Bing Places for Business: Listing Guide

Bing Places for Business is Microsoft’s free tool for managing the listing of a business with a real location on Bing and Microsoft maps. It is for businesses that receive customers at a physical place or work in a service area; it is not for online-only businesses, which have no location to show.

This guide explains who it is useful for, how to proceed and which details to maintain. It is part of the series on Bing SEO.

Who needs it and who does not

It is for shops, professional practices, restaurants, workshops and anyone working at customers’ premises in a defined area.
It is not for businesses with no public premises and no real service area. Creating a listing with an address that does not match a real business can lead to rejection or removal.

In the AI Performance announcement, Microsoft recommends that local businesses register with Bing Places and keep their details current (see the guide to the AI Performance report).

Why consider it outside the US and UK

In many European countries Bing has a much smaller share than Google, so for most businesses the Google listing stays the priority. Bing Places makes most sense in three cases: the business has customers in the UK or the US, where Bing weighs more; the sector has an audience that uses Microsoft products; or you want to cover every channel after sorting out Google.

How to proceed

Sign in with a Microsoft account and start creating the listing.
Import the data from another listing, if the tool offers it, or enter it by hand.
Fill in the business details: name, address, phone, website, hours, categories.
Verify ownership with one of the methods the tool offers. Available methods and timing may vary, so follow the ones shown at the time.
Add photos, description and services as soon as the listing is active.

The details to maintain

Name: the real business name, with no added keywords.
Address and phone: identical to those on the website and other listings.
Hours: up to date, including special closures.
Categories: the primary one and relevant secondary ones.
Photos: real ones, of the premises and products.

Consistency with the rest of the web

The same information must appear identically on the website, on the Google listing and in other sources. Differences in name, address or phone confuse the systems that collect data and reduce trust. The site should have a page with the business details and, where it makes sense, the matching structured data (see the page on Local SEO).

What is not verified

There is no official data saying how much weight Bing Places has in Copilot’s or other assistants’ answers. Treat it as a channel to cover, not a proven lever.