Bing Places: the listing Copilot reads

Why it matters

Microsoft Copilot can look things up on the web before it answers. Microsoft explains how: Copilot turns the question into a short search of a few words, sends it to Bing, and uses what Bing returns to write its answer. So what Bing knows about your business is what Copilot can find.

For local businesses, Bing's own help pages name Bing Places for Business as one of the primary sources for the business listings it shows. Bing Places is free. It lets you claim your listing, or add one, and control the name, address, phone, hours, categories, website and photos that Bing shows on Bing search and Bing Maps.

Guide 07 set up Bing Places in a few minutes alongside your other listings. This guide goes through it properly: which way to get in, how verification works, what to fill in, and how to check the result.

Illustration with a fictional business.

Reference

Three ways in, one result

Bing Places now lives at bing.com/forbusiness. The old address, bingplaces.com, sends you there. Luxembourg is in the list of countries Bing Places offers when you add a business. You sign in with a Microsoft account, or with Google or Facebook.

Before you start

Have these ready

• Your fact sheet from Guide 04: the exact business name, address, phone number, opening hours and website you use everywhere.
• A login you will keep. Bing says every listing you claim or create is tied to the account you signed in with. Use a company account, not a staff member's personal one.
• Access to the business phone line and a business email address. Bing does not accept public addresses such as Gmail or Yahoo for email verification.
• Photos: two of the outside of your premises, then inside, your team and your work.

Steps

Get your Bing Places listing live

1. Check whether Bing already lists you

   Search for your business name and full address on Bing Maps. If a listing appears, Bing suggests selecting the … (ellipsis) next to the listing name, then Manage business, to claim it. If you see two listings for the same business, note both: you will report the duplicate later.

   If your business has moved, Bing asks you not to claim the old listing and change its address. Create a new listing at the new address and mark the old one as closed. Bing does not offer a "moved" status.

2. Sign in and choose your way in

   Go to bing.com/forbusiness and sign in. On the start screen, Bing Places offers Import from your Google Business Profile, or a search to claim or add your listing by hand.

   Your Google profile is verified and correct

   Select Import from your Google Business Profile and sign in to Google. Bing finds the eligible listings in that Google account by itself: you cannot pick which ones. Go to step 3.

   Bing already lists you

   Select the correct country, enter your business name and location, and search. Choose the listing that matches your address and select Claim listing. Go to step 4.

   Bing has no listing for you

   Search as above. When nothing matches, select Create a new business and enter your details from your fact sheet. Go to step 4.

3. If you imported from Google: set the sync

   Bing says that if your business is already verified on Google, it verifies the imported listing automatically. The listing then goes into the normal publishing process.

   • Choose how often to sync. Bing can import your Google data again weekly, every two weeks or monthly. Changes made on Google then reach Bing at the next sync.
   • Edit on Google, not on Bing. While the listing is linked to Google, Bing Places does not let you edit it directly. Update Google, then let it sync.
   • Check categories by hand. Bing warns that some fields, including categories and Google UTM tags, may not sync exactly.
   • To stop syncing: open the menu in the upper-right corner, select Google Business Profile sync and clear the option to sync at regular intervals. This stops future syncs but does not unlink the profile.

   This is why the import only makes sense once your Google profile is right: whatever is wrong on Google is copied to Bing.

4. Verify with a PIN

   Bing sends a six-digit PIN and you enter it in your Bing Places dashboard. It lists four ways to receive it, and says some will not be offered to every business:

   • Phone call. Offered only when the listing Bing already has contains your business phone number, unedited. The call comes straight away, so have a pen ready.
   • Text message (SMS) to the business phone, if it can receive texts.
   • Email to a business address. Public addresses such as Gmail or Yahoo are not accepted.
   • Postcard to your business address. Bing says it takes 5 to 6 business days in the United States and may take longer elsewhere, and asks you to wait at least 12 days before contacting support.

   One more route: Bing says that if your website is already verified in Bing Webmaster Tools, a listing using the same website is verified automatically, though Bing may review it and ask for more. Guide 03 sets up Bing Webmaster Tools.

   If a PIN does not work, Bing notes that someone else, such as an agency, may have started verification from a different account. The PIN only works in the account that requested it.

5. Fill in your facts, from your fact sheet

   Select your listing and choose Edit. Bing changes are only published after the listing is verified. Work through each section and copy from your fact sheet, character by character.

   • Name. The name customers know, as on your door and invoices. Bing asks you not to add locations or words like "best" or "cheap" unless they are legally part of the name. Up to 90 characters.
   • Address. Complete and exact. No PO box. If you work at clients' premises and do not receive customers, you can hide the address and add up to 20 service areas instead (see below).
   • Phone. A working number where customers reach you, not a reseller's or partner's.
   • Website. Your own business website. Bing asks you not to use a reseller's site, and says social profiles should not be your main website.
   • Categories. Up to 10: one primary category that best matches your core business, and up to 9 more.
   • Hours. Up to two time slots per day, for example for a lunch break. There is an Open 24/7 option.
   • Photos. Up to 100, at least 480 by 360 pixels. Bing suggests two photos of the outside, so people recognise you, then inside and your services. Give each photo a category tag such as interior, exterior or logo.
   • Services. List the services you offer. If you sync from Google, they are imported from there.

   Work at clients' premises? Hide your address

   In Basic details, scroll to the question "Are customers expected to visit your address?". If not, enable the option to hide your address, then go to Service areas and add the towns, regions or postal codes you cover, pressing Enter after each. Bing still needs the full address for verification; it is only hidden from the public listing. A category must be selected first.

   Select Save. That starts the publishing process.

6. Wait for the publish cycle, without re-editing

   Bing says a verified listing usually takes 7 to 12 calendar days to appear, and that publish cycles can take up to 2 weeks outside North America. Photos can take longer. The dashboard may show Pending Publish meanwhile, and the listing can go live before the status changes.

   Every edit resets the expected publish date, so save once and wait. If nothing is live after one full cycle, Bing asks you to contact its support from the Help page.

Check it worked

Search for yourself on Bing and Bing Maps

Once the publishing date has passed, open a private browser window and search for your business name on bing.com, then on Bing Maps. Compare each field with your fact sheet. At the bottom of a Bing listing, a "Data from" section shows some of the sources Bing used.

Bing also says it compares what you submit with information from other websites, and may not publish a change that conflicts with trusted sources. If a field stays wrong, look for the site that still has the old fact, using your list from Guide 07, and correct it there too.

Common mistakes

What usually goes wrong

• Importing a Google profile that is wrong. The import copies mistakes to Bing, and you then have to fix them on Google. Do Guide 18 first.
• Editing again while the listing is pending. Each edit restarts the publish date. Save once and wait.
• Changing the address of the old listing after a move. Bing asks for a new listing at the new address and the old one marked as closed.
• Leaving the listing untouched for months. Bing says other sources can take priority when your Bing Places data has not been updated for more than 6 months. Check it whenever your hours or services change.
• Creating a second listing. An import or a new listing can duplicate one that already exists. Search Bing Maps first and claim what is there.