Why Are Some Pages Not Cited in Bing AI Performance?

You've set up Bing Webmaster Tools, you're watching your AI Performance report, and some of your pages just... never show up. No citations, no impressions. Before you start questioning if your content is any good, it's worth knowing that this is really common, and the reasons behind it are usually pretty fixable.

Let's walk through the most likely explanations and what you can actually do about them.

First, what does “being cited” mean

When Copilot pulls together an answer for a user, it sometimes references specific web pages to back up what it's saying. Those pages get credited as citations, and that's exactly what shows up in your AI Performance report. This includes the pages used, how often, and query types.

However, being cited in Copilot answers and ranking in regular search results are two different things. A page can sit at the top of Bing's blue links and still never get cited by AI. Some of the likely causes of this include:

Bing can’t see your page

This one sounds obvious, but it's the first thing to rule out. If Bing hasn't indexed the page, or if something is blocking it from crawling properly, the AI has nothing to work with. Head into Bing Webmaster Tools and check if:

• the page actually appears in the index

• there are any crawl errors flagged for it

• a robots.txt rule or noindex tag might be accidentally blocking it

Also note that even if the page is indexed, thin content can be a problem. If the page is very short, vague, or doesn't really say much, Bing's AI is going to skip it in favor of something more substantial because it aims to give users reliable, useful answers.

Your Content Isn’t Written the Way People Ask Questions

Copilot is built for conversational queries. People ask it things like "what's the best way to..." or "why does X happen." They don’t type in keyword strings as they might have five years ago. If your content is optimized for traditional keyword placement rather than actually answering a question, it's going to struggle to get picked up as a citation.

A good test: read your page and ask yourself, if someone spoke this question to an AI assistant, would this page answer it clearly? If the answer is buried three paragraphs down, or if the page wanders across five different sub-topics, the AI is likely going to move on.

To solve this, choose clear headings that match how people phrase questions, concise answers near the top of each section, and a tight focus on one topic per page. Think FAQ formatting, but done well.

The numbers are too small to show up

This may sound strange, but your page might be getting cited; you just can't see it. Bing hides data when volumes are low. 

If only a few people search for terms that cite your page, Bing won't show them. This is common for niche sites.

So if you don't see data yet, don't panic. The citations might be happening, but they’re just not enough to report.

Bing Already Knows the Answer Without Your Page

Copilot doesn't always cite sources. If a question covers common knowledge or facts found in its basic training data, it may answer directly without providing any links.

To earn citations, avoid generic topics that have been covered thousands of times. The more specific, timely, or niche your content is, the more the AI relies on your specific page to provide an accurate answer.

You Haven’t Built Enough Trust Yet

Bing doesn’t cite sources at random. It prioritizes websites it already trusts—those with reputable backlinks, a history of high-quality content, and verified author expertise. In 2026, these are the same signals used in traditional SEO, but they are even more critical for AI.

If a site is new or lacks external "votes of confidence" (links), the AI will likely pass over even the best-written content in favor of an established publisher. Trust isn't something you can hack; you earn it over time by consistently publishing expert content and securing mentions from other credible sites.

The Page Is Hard for AI to Read

Some pages are just hard for AI to process. If your page relies on images to share information, hides text in JavaScript, or has a tricky layout, Bing will find it difficult to read.

The same goes for giant walls of text. No headings. No structure. No clear sections. The AI can't figure out which part of the query matters.

Fix this by keeping it simple. Use clear headings. Break things up. Make it easy for the AI to find the answer fast.

What to Actually Do About It

If you want to improve your chances of getting cited, here's where to start:

•  Make sure the page is indexed and crawlable with no errors blocking it

•  Rewrite content to directly answer a specific question a real person would ask

•  Use headings that reflect natural question phrasing, not just keyword targets

•  Work on building links and authority signals from credible external sources

•  Check that your HTML version of the page actually contains all the content you want Bing to read

At Embarque, we think about AI citation as a content architecture challenge as much as a technical one. The sites that get cited consistently are the ones that make it easy for AI systems to figure out exactly what the content is about and why it’s the right answer for a specific question. Get those signals right, and citation tends to follow.

The Bottom Line

Lots of things can keep your page out of AI citations: indexing problems, content that doesn't answer real questions, low search volume, topics the AI already knows well, weak authority, or messy formatting.

The good news? Most of these are fixable. Start with the basics. Get the structure right. Build trust over time.

It won't happen overnight. But every fix gets you closer to getting cited.