Bing's new AI report: find one question your website misses

A customer holding a split work boot needs to know whether you can repair it before Monday. Picture your shoe-repair counter in Beech Grove: you would ask to see the damage before promising a collection time. On your website, the customer may only find “quality footwear repairs.”

I'd put the next step on that repair page: show you the boot, get an assessment, then agree on a collection date. You can help someone decide to contact you with a few sentences.

On October 13, 2026, Microsoft introduced Topics Portfolio, a beta in Bing Webmaster Tools. It groups queries associated with your site's AI citations by subject and suggests “opportunity queries” where other sites appear and yours doesn't.

If you find a relevant question there, improve the page where a customer would expect your answer. Start with one.

What does Bing's new report show?

Microsoft calls the phrases an AI uses to retrieve cited content grounding queries. In its February 2026 explanation of AI Performance, Microsoft says this query list samples citation activity. Owners can review citations across supported experiences, including Copilot and Bing.

Owners with enough data can open AI Performance and select Topics Portfolio. Smaller sites may see no tab. Microsoft describes the figures as approximate and warns that suggestions can include competitors' brand names.

I wouldn't spend your afternoon chasing someone else's business name. Read a suggestion aloud and ask: “Could I help the person asking this?” Then check whether you want that work.

You might repair work boots but send customers elsewhere for orthopedic alterations. Write about the repairs you accept. You can waste hours attracting inquiries for a service you don't provide.

Which question belongs on your service page?

Choose a question someone could ask before calling you. For the Beech Grove example, “Can you replace the sole on my work boots?” gives you room to explain the repair without guessing at a price before inspection.

I would cover the boot types you accept, then explain how to request an assessment. If you accept photos, tell customers which angles help you inspect the damage. If you need the boots in hand, give them your drop-off hours.

You can write a useful answer in about 100 words. Use your own terms and your actual turnaround policy. Avoid copying a competitor's promised three-day repair if you need a week to order the sole.

A dog groomer in Westfield could choose a different question: “Can I book a first visit for a nervous dog?” The owner needs to know how you assess a new dog and whom to contact before booking. Describe your intake conversation and any limits on the appointments you accept.

Put that explanation beside the booking button, where the owner can use it. Keep the answer in readable text rather than adding it to a photo. Google's guidance on AI features says owners can follow ordinary search requirements; Google requires no special AI file or additional schema to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.

Our earlier piece on writing useful answers for AI search covers customer phone questions. For this task, I'd add the answer to the service page you have before commissioning another article.

What should you count after the change?

Record the page you edited and the date. Over the next month, ask whoever handles inquiries to note how many people ask about that service and how many book. You can keep a tally beside the counter.

Suppose you receive eight boot-repair inquiries and book five jobs. Those are example figures, but you could check them against your own counter notes. You can also ask whether customers found the repair details useful. A citation count alone won't tell you any of that.

Microsoft's AI Performance report measures appearances as a source, rather than a page's ranking or importance. Keep visits and bookings in your own records; don't treat a rise in citations as proof that more customers arrived.

Test the next step yourself, too. Send a photo through your inquiry form and check that you receive it. Our fifteen-minute website check includes that test. An answer does little for you if the customer can't reach the person who does the repair.

Before you pay someone to write ten new pages, answer one question a customer asked you at the counter.

If you need help editing the page or fixing the form, our website services cover that work. You can start by sending the page and the question you want to answer.

Leave a scrap of paper beside the phone tomorrow. Write down the first question you explain for the second time that morning.

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Sources

#	Source	What it backed up
1	Microsoft: Introducing Topics Portfolio (Beta) in AI Performance	October 13 launch, opportunity queries, availability limits and approximate figures.
2	Microsoft: Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools	Grounding queries, sampled citation activity and measurement limits.
3	Google Search Central: AI features and your website	Readable text and ordinary search requirements for Google's AI features.