Glossary

Grounding queries can be used for keyword research by focusing on the exact web searches AI models run to fetch fresh or uncertain information. By identifying queries that trigger grounding, such as comparisons, recent data, or rankings, and targeting those terms where you can rank, you increase the likelihood of being cited by AI across platforms.

Learn how AI detectors spot machine-generated text using clues like perplexity, burstiness, and repetition.

AI queries differ from traditional search queries because they are conversational, detailed, and context-rich, while traditional queries are short, keyword-focused, and fragmented. Users express full intent, constraints, and goals in AI queries, which changes SEO from matching keywords to answering specific, nuanced questions clearly and directly.

To earn AI citations, create clear, answer-first content with strong structure and schema markup, support it with credible data and original insights, build third-party authority, and keep pages technically accessible and up to date.

See how AI is transforming SEO through smarter algorithms, content tools, and search experiences.

Bing’s AI Performance report shifts SEO strategy from tracking rankings alone to tracking AI citations inside Copilot answers. It introduces new metrics like total citations, grounding queries, and average cited pages, helping SEOs optimize for retrieval and extraction, not just clicks. The focus expands to structured, answer-first content, freshness, schema markup, breadth across multiple URLs, and technical signals like IndexNow. Traditional SEO still matters, but AI visibility becomes an added performance layer with its own KPIs and optimization tactics.

Bing measures performance by assessing relevance, authority, structure, freshness, and user engagement. Clear, well-cited, and engaging content ranks higher in AI responses, while thin or outdated pages are filtered out. Optimizing for intent, readability, and trust boosts AI visibility and citations.

Bing selects websites for AI citations based on how well content matches query intent, demonstrates authority and trust, is clearly structured, current, and easy for AI to parse. Relevant pages with strong credibility signals, clear answers, good formatting, and genuine usefulness are more likely to be cited than thin or overly promotional content.

AI Performance reporting tracks how often your content is cited in AI-generated answers, while traditional SEO reporting tracks rankings, impressions, and clicks in search results. Because AI citations depend on content clarity, structure, and authority rather than ranking position, the metrics and optimization strategies for each report are different.