Last Updated on January 8, 2026
When people think about local SEO, Google usually gets all the attention.
But Bing still powers at least 1.4 billion monthly searches worldwide across partner platforms and AI-powered search experiences that rely on structured business data.
For business owners, that means one thing: an optimised listing can drive visibility, trust, and enquiries – often with less competition than Google.
In this guide, we’ll walk through how Bing Places for Business works, who’s eligible for a listing, and how to optimise Bing business listings.
Whether you’re setting up your first profile or improving an existing one, these best practices will help you appear more consistently in local search results and make sure your business information is accurate wherever it appears.
What is Bing Places for Business, and why does it matter?
Bing Places for Business is Microsoft’s platform for managing how businesses appear in Bing local search results.
It allows businesses to create, claim, and manage a business profile that shows up when people search for nearby services, companies, or locations on Bing.
A Bing business listing typically includes:
- Business name
- Address and location details
- Phone number
- Opening hours
- Services offered
- Photos
- Customer reviews
How Bing Places listings appear in local search results
When someone searches for a service near them (e.g., “dentist near me,” “car repair in [city],” “best coffee shop”), Bing may show a local results module that includes a map and a shortlist of nearby businesses.
Your Bing Places for Business listing is what powers that local visibility and helps Bing decide what businesses to show and in what order.
Depending on the query and device, your listing can appear in a few key places:
- Local/map pack-style results: These are local search results that appear prominently on the page, showing a small selection of nearby business listings alongside a map. Visibility here is heavily influenced by location, relevance, and the completeness of your business profile.
- Bing Maps results. When users click through to explore nearby options, your Bing Places listing can appear in Bing Maps, where users compare businesses based on distance, reviews, opening hours, and services offered.
For example, searching for “restaurants in London” shows listings on the left side of the screen, though icons of the businesses are also available on the Maps side.
- The business profile panel. This is the detailed business profile that appears when users click on a listing or search for a specific business. It displays essential business information, including your business name, address, phone number, opening hours, photos, reviews, services, and website – all pulled directly from your Bing Places data.
- “Near me” and branded searches. Optimised listings are more likely to appear for “near me” searches and branded searches, such as when users search for your business name directly.
In the example below, searching for Harrods shows us its business profile panel and location on the map.
Bing vs. Google Business Profile: What’s Different?
Bing and Google are both search engines, but they don’t behave the same way, which is good news for many businesses.
Here are a couple of ways Google and Bing are different:
- There is lighter competition on Bing (especially in some niches and locations).
Most businesses obsess over Google Business Profile and neglect Bing, which means Bing’s local ecosystem is less crowded, with fewer businesses actively optimising, posting updates, or managing reviews. If you put in consistent effort on Bing, you can sometimes see visibility gains faster than you would on Google – especially for businesses in smaller cities, service-area businesses, or niche services.
- They have different ranking signals and emphasis.
The fundamentals are similar (relevance, distance, prominence), but Bing can weigh signals differently. For example, Bing tends to rely heavily on:
- Consistency of business information across the web. It not only considers your website, but also checks other directories.
- Clear categories and services
- Profile completeness. For example, fields should be filled out properly, not just “claimed”.
- Strong website association. For example, relevance is based on website quality and clarity.
To sum it up, you can’t assume that “what works on Google” automatically works the same way as Bing.
You still need to optimise for things that Bing values, such as categories, service details, and core business information.
Why Bing listings still matter for local businesses in 2025
Even if Bing isn’t your primary channel, it’s still worth optimising for three reasons:
1) Bing has high-intent usage.
Bing is baked into many desktop workflows.
People using Windows devices, default browsers/settings, and workplace environments may search on Bing without thinking about it.
Those users are often looking for a business to contact quickly, which is exactly what local listings are built for.
2) Bing data travels across Microsoft’s ecosystem and partners.
Your Bing Places listing doesn’t just “sit” on Bing.
Bing shows your listing across Microsoft surfaces and other places that reference Bing’s local business data, showcasing your business information more widely.
3) AI-powered search is increasing the value of structured listings.
More search experiences are becoming AI-assisted, and structured business data (like accurate listings) is what helps those systems answer local queries correctly.
A complete, up-to-date Bing listing helps ensure your business is represented accurately in these experiences, especially for basics like hours, location, phone number, and services.
Bottom line: If local SEO is about reducing friction between “search” and “action,” then a well-optimised Bing Places listing is one of the simplest ways to make it easier for customers to find you, trust you, and contact you.
Who is eligible for a Bing business listing?
Now that you know what a Bing listing is and why it matters, let’s see which kinds of businesses qualify for Bing Places.
Businesses with a physical location
Businesses with a physical, customer-facing location, such as a shop, office, restaurant, or clinic, are eligible for a Bing business listing.
These listings display addresses publicly and are ideal for businesses that rely on walk-in customers or in-person appointments.
Service-area businesses
Service-area businesses – such as plumbers, electricians, consultants, and other mobile or appointment-based services – are also eligible for Bing business listing, even if they don’t serve customers at a fixed storefront.
All they have to do is define the city, regions, or service areas they operate in.
Bing allows service-area businesses to hide their physical address while still appearing in local search results.
The exact street address isn’t displayed in the business profile and is merely used for verification and location relevance.
Multi-location and franchise businesses
Businesses with multiple locations, such as franchises and national brands, can manage multiple Bing Places listings.
Each location should have its own listing with accurate, location-specific details.
Online-only businesses (limited)
Online-only businesses without a physical presence or defined service area may face limitations because Bing Places is designed for local discovery; purely digital businesses often don’t qualify unless they have a verifiable business address or service region.
Tip: Online-only businesses can get virtual office addresses so they can sign up for a Bing listing.
How Bing ranks local business listings
Bing evaluates local business listings using three core factors: relevance, distance, and prominence.
While these principles are similar to other search engines, the signals Bing uses to determine them deserve special attention.
Relevance
Relevance measures how closely your business listing matches a user’s search query.
Bing relies heavily on the information within your listing to assess this, including:
- Business categories that accurately describe what you offer
- Services and business description that clearly explain your core activities
- Keywords and context drawn from your business profile and website
Choosing the right categories helps Bing understand when your business should appear in local search results.
Distance
Distance refers to how close your business is to the searcher’s location.
For service-area businesses, Bing uses your verified address internally – even if it’s hidden – to calculate proximity to the user.
Accurate location data ensures your listing appears in nearby searches.
Prominence
Prominence reflects how established and trustworthy your business appears online.
Several signals contribute to this:
- Reviews, including their quantity, recency, and consistency
- NAP consistency (your business name, address, and phone number matching across listings and your website)
- Website signals, such as a clearly linked site that reinforces your services and location
Together, these signals help Bing determine which businesses deserve greater visibility in local results.
If you’re an online-only or service area business operating from home, it’s best if you have your own professional contact number; you don’t want your personal number to be listed in directories.
A service like Air Landline allows you to get a virtual professional number connected to your mobile phone, so you don’t have to sign up for different providers.
Optimising Your Bing Listing
Now that you know how Bing listings are ranked, let’s get into the different ways to optimise your business.
1.) Create, claim, and verify your Bing business listing.
Before you can optimise your listing, you’ll need to create or claim it through Bing Places for Business.
Once that’s done, you can move to the following steps.
Check our guide for how to add a Bing business listing.
2.) Add your business information for accuracy and relevance.
Accurate business information is the foundation of local SEO on Bing. This information is needed:
- Business name, address, and phone number (NAP). Your business name, address, and phone number should be correct and consistent across your website and other business listings. Small discrepancies can weaken trust and relevance signals.
- Business categories. Categories help Bing understand what your business offers. Select the most relevant primary category first, then add secondary categories only when they genuinely apply.
- Business description. Your business description should explain what you do, who you serve, and what services you offer. Focus on clarity and usefulness versus keyword-heavy language.
3.) Add high-quality photos and visual assets.
Images play a bigger role in Bing listings than many businesses realise. Photos help Bing understand your business contextually, and they help users decide whether your business is worth clicking, calling, or visiting.
Here’s why photos matter on Bing:
- Listings with photos are more prominent in search results
- Images provide additional trust signals, especially for first-time searchers
- Photos help users assess legitimacy, professionalism, and relevance
Bing uses images as part of the overall profile completeness signal, which indirectly supports local visibility.
Types of images that convert best
Not all photos perform equally. The most effective images tend to be:
- Exterior photos (to help customers recognise your location)
- Interior photos (to set expectations)
- Team or staff photos (to humanise the business)
- Service-in-action photos (especially important for service-area businesses)
- Product photos (where relevant)
Avoid low-quality stock images or heavily edited visuals. Use your own photos for better trust and engagement.
Bing has also provided guidelines for photos that you can follow:
4.) Update opening hours and service areas.
Accurate hours and service areas reduce friction and prevent missed opportunities.
Common issues include outdated opening and holiday hours or service areas that are too broad or inaccurate.
These details should be updated whenever they change because they also impact local search.
Remember, Bing uses hours and service-area information to determine whether your business is relevant at the time of the search.
Incorrect data can:
- Prevent your listing from appearing for certain searches
- Reduce engagement when users bounce after seeing inaccurate details
- Weakened trust signals that contribute to prominence
Keeping these details current helps Bing surface your listing when it matters most.
5.) Link your website
Your website acts as an important supporting signal for your Bing business listing.
While Bing Places and Bing Search Console are separate tools, Bing uses website data to contextualise and validate the information shown in your business profile.
Your website gives Bing additional signals about your services, location, and business information, especially when details are consistent across both.
A well-structured website with clear service pages and contact details creates a clearer path for users to move from discovery to conversion.
6.) Manage and respond to Bing reviews
Reviews are one of the most influential components of a Bing business listing, affecting rankings, trust, and user behaviour.
They are important because they contribute directly to prominence, one of Bing’s core local ranking factors.
Listings with recent reviews are more likely to appear in local search results than listings with few or outdated feedback.
Beyond rankings, reviews also influence decision-making. Many users scan reviews to determine that a business is legitimate and compare options quickly.
Another way to ensure your listing is optimised? Respond to reviews. It signals that your business is active.
But remember to respond to customers professionally, whether they give you positive or negative reviews.
Use the Bing Places dashboard and Bing Search Console.
Optimising your Bing business listing doesn’t stop once your profile is live.
Ongoing visibility depends on monitoring performance, keeping information up to date, and spotting gaps before they affect local search presence.
This is where the Bing Places dashboard and Bing Search Console work best together.
Understanding the Bing Places dashboard
The Bing Places dashboard is your central hub for managing how your business appears across Bing local search and Bing Maps.
From the dashboard, you can:
- Update business information like address, phone number, opening hours, and services.
- Add or remove photos and visual assets.
- Respond to customer reviews.
- Manage multiple locations from one account.
- Monitor listing status and verification.
The dashboard also gives you useful information about your listing, such as:
- Listing views and impressions
- Search visibility trends
- User actions such as clicks to call or website visits (where available)
Monitoring these metrics helps you identify whether changes to your profile – such as updated photos or revised service descriptions – are improving engagement.
Using Bing Search Console alongside Bing Places
Bing Search Console is another tool you can use to monitor your listing. Examples of data Bing Search Console shows include:
- Search queries that trigger your website in Bing search
- Pages receiving impressions and clicks
- Average positions for key queries
What makes Bing Search Console different from Bing Places is that it provides insight into how your website performs in Bing search results, while Bing Places merely focuses on your local business profile.
Used together, these tools give you a clearer picture of your overall local search performance and can reveal gaps such as:
- Listings receiving impressions but low engagement
- Website pages ranking for local queries that aren’t reflected in your business profile
- Mismatches between services listed on your website and those shown in your Bing Places listing
When these gaps are addressed – for example, by updating services, refining categories, or improving on-page location signals – your listing and website become more effective.
FAQ
Final Thoughts: How to Set Up a Bing Business Profile
Optimising your Bing business listing isn’t a one-and-done task – it’s an ongoing process.
While it may seem time-consuming at first, the fundamentals are actually straightforward and well worth the effort.
Focusing on accurate business information, active review management, and profile completeness helps improve both visibility and trust over time.
These small but consistent actions make it easier for Bing to understand your business and for customers to choose it.
With regular optimisation and the right tools in place, Bing can become a reliable and often underused source of local discovery for your business.