Google — different channels, different rules — see Google indexing.
IndexNow Without Search Console
Google Search Console is the default tool most practitioners reach for, but it has real constraints: it requires verified domain ownership, it is scoped entirely to Google, and setup involves DNS records or HTML tags. IndexNow does not share any of those requirements. There is no GSC needed, no ownership confirmation, no Google-specific handshake.
That makes IndexNow particularly useful in agency work. You can submit URLs for client domains without needing GSC access. Staging environments, newly launched domains, bulk CMS deployments, sites without a dedicated technical contact — all of these work fine. As long as the key file is on the server, FastIndexing can start signaling Bing right away.
When IndexNow alone is enough
If your primary goal is Bing visibility — US market, older demographic skewing toward Windows defaults, B2B with Microsoft infrastructure — IndexNow is the most direct path available. No approval queue, no intermediary layer. You supply URLs, the protocol handles the communication.
For Google, you need different channels: GSC sitemaps, internal linking and backlink discovery signals, or the GSC Indexing API for eligible content types. We cover all of those on /google-indexing. The channels are not mutually exclusive; FastIndexing processes both.
Bing Webmaster Tools vs. FastIndexing
Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT) is Microsoft's free console — the official toolset for crawl statistics, keyword data, sitemap submission, and manual URL submission. For a small site or a one-off submission of a few pages, BWT is a reasonable starting point and costs nothing.
The ceiling shows up fast. Manual BWT submission has a daily limit, it is designed for individual entries, and there is no automation layer. An agency managing dozens of client domains, or a publisher pushing hundreds of new URLs per day, will hit that ceiling fast.
What FastIndexing adds
FastIndexing fires IndexNow signals programmatically, in bulk, with a log of every URL submitted and the timestamp it was sent. You can track signaled URLs in the dashboard and verify actual indexing rates through the index checker. Whether and when Bing crawls and indexes a given URL remains Bing's decision — FastIndexing optimizes the signal, not Bing's internal quality assessment.
For agencies with multiple client domains: one FastIndexing account, all domains, automated submission triggered at publish time. Manual BWT entry stops being a workflow at all.
The Limit: Bing Is Not Google
Honesty first. Bing holds a small share of the global search market — under 10% in most European countries, somewhat higher in the US, meaningfully higher in B2B Microsoft-heavy environments. If you operate exclusively in a Google-dominant, consumer-facing market, Bing indexing will not move your traffic needle as a primary lever.
More important to say clearly: IndexNow does not index in Google. Google has not joined the IndexNow protocol and has made no public commitment to do so. The theory that IndexNow indirectly signals Google — through crawl activity, or correlated backlink behavior — is unconfirmed. We do not repeat it. If your goal is Google indexing, you need Google's own channels. We cover those on /google-indexing.
When Bing indexing is worth the effort
Bing makes sense when: (a) your audience disproportionately uses Microsoft products — B2B, US market, enterprise environments; (b) you publish content that feeds Copilot responses — product specs, pricing, availability, news; (c) you are already using IndexNow and Yandex reach comes as a side benefit; or (d) you are an agency that documents indexing efforts per channel and Bing is a deliverable line item for clients.
In our own testing across multiple domains and content types, the share of submitted URLs that showed as indexed after 14 days was in the 60–75% range. That is an aggregate figure across all channels we sent through — we cannot isolate a clean Bing-only number from it. No guarantee for any individual URL.
From the field
Dmytro Puhach, Founder · 15+ years in SEO
I have been running IndexNow signals since the protocol launched. Not because Bing replaces Google — it does not — but because the signal is cheap once you have it wired in, and the Copilot angle is real enough to take seriously.
What I find useful about IndexNow specifically: the zero-bureaucracy setup. No console access, no DNS record, no verification waiting period. The key file sits on the server, the API call goes out, done. For an agency managing twenty or thirty client domains, that removes a recurring manual task entirely.
What I do not promise: that Bing will rank the pages once it crawls them. Crawling and indexing are different things. Indexing and ranking are different things. FastIndexing moves URLs to the front of Bing's crawl queue. Content quality and relevance determine what Bing does with them after that — and that part is entirely on you.
FAQ — Bing Indexing
How do I submit a URL to Bing?
The fastest way is IndexNow: send one HTTP request with the URL and your key file in place, and Bing pulls the URL into its priority crawl queue. You can also submit manually through Bing Webmaster Tools — straightforward for occasional use, but it does not scale. FastIndexing automates IndexNow submission in bulk so you are not touching a form for every URL you publish.
What is IndexNow?
An open protocol for notifying search engines about new or updated content. Microsoft (Bing) and Yandex developed it together. Publishers send an HTTP request with a URL and an authentication key; Bing and Yandex both respond by prioritizing that URL for crawling. One call to api.indexnow.org covers both engines simultaneously. No registration, no dashboard access required.
Does Bing indexing help with Google?
Not directly. Google has not joined IndexNow and does not receive those signals. Submitting a URL through IndexNow does not speed up, confirm, or influence Google's indexing of that page in any way. If you need to accelerate Google indexing, you need Google's own tools and channels — see /google-indexing for that.
Do I need Bing Webmaster Tools?
Not for IndexNow submission. The protocol only requires a key file on your server — no BWT account, no domain registration in the console. Bing Webmaster Tools is useful if you want crawl statistics, keyword performance data, or sitemap management. For the actual signal that pushes URLs to Bing's crawl queue, it is optional.
How fast does Bing index after an IndexNow signal?
Faster than passive crawling, but IndexNow moves your URL into a priority crawl queue — it does not bypass Bing's indexing pipeline. In our own testing, roughly 60–75% of submitted URLs showed as indexed within 14 days across all channels combined. That is an aggregate observation, not a per-URL guarantee. Bing's final decision on whether to index a page always depends on content quality and technical health.
Further reading
- Google indexing — GSC channels, discovery signals, and what actually moves the needle with Google
- Index checker — verify which of your URLs Bing and Google already know about, free
- Pricing — from from €0,13/URL, down to €0,11 with volume, no subscription required, 200 free credits to start
