There has been plenty of talk about AI changing search.
Less clear has been how businesses are supposed to work out whether they are actually being found.
Microsoft has now taken another step towards answering that.
On 13 October, Bing Webmaster Tools introduced a new beta feature called Topics Portfolio within its AI Performance reporting.
In simple terms, it can help you see:
- the subjects your website is already being associated with in AI-generated answers
- how much activity there appears to be around those subjects
- how many other websites are competing for visibility
- questions where other websites are being referenced, but yours is not
For SMEs trying to understand AI search without buying yet another expensive piece of software, that could be genuinely useful.
First, what is Bing Webmaster Tools?
If you already use Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools performs a similar role for Microsoft’s search ecosystem.
It helps website owners understand how Bing sees their website, whether pages are being indexed and how the site is performing.
Earlier in 2026, Microsoft added AI Performance reporting, showing when website content is cited within AI-generated answers across Microsoft Copilot, Bing and selected partner experiences.
Topics Portfolio takes that a step further.
Rather than simply telling you that one of your pages has been cited, it tries to group that activity into meaningful subjects.
What does Topics Portfolio actually show you?
Microsoft groups the questions associated with your website into broader topics.
For each topic, it can show:
Topic Size – an indication of how much citation activity exists around that subject.
Sites Cited – approximately how many different websites are appearing within answers around that topic.
Queries – approximately how many different questions are being asked within the topic.
You can then drill down into the individual questions.
This is where it becomes particularly useful.
Microsoft separates them into two broad groups:
Grounding Queries – questions where your website is already being used as a source.
Opportunity Queries – questions where other websites are being cited but yours currently is not.
That second group is probably where most SMEs should start.
What could this look like in practice?
Imagine you run an accountancy firm.
Bing might show that your website is already being cited around topics such as:
- small business tax
- VAT registration
- payroll
- company accounts
Within the VAT topic, you might find that your website appears when people ask:
“When does a small business need to register for VAT?”
But competitors are appearing for:
“Should I voluntarily register for VAT?”
That gives you something useful to investigate.
Does your website answer that question properly?
If not, there may be a genuine content gap.
The response should not automatically be:
“Quick, write a 2,000-word blog called Should I voluntarily register for VAT?”
First check whether it is relevant to the customers you actually want.
If it is, then consider whether you could answer it more clearly within an existing page, expand a useful FAQ, write a dedicated article or create another piece of content that genuinely helps someone make a decision.
That is very different from publishing content simply because an SEO tool has found another keyword.
This is where AI visibility becomes useful rather than gimmicky
There are already plenty of platforms offering to tell businesses how visible they are in ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini and other AI systems.
Some can provide useful information.
But there is also a danger of replacing one collection of vanity metrics with another.
A score telling you that your “AI visibility” has risen from 34 to 41 sounds impressive.
But what do you actually do with that?
The interesting part of Microsoft’s approach is that it can potentially help identify real questions around topics already connected with your business.
That gives SMEs something practical to work with.
Instead of asking:
“How do I rank higher in AI?”
You can ask:
“What are potential customers asking that my website does not currently answer well?”
I think that is a much healthier way to approach it.
How SMEs can use the report
If you already have Bing Webmaster Tools set up, go into the AI Performance section and look for the Topics Portfolio tab.
Microsoft says the feature only appears where there is enough data, so smaller websites may not see it yet.
If you do have access, I would work through it in this order.
1. Look at the topics you are already associated with
Do they accurately reflect what your business wants to be known for?
If an IT support company is strongly associated with Microsoft 365 support and cybersecurity, that may be encouraging.
If most of its visibility relates to an old blog about printers, perhaps less so.
The aim is not simply to have AI visibility.
It is to have visibility around commercially relevant subjects.
2. Review the questions where you already appear
Look at what your website is being cited for.
Then look at the pages being used.
Are they your strongest pages?
Are they current?
Do they properly explain your expertise and services?
Sometimes the first opportunity may be improving a page that is already performing rather than creating something new.
3. Look at the opportunity queries
This is probably the most useful section.
Identify questions that:
- relate directly to your services
- are likely to be asked by genuine potential customers
- represent something you have experience or expertise in
- are not properly answered on your website
Those are potential content opportunities.
But do not feel obliged to chase every one.
Microsoft itself warns that branded competitor searches can appear as opportunities, and its topic classifications are generated by AI, so they will not always be perfect.
Apply some human judgement.
It is still allowed.
4. Compare the findings with your other data
Do not use Bing Webmaster Tools in isolation.
Look at:
- Google Search Console
- website analytics
- enquiries you receive
- conversations with customers
- questions your sales team hears
- searches within your own website
- feedback from existing clients
If the same subject keeps appearing across several of those sources, it is probably worth paying attention to.
Do you need to start creating content specifically for AI?
Probably not.
At least, not in the way some of the more excitable commentary suggests.
AI search does change how content is discovered.
But the underlying objective remains familiar.
Your website needs to help people understand:
- what you know
- what you do
- who you help
- what problems you solve
- why your business is credible
If a page provides a genuinely useful answer to a customer question, that can potentially help with traditional search, AI-generated answers and, rather importantly, the actual person reading it.
That feels like a better investment than trying to find a secret formula for persuading a chatbot to mention your brand.
A word of caution about the numbers
Microsoft is very clear that Topics Portfolio is still in beta.
The classifications are generated using AI, some smaller sites may not have enough data, and figures such as topic size and citation volumes are approximate rather than exact.
So I would not build your entire content strategy around it.
Use it as another source of insight.
If it highlights a topic that makes commercial sense, investigate it.
If it suggests something completely irrelevant to your business, ignore it.
You are allowed to disagree with the algorithm.
What I think is most useful about it
For me, the interesting thing about Microsoft’s latest update is not that it gives us another AI metric.
It is that it may help turn a vague subject like “AI visibility” into something much more practical.
What does my website currently get recognised for?
What are customers asking around those subjects?
Where are competitors being referenced when I am not?
And do any of those gaps represent something genuinely useful that my business should explain better?
Those are sensible marketing questions whether the answer eventually appears in Bing, Google, ChatGPT or somewhere else entirely.
AI may be changing search.
But creating useful information around the things your customers actually care about still seems a remarkably good place to start.
If you’d like to know more, or want help implementing this for your business, contact us.
