What Are Grounding Queries in the AI Performance Report?

Grounding queries are the actual search queries that triggered an AI-generated response where your content was used as a source. They show up in Bing's AI Performance report and tell you exactly what people were asking when Bing cited your pages.

Think of them as the paper trail between a user's question and your content showing up in the answer.

Where the Term Comes From

"Grounding" refers to the process AI systems use to anchor generated answers in real-world sources. When Bing Copilot produces a response, it pulls from indexed web content to support its claims. That process of tying AI output to actual sources is called grounding.

A grounding query is the search input that set that process in motion. The user typed something, Bing decided to generate an AI answer, and your content was one of the sources it used to ground that answer.

What Grounding Queries Tell You

Which Topics Your Content Is Trusted For

The queries in your AI Performance report are a direct window into how Bing categorizes your expertise. If you run a project management blog and your grounding queries are all variations of "how to run a sprint retrospective," Bing has associated your content with that specific topic.

That kind of signal is valuable. It confirms which areas of your site carry genuine authority in the AI layer of search, not just in traditional rankings.

How Users Are Actually Phrasing Questions

Grounding queries tend to reflect natural, conversational language because Copilot is designed for that style of interaction. The queries you see in this report often look different from the keyword data in your standard search performance report.

A traditional search impression might come from "sprint retrospective tips." A grounding query for the same page might read "what should a team discuss during a sprint retrospective." That difference in phrasing tells you how people talk to AI assistants versus how they type into a search bar, and that gap is useful when you are writing new content.

Where Your Coverage Has Gaps

Grounding query data also shows you what your content is not being cited for. If you cover a topic broadly but only see citations for one narrow slice of it, other parts of that topic may need more depth or clearer structure before the AI considers them citable.

Embarque uses grounding query data this way during content gap analysis, cross-referencing what a site is being cited for against what it is trying to rank for. The gaps between those two lists are often where the most productive content opportunities sit.

How Grounding Queries Differ From Standard Search Queries

Standard search queries in your performance report show what led to an impression or click in traditional results. Grounding queries show what led to an AI citation. The distinction matters because the selection criteria are different.

A page can accumulate traditional impressions for a query without ever being grounded in an AI answer for the same query. The AI looked at your page and decided another source was clearer, more authoritative, or better structured. Seeing that same query appear in your grounding report means the AI made the opposite call and trusted your content enough to build part of its answer around it.

How to Use Grounding Query Data Practically

The most immediate use is content validation. When a page starts appearing in grounding queries, it tells you that page is doing something right. Study it. What made it citable? Clear structure, direct answers, schema markup, original data? Understanding the pattern helps you replicate it across other pages that are not yet earning citations.

The second use is content expansion. If the same grounding query keeps appearing for a page that only partially covers the topic, that is a signal to go deeper. The AI is already reaching for your content on that question. Give it more to work with and you will likely see citation frequency increase.

The third use is keyword strategy. Grounding queries are real user language pulled from actual Copilot interactions. Feeding that language back into your content, in headings, intro paragraphs, and FAQ sections, tightens the alignment between how users ask questions and how your pages answer them.

A Signal Worth Watching Closely

Grounding queries are one of the more underused data points in the AI Performance report. Most teams glance at citation counts and move on. The query-level data beneath those counts is where the real insight lives.

It tells you not just that your content was cited, but why, for what, and by whom in terms of intent. That specificity is what turns AI performance data from a vanity metric into something you can actually build a content strategy around.