Here is something most small business owners do not know: when someone asks ChatGPT for a local business recommendation — "find me a good HVAC company near me," "what plumbers are in Wilmington," "best cleaning service in my area" — ChatGPT does not search Google. It pulls from Bing. Microsoft Copilot, which is built into Windows and Edge and used by hundreds of millions of people, also runs on Bing's local index.
If your business is not in Bing Places, these AI tools literally cannot find you. They cannot recommend you. You do not exist in their answers.
The good news: fixing this takes about 15 minutes, it is completely free, and it syncs directly from your Google Business Profile so there is almost nothing to fill out manually.
Why Bing is the backbone of AI search
This is not obvious, and it is worth understanding before we get into the how.
OpenAI and Microsoft have a deep partnership. ChatGPT's web search feature routes queries through Bing's index, which means Bing's local business data is what surfaces when someone asks ChatGPT to recommend a business near them. Microsoft Copilot — which reaches hundreds of millions of Windows and Edge users — also runs on Bing. Perplexity, another AI search tool that is growing quickly, draws from Bing's index as well.
Google has its own AI search products (AI Overviews, AI Mode), and Google Business Profile is still the most important single listing for local visibility. But for the growing portion of searches that happen through ChatGPT and Copilot, your Google Business Profile data does not transfer automatically. Bing has its own local index, and Bing Places is where you control what goes into it.
Most local businesses have never touched their Bing Places listing. That means most of your competitors are invisible in AI-powered searches. This is one of the few places where being early genuinely matters.
What Bing Places actually is
Bing Places for Business is Microsoft's version of Google Business Profile. It is the dashboard where local businesses claim and manage their presence in Bing's local index, which in turn feeds Copilot, ChatGPT's web results, and other AI tools that rely on Microsoft's local data.
The core listing covers everything you would expect: business name, address, phone number, website, hours, service categories, description, and photos. Like Google Business Profile, it is free to claim and maintain. Unlike Google Business Profile, most local businesses have not claimed theirs, which means the bar for standing out is lower.
How to set it up in 15 minutes
Step 1: Go to Bing Places. Visit bingplaces.com and sign in with a Microsoft account. If you do not have one, create a free Microsoft account first — it takes two minutes.
Step 2: Import from Google Business Profile. Bing Places offers a direct import from your Google Business Profile. Click the import option, connect the Google account that manages your GBP, and Bing will pull your business name, address, phone, hours, service categories, photos, and description automatically. This is the 15-minute path. If your Google Business Profile is accurate and complete, your Bing profile will be too.
Step 3: Verify your listing. Bing verifies business ownership by phone, email, or postcard. Phone and email verification typically happen the same day. Postcard verification takes one to two weeks if you go that route. Phone is fastest.
Step 4: Review and adjust. Once imported and verified, review the listing to make sure everything transferred correctly. The one area Bing handles differently from Google is the business description — you have more characters to work with in Bing Places, so use that space. Write a clear, specific description of what your business does, what areas you serve, and what makes you different. Copilot and ChatGPT pull from this description when assembling recommendations.
Step 5: Upload your best photos. Do not skip this step. Bing displays profile photos prominently in search results and in AI responses that include business cards. Upload 8 to 10 real photos — actual jobs, your crew, finished work, before-and-after if applicable. Real work photos outperform stock images every time because they communicate that the business is active and real.
Optimizing your listing once it is live
Getting listed is the floor, not the ceiling. Once your basic listing is live, these steps have the biggest impact on your AI search visibility.
Write a description that explains your business completely. Pretend you are describing your business to someone who has never heard of you and will only read this one paragraph. Include your service category (HVAC, plumbing, cleaning, roofing, etc.), your geographic service area, your specialties, and how customers can contact you. The AI systems that draw from this data need complete, specific information to match you to relevant queries.
Use specific categories, not generic ones. Bing allows a primary category and multiple secondary categories. Pick the most specific primary category available for your trade. Then add secondary categories for the specific services you actually provide. An HVAC contractor might list "Air Conditioning Contractor" as primary and add "Heating Contractor," "Heat Pump Installer," and "Emergency HVAC Service" as secondaries. Specificity is how the AI knows you are relevant to a specific query.
Keep your hours accurate and current. If your hours change seasonally, update them. If you offer emergency after-hours service, indicate that. ChatGPT and Copilot use hours data when generating recommendations — a business shown as closed when a customer is searching at 9 p.m. is less likely to surface even if it is your busiest call time.
Enable reviews if you have existing Bing reviews. The review ecosystem on Bing is smaller than Google's, but reviews still factor into how prominently Bing surfaces your listing in AI results. If your business already has Bing reviews, make sure you are monitoring and responding to them.
The sync option: set it and mostly forget it
One of the most useful features in Bing Places is the option to sync automatically from your Google Business Profile. When you update your Google profile — new hours, added services, fresh photos — Bing can pick up those changes automatically.
Enable this if you are already maintaining your Google Business Profile well and do not want to manage two dashboards. The sync is not instant, typically updating within a few days, but it keeps both listings aligned without double effort.
If your Google Business Profile is not in good shape, do not rely on the sync. Fix the Google profile first — it is still the more important listing — and then let it feed Bing.
How this connects to what ChatGPT actually does
When someone uses ChatGPT's web search to ask for a local business recommendation, the system assembles an answer from a combination of Bing's local business index, review platforms that Bing indexes, and the business's own website content when accessible.
A well-maintained Bing Places listing gives ChatGPT what it needs to include you in those answers. A missing or incomplete listing means ChatGPT either skips your business or has to work with fragmented information pulled from directories and review sites rather than your official profile.
The same applies to Copilot. Microsoft has integrated Copilot into Windows, Edge, Bing, and Office, and all of those surfaces pull from the same Bing local business data. Getting your Bing Places listing right is a one-time setup that covers your visibility across a broad and growing set of AI-powered surfaces.
Bing Places in the context of your full local search strategy
To be clear about the order of importance: your Google Business Profile is still your most critical local listing. Google processes the large majority of local searches, and AI Overviews and Google's own AI Mode are built on Google's data. Bing Places does not replace that work.
What Bing Places does is cover a genuinely different channel — AI search through ChatGPT and Copilot — that is growing and that most local businesses have completely ignored. It is not either/or. You need both.
We wrote a guide on optimizing your Google Business Profile that covers the Google side in depth. Bing Places is the 15-minute complement to that work, and right now it is one of the cheapest competitive advantages available to a local service business.
The Bing Places for Business dashboard is free. The import takes minutes. The verification takes a day. There is almost no reason not to do this today.
Want this handled as part of a full local search setup?
We are a veteran-owned shop in Wilmington, NC. We have built local SEO systems for 1,500-plus small businesses in the last 90 days, and Bing Places setup is part of our onboarding. Our Standard tier is $2,000 plus $200 per month and covers Google Business Profile, Bing Places, on-page SEO, citations, and monthly reporting. Our Max tier at $3,500 plus $400 per month adds a 24/7 AI receptionist. Tiers start at $500, with pay-in-4 or Klarna available. Book a call and we will walk you through exactly where you stand in local and AI search today.