01How big Bing is, and why that is not the whole answer
StatCounter's September 2026 figures give Google 96.78% of search engine market share in Romania and Bing 2.18%. Worldwide, the same month, Google has 89.94% and Bing 5.29%. So a Romanian small business should not expect Bing to carry its enquiries, and nobody should sell it as a second Google. The case for Bing is narrower. Registering takes one import, and in return you get a second set of diagnostics from a different crawler. We have not measured Bing traffic for any client site, so we quote no figure for it.
- StatCounter, September 2026, Romania: Google 96.78%, Bing 2.18%
- StatCounter, September 2026, worldwide: Google 89.94%, Bing 5.29%
- Do not expect Bing to carry your enquiries
- We publish no Bing traffic figure because we have not measured one
02What the Bing index feeds besides Bing
Microsoft's documentation says that when web search is on, Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Chat in Microsoft 365 may fetch information from the Bing search service, by turning the prompt into a short search query. Admins can switch web search off and users can turn off the web content toggle, so it is not on for everyone. Bing also added an AI Performance report to Webmaster Tools, launched in public preview in February 2026. It shows how your content appears across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner integrations. Bing's post does not name those partners. OpenAI's crawler documentation says OAI-SearchBot is used to surface websites in ChatGPT's search features, and that sites opted out of it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers. We could not open an OpenAI page naming the search providers behind ChatGPT search, so we make no claim about which index it draws on. Our post on showing up in ChatGPT answers covers what you can control there.
- Microsoft Learn: Copilot and Copilot Chat may fetch information from the Bing search service when web search is on
- Admins and users can switch that web search off
- Bing's AI Performance report (launched in public preview in February 2026): citations across Copilot, AI summaries in Bing and select partner integrations
- OpenAI documents OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search; we make no claim about which index sits behind it
03The setup, in order
Start in Bing Webmaster Tools: open My Sites and choose Import. Sign in to your Google Search Console account, allow access to your list of verified sites and sitemaps, then select the sites you want. Per Bing, imported sites are verified automatically and the sitemaps come with them. Bing rechecks ownership from time to time by syncing with Search Console, so do not revoke that access, or verify another way, such as a meta tag or a DNS record. Traffic data for a newly verified site can take up to 48 hours to appear. IndexNow is the optional last step. Bing describes it as a free, open-source protocol for telling search engines when a URL was added, updated or deleted: you host a key file at your site root and send the changed URLs. A five-page site that changes twice a month has little to announce.
- My Sites, then Import, sign in to Google Search Console, allow access, pick the sites
- Imported sites are verified automatically and their sitemaps come along
- Keep the Search Console access in place, because Bing rechecks ownership; otherwise verify by meta tag or DNS record
- Allow up to 48 hours for traffic data on a new site
- IndexNow is optional: a key file at the site root, plus a request when URLs change
04Where PROOF48 helps, and where it is the wrong choice
Do the Bing import yourself or ask your developer. It is a short job and it does not need a monthly plan. Our FOUND plan, 297 EUR a month, covers Google Business Profile management, local SEO on 5 target keywords, 2 AI blog posts a month in your voice, schema markup, a monthly ranking report and competitor and review monitoring. Bing registration is not a listed item, and we promise no Bing position, no Copilot citation and no traffic from either. We are the wrong choice if you want a campaign aimed only at Bing, if you need results within weeks, or if you want a guaranteed citation, which nobody controls.
- The Bing import is a job you or your developer can do without a plan
- FOUND, 297 EUR a month: Google Business Profile, local SEO on 5 keywords, 2 AI blog posts, schema, monthly ranking report
- No promise of a Bing position, a Copilot citation or traffic
- Wrong choice for a Bing-only campaign or for results in weeks
A salon site built on a verified property and a sitemap
SCP Shine & Style, a beauty salon in Sector 3, Bucharest, was rebuilt by PROOF48 with its old WordPress URLs redirected and 21 salon video clips declared in the sitemap so Search Console counts them. A verified Search Console property and a sitemap are the two things Bing's import reads. We publish no Bing traffic or Copilot citation figures for this site, because we do not measure them.
See the build: SCP Shine & StyleQuestions, answered
Does Bing SEO matter for a small business in Romania?
Much less than Google. StatCounter's September 2026 figure for Romania is 2.18% for Bing against 96.78% for Google. The step is worth taking because it is short, not because it brings volume.
I already use Google Search Console. What do I need to do?
One import. Bing Webmaster Tools can bring in your verified sites and their sitemaps from Search Console, and imported sites are verified automatically. Keep the Search Console access in place so Bing can recheck ownership.
Does the Bing index feed ChatGPT?
We cannot say. OpenAI's crawler documentation says OAI-SearchBot surfaces websites in ChatGPT's search features, and we could not open an OpenAI page naming its search providers. Microsoft's documentation does say Copilot may fetch information from the Bing search service.
Will registering with Bing get me cited by Copilot?
No promise. Bing's AI Performance report, launched in public preview in February 2026, shows citations if you receive them, but registering guarantees none, and nobody controls them.
Where PROOF48 fits
Bing holds 2.18% of search engine market share in Romania (StatCounter, September 2026), so registering is a cheap hygiene step, not a growth plan. Import your sites from Google Search Console, check that the sitemap came with them, and add IndexNow only if your site changes often. Microsoft says Microsoft 365 Copilot and Copilot Chat may fetch from the Bing search service, which is a reason to be in the index and not a promise of citations. PROOF48's FOUND plan, 297 EUR a month, promises no position in either engine.
Cosmin Tiu · Founder, PROOF48
Cosmin has worked in online marketing and software development since 2018, and has built with AI every day since January 2023. He still writes code from scratch daily, in Python, React, Rust and C#. PROOF48 ships business websites in 48 hours and invoices afterwards, so every opinion on this blog was paid for in real builds, not in theory.