Bing Webmaster Guidelines updated for “conversation mode” and AI

Microsoft has updated the Bing webmaster guidelines in conjunction with the announcement of the new AI-powered search featured in Bing Search. As a reminder, Microsoft announced a new, AI-powered search engine that people can chat with, ask questions, or even use to create content.

With this, Bing has incorporated new guidelines for webmasters related to “conversation mode,” “answers,” and “Bing image creator.”

What was added. Bing added a new section to the Bing webmaster guidelines for “Conversation Mode and Bing Image Creator.” The new section reads:

“The new Bing conversation mode builds on the existing Bing experience to provide users with a new type of search interface. Bing conversation mode generates responses using an AI model that has learned by processing a vast amount of text from the Internet. Based on the user query or prompt, the model produces an output that is coherent, relevant, and creative, according to the input and the context. The output can be a response, a web result, a poem, a story, a code, an essay, a song, or anything else that can be expressed in natural language. Bing Image Creator similarly uses an AI model that has learned by processing a vast number of images from the Internet. Based on the user prompt, the model generates an output image. The conversational model is also informed by and refines its output using available context, such as web results, feedback, and interactions, to improve its performance and accuracy. Ranking within conversation mode generally relies on the same parameters as the main web search results page.

User activity in these features is governed by the Terms of Use and Code of Conduct.”

What was updated. Bing also updated the “Answers” section, it now reads:

“Bing may enhance the results page with additional features to provide a richer search experience for some search queries. For example, if a user types “How tall is the Eiffel Tower?” Bing will respond with the answer of “300 m”. For some queries, Bing looks at search results across the web, returns a summarized answer, and links to its sources.

If the query is related to a business, Bing may return relevant information about the business, such as store hours and location. Business owners can claim and verify existing listings on Bing using Bing Places for Business (available in limited markets) to create, edit or update their listing information. In some cases, Bing may partner with third-party content providers, such as local restaurant review sites, to further enhance the user experience.”

Previously it read:

“Bing may enhance the results page with additional features to provide a richer search experience for some search queries. For example, if a user types “How tall is the Eiffel Tower?” Bing will respond with the answer of “300 m”. If the query is related to a business, Bing may return relevant information about the business, such as store hours and location. Business owners can claim and verify existing listings on Bing using Bing Places for Business (available in limited markets) to create, edit or update their listing information. In some cases, Bing may partner with third-party content providers, such as local restaurant review sites, to further enhance the user experience.”

Why we care. As we move into this new era of search, an AI-powered, chat-based era of search, we need to watch how search engines change and adapt as SEOs and marketers. Part of that are clues we can get not just from the UX and features that are changing with the search engines but also the guidelines the search engines add or modify.