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The AI Performance dashboard: Your view into where your brand appears across the AI web

March 23, 2026
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As AI systems become a primary way people discover information, visibility increasingly means being cited in AI-generated answers. Microsoft’s grounding powers nearly every major AI assistant in the market, and for the first time, the new AI Performance dashboard gives advertisers insights to understand how often their content is cited in generative answers. You’ll get clear visibility into which URLs are referenced and how citation activity changes over time.

The way people search has changed and so should the way marketers analyze search performance.

For the first time, advertisers and brands can now get clear visibility into where their content is showing up in AI answers with the new AI Performance dashboard in Bing Webmaster Tools.

This powerful tool to measure AI search visibility and performance gives you the data you need to:

  • Validate which pages are being used as references in AI answers.
  • Identify content that appears frequently across AI answers.
  • Spot opportunities to improve clarity, structure, or completeness on pages that are indexed but less frequently cited.

The dashboard gives you insights on which URLs are referenced and how citation activity changes over time, helping you understand how often your content is cited in generative answers.

  • Total citations show how often your content is referenced by AI systems, helping you understand whether your brand is appearing in AI answers at all.

 

 

  • Average cited pages highlight overall citation patterns across your site, giving a high-level view of how broadly your content participates in AI answers.

 

 

  • Grounding queries reveal the key phrases AI used to retrieve content that was cited, offering insight into how AI interprets user intent.

 

 

  • Page-level citation activity shows which specific URLs are cited most often, helping advertisers identify content that AI systems rely on.

 

 

  • Visibility trends over time make it easy to track changes in AI citation activity and spot emerging opportunities.

 

In response to strong positive customer feedback and numerous requests, we’re excited to announce a new feature connecting the Grounding Queries and Pages views within the AI Performance report.

  • Grounding Query, Page Mapping: Users can quickly see which pages are being cited for a specific grounding query, and which grounding queries are driving citations to a specific page. Select a grounding query to see its cited pages or select a page to see its associated grounding queries. Keep in mind, one grounding query may be mapped to multiple pages and vice versa.

     

 

For more details on this new feature and the AI Performance dashboard, click here.

*Important Note: Bing respects all content owner preferences expressed through robots.txt and other supported control mechanisms.

According to McKinsey, half of consumers are already using AI‑powered search today, and it stands to impact $750 billion in revenue by 2028.

So being visible matters to your bottom. And the key to ensuring your brand is discoverable in this new AI web era is having your content cited in AI search.

AI-generated answers are powered by grounding, the system that connects AI to current, authoritative web content. Grounding determines which pages are retrieved, referenced, and cited when AI generates responses.

And today, Microsoft grounding powers nearly every major AI assistant in the market.

As AI becomes a main way people interact with information and brands, understanding how to develop content for grounding will continue to become increasingly essential.

Your content may already be shaping decisions, even if it isn't driving immediate traffic. And if you want to stay competitive, you'll need visibility into how your content is being cited as a trusted source by AI systems.

With AI Performance, you can move beyond traffic-only measurement and start optimizing for AI discovery. Citation and grounding insights help validate what content is working, identify where clarity or completeness can be improved, and prioritize new content aligned to real AI-driven intent.

By strengthening pages that are frequently cited and improving those that are indexed but less visible in AI answers, advertisers can increase trust, relevance, and early-stage influence across AI experiences.

The AI web is here, shaping what people learn, trust, and choose. Gain valuable insight into where you’re showing up with the AI Performance dashboard in Bing Webmaster Tools.

And for more AI web guides and proven tactics from experts, check out the Microsoft Advertising AI Web hub.

Authors

  • Krishna Madhavan

    Krishna Madhavan

    PRINCIPAL PRODUCT MANAGER, MICROSOFT BING