The short version
- This is not a choice — both are free and you should verify in both. Total setup time is about twenty minutes.
- Bing Webmaster Tools gives away keyword research and backlink data that Google does not.
- It matters more than Bing’s search share implies, because its index underpins parts of the AI assistant ecosystem.
- Search Console remains the more important of the two for most sites, on data volume alone.
Bing Webmaster Tools is the most consistently ignored free tool in SEO. The reasoning is usually that Bing’s search share does not justify the attention, which was a reasonable position until the index started feeding assistant surfaces that people actually use.
It is also, on a per-feature basis, more generous than Google’s equivalent — it includes data Google charges nothing for but simply does not provide.
What each gives you
Three rows stand out. Bing includes a keyword research tool, a backlink view and a basic site scan — all things people pay Semrush or Ahrefs for. The data is smaller and less authoritative than a paid index, and it is free and it is more than Google gives you.
Why it matters more than the search share suggests
Bing’s index does not only serve Bing. It underpins parts of the wider AI assistant ecosystem, which means presence in that index has a bearing on whether you appear in answers generated by tools whose users never visit Bing directly.
That is a mechanism worth understanding rather than a guarantee — no vendor publishes exactly how retrieval is sourced, and arrangements change. But verifying a site in a free tool takes ten minutes, and the downside of doing it is zero. See how assistants pick sources.
Setting both up
- Verify in Search Console first. Submit your sitemap.
- Verify in Bing Webmaster Tools — it can usually import your Search Console configuration directly, which takes a minute.
- Submit your sitemap there as well.
- Run the Bing site scan for a free basic technical audit.
- Check the Bing keyword research tool for terms you have no data on, as a free supplement to Search Console.
What to actually do inside Bing Webmaster Tools
Verification alone achieves little, and most people who do set it up never open it again. Three reports repay the visit. The site scan runs a basic technical audit at no cost, which is a free second opinion alongside your Screaming Frog crawl. The keyword research tool gives volume data Google withholds entirely. And the backlinks view is more detailed than the equivalent in Search Console.
Treat none of it as authoritative — the data set is smaller than Google’s and the estimates are estimates. Treat it as a free cross-check. Where Bing and Google agree that a page has a problem, you can stop debating whether the problem is real and go and fix it.
Expect the two to disagree about your own site, sometimes substantially. Different crawlers, different indexes and different query sets produce different pictures, and neither is lying. Where they conflict on a factual matter — whether a page is indexed, whether a redirect resolves — go and check the page directly rather than trusting either report. Where they conflict on estimates, treat both as estimates.
The import shortcut
Bing Webmaster Tools can import your verified properties and sitemap configuration straight from Search Console. That reduces the setup from a task to a formality, and removes the last excuse for not doing it.