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Bing Webmaster Tools vs Google Search Console (2025 Showdown)

Uncover the differences between Google's and Bing's free SEO tools. Learn which is best for performance, backlinks, and technical audits to boost your rankings.

By Qasim Arif 7 min read
The Google Vs Microsoft Bing Logo in a head to head battle

When it comes to SEO, getting your website on Google is often seen as the top priority. And for good reason—Google Search Console is an indispensable tool for monitoring your site’s performance. But what about Bing? Many webmasters overlook Bing Webmaster Tools, seeing it as a minor player.

That’s a mistake.

Bing Webmaster Tools vs. Google Search Console: Why You Need Both

While Google dominates the market, Bing powers a significant slice of searches for users on Microsoft products, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo. By ignoring it, you’re leaving traffic on the table.

This guide breaks down the key differences between Bing Webmaster Tools (BWT) and Google Search Console (GSC) and makes the case for why every smart SEO uses both.

Core Features: A Head-to-Head Comparison

At their core, both platforms offer a similar set of tools to help you understand your site’s health in search.

  • Performance Reports: Both GSC and BWT show you vital metrics like clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), and average position. While the interfaces differ, the fundamental data is the same. GSC is the definitive source for Google performance, while BWT covers the Bing network. For a deeper dive into user behaviour, you can pair this data with insights from a tool like our Google Analytics 4 beginner’s guide.

  • URL & Index Inspection: Wondering if your pages are visible in search? Both tools have a URL inspection feature that lets you check if a website is indexed. You can see technical details and request indexing for a specific page. This is crucial for troubleshooting issues, such as those highlighted in our guide to Google Search Console errors explained.

  • Sitemaps: You can submit your sitemap to both GSC and BWT to help them discover and understand your site’s structure. This is a fundamental step in getting your content crawled efficiently.

Where Bing Webmaster Tools Shines

Bing Webmaster Tools isn’t just a “me too” product. It offers several powerful, free tools that either don’t exist in GSC or are more robust.

  1. Superior Backlink Tool: BWT’s backlink analysis tool is a standout feature. It gives you a detailed look at your referring domains, anchor text, and top linked pages—data that is often closer to what you’d find in expensive, paid SEO tools. GSC’s link report is much more basic in comparison.

  2. Free SEO Tools Suite: BWT comes with a built-in Site Scan tool that performs an on-demand technical SEO audit of your website, flagging common issues. It also has an SEO Reports feature that provides actionable tips for improvement.

  3. IndexNow API: This is a huge advantage. When you submit your website to Bing, you can leverage its IndexNow protocol. This instantly pushes your new or updated content to Bing, Yahoo, and other participating engines, often resulting in indexing within minutes or hours, compared to the days it can sometimes take with Google.

Where Google Search Console is Essential

Despite Bing’s excellent freebies, GSC remains non-negotiable for several reasons.

  1. Market Dominance: To state the obvious, you can’t ignore the world’s largest search engine. GSC is the only reliable source of data on how your site performs on Google. Mastering how to get your website on Google starts and ends with this tool.

  2. Core Web Vitals: This report is exclusive to GSC and measures key user experience signals (LCP, INP, CLS) that are a confirmed Google ranking factor. Monitoring and improving these scores is critical for modern SEO.

  3. Manual Actions & Security: If your site is hit with a Google penalty or hacked, GSC is the place you’ll be notified and where you’ll submit your reconsideration request. It’s your direct line of communication with Google on critical issues.

The Verdict: Better Together

This isn’t a battle of Bing vs. Google. It’s about using the right tools to build a comprehensive SEO strategy.

  • Google Search Console is essential. You cannot run a website without it.
  • Bing Webmaster Tools is a powerful supplement. It offers access to a valuable audience and provides free, high-quality SEO tools that fill the gaps left by GSC.

Setting up BWT is incredibly easy—you can even import your sites directly from your GSC account in minutes. By using both, you gain a complete picture of your search performance, unlock powerful free tools, and ensure you’re visible to every potential customer, no matter which search engine they use.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bing Webmaster Tools as important as Google Search Console?

Google Search Console is essential because Google has the largest market share. However, Bing Webmaster Tools is also very important as it provides access to a significant audience on Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo, and offers powerful, free SEO tools that GSC lacks.

Can I use Bing Webmaster Tools to get indexed faster?

Yes. Bing Webmaster Tools features the IndexNow API, which instantly notifies Bing and other participating search engines when your content is updated. Many webmasters find this results in much faster indexing than Google’s standard request process.

Which tool is better for checking backlinks?

Bing Webmaster Tools is widely considered to have a more comprehensive and useful free backlink analysis tool. It provides more detailed data on anchor text and referring domains compared to the relatively basic report in Google Search Console.

Do I have to set up each tool separately?

No. A major convenience of Bing Webmaster Tools is its import feature. You can directly import your verified websites from your Google Search Console account, which makes the setup process take only a few minutes.