It may seem like ages ago Google was the newcomer to online search. In 1998, search engines like Altavista, Yahoo and others reigned supreme. While Microsoft brought Bing to the masses to replace MSN search, it never gave Google much of a challenge. AI and Microsoft’s relationship with ChatGPT is changing that. How do you go about creating content and managing your site’s SEO? We will break down Google vs. Bing vs. AI Search SEO.
Ultimately, the best SEO approach is optimizing for all search engines by focusing on high-quality and relevant content, technical excellence, and user experience. While there are differences in search engines, it all boils down to satisfying the user’s intent and structuring your content correctly. Here’s how:
Related Article: How to Rank First on Google by Satisfying Search Intent
The Difference Between Google and Bing Search?
The main difference is Google’s emphasis on content quality (EEAT), user experience, and topical relevance (semantic SEO).
On the other hand, Bing places more emphasis on exact match keywords, social signals, AI integration, and user engagement.
AI Search engines like Chat GPT Search and Perplexity prioritize high information density and personalization. These AI tools summarize the search results page (SERP), which uses the least number of words possible to answer the search query.
This is also true for featured snippets, Google’s Gemini-powered AI Overviews, and Bing’s Chat GPT-powered Generative Search optimization. However, these also have traditional search result sections under the AI results, while AI search only has the AI results.
Why Care About Bing SEO and AI Search Optimization?
One of the threats to Google’s search dominance is the antitrust case, which could force parent company Alphabet to sell off its Chrome browser division.
Another reason Google could lose market share is the rising popularity of ChatGPT. With the Bing partnership, we will see ChatGPT users either use the AI platform directly or use the Bing powered by ChatGPT.
Even if it is a slight shift, every 1% of the market share Google loses equals 49.7 million people. That 1% makes up a lot of people worth reaching for your business or nonprofit. We can see Google losing market share to Bing and other competitors in the Statista chart below.
Bing Powers Other Search Engines
Bing powers most search engines other than Google, so by optimizing for Bing, you are also optimizing for search engines like Yahoo!, Chat GPT Search, AOL, DuckDuckGo, and more.
Open AI owns ChatGPT, and has licensed the AI technology to Bing. 67.7 million people in the US alone use ChatGPT. While Bing’s search engine market share is only around 10 percent, it is climbing, and when you consider other search engines that feature it, we need to consider Bing even more.
Bing’s User Demographic
Who uses Bing? Generally, Bing has an older audience and is popular among Windows users who default to it when using Microsoft Edge. By doing audience research and looking at where traffic is coming from in your Google Analytics 4 account, you can help understand which search engines matter most for your audience.
Here is an example of an ecommerce company where only 1.5% of the total traffic is from Bing, but the percentage of sales attributed to that audience is more than 6%.
Due to this older audience and other demographic factors, conversation rates can also be higher from this channel, which you can see in this screenshot from a Google Analytics traffic acquisition session source report.
The conversion rate marks a 361% improvement over the Google conversion rate.
Key Differences for Google vs. Bing vs. AI Search SEO Optimizations
There are many similarities. The main difference is exact match phrases vs. topical relevance through semantic SEO for Bing vs Google. At the same time, AI search and featured snippets optimization pulls from sections with high information density. I’ll break these down further in this Bing, Google, and AI Search comparison table:
| Feature | Google SEO | Bing SEO | AI Search SEO / GEO (e.g., ChatGPT Search & Perplexity) |
| Focus | Relevance, authority, user experience | User engagement, social signals, page authority | Natural language, user intent, conversational search |
| Content | High-quality (EEAT), semantically keyword-rich, more focus on text over video and images | Better understanding of photos and videos (multimedia content), exact match keywords used | Comprehensive, in-depth content answering specific questions, concise summaries/information density, Understanding user intent, optimizing for long-tail keywords, natural language processing (NLP) |
| Backlinks | High-quality backlinks from relevant and authoritative websites | Backlinks from social media and trusted older websites | Citations and references from authoritative sources, internal links connecting related content, overall domain authority is less important |
| User Experience and Writing Style | High topic coverage, engaging content | More narrow topic focus, interactive elements | Personalized results, conversational answers, direct answers to questions |
| Local SEO | Google Business Profile and Google Reviews | Without reviews of their own on Bing Places, they often will pull in Facebook or Yelp reviews. | Not great for local SEO. They use directory sites like Yelp, Clutch, and others that are relevant to different industries. Not great for “near me” type of searches. AI Search engines usually can display map results. |
| AI Integration | AI overviews are at the top of most searches and will roll out to more searches, organic results are below the AI section | AI overviews are also at the top, but AI is also integrated throughout the SERP. | The entire result is AI generated as a summary of the information. There are no traditional search results, but there are links to the referenced sites. |
| SEO Tools | Google Search Console, which gives you important data like clicks, impressions, and | Bing Webmaster tools is arguably better than Google Search Console in terms of transparency | There is no tool for seeing if you show up in Chat GPT. Still, in GA4, you can see if you have any referral traffic from Chat GPT to see search traffic from this source. |
| Powered By | Google Search Algorithm, RankBrain | Bing which also powers other search engines like Yahoo and Duck Duck Go | Bing powers Chat GPT so if you aren’t in Bing you aren’t in Chat GPT |
How To Rank Optimize for All Search Engines
While there are differences in the search engines, don’t think about it as optimizing for one search engine over another. Instead, include elements for all search engines in the same content. By considering ranking factors across search engines, you reach a wider audience and increase the content’s value and quality.
I recommend checking your results across all search engines to see where your content lands.
What to Do for Bing SEO and AI Search Engines GEO
Assuming you already have the basics covered, consider which elements from the above table you aren’t doing, and start adding those elements to your web content. SEO tactics are for optimizing for traditional search, while GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) tactics help you optimize for AI search.
Semantic & Exact Match Keywords
Ensure you use both semantic/related keywords for Google and exact match keywords for Bing. While Bing also emphasizes exact match, some results appear from related or Natural Language Processing (NLP) keywords.
Each piece of content should have one primary keyword that is used precisely around 2-4 times, depending on content length. It should also have around 4-10 semantically related terms. These related terms can be used less often. Adding these terms offers you better visibility across all search engines.
High Topic Coverage & Narrow Focus Content
Google prefers comprehensive content with high topic coverage, meaning it covers many related articles in one piece to show EEAT for Google. While Bing prefers more narrow-focused content. Both search engines will rank both types of content but with different focuses.
Having both types of blog content will help you have a more holistic approach. Generally it is best to have more robust and comprehensive content for your more competitive keywords and then more narrow focused content for less competitive keywords.
High Informational Density
Starting your content with a quick answer and having each heading followed by a section with high information density as a topic summary will help you get into AI search engines.
AI Search is looking to pack the most information into as few words as possible. Having clear sections of informational content will position you better for search. This is a large part of GEO or Generative Engine Optimization.
High information density also helps you get featured snippets in Bing and Google.
Optimize Relevant Directory Listings for Local SEO
Google Business Profile is very important to prioritize your local optimization, but don’t forget Bing and AI search. You must set up and optimize your Bing Places profile and consider others like Yelp and Clutch if appropriate. This means setting up these profiles fully and getting reviews to compete with competitors. Additionally, consider industry-specific directory sites like that allow you to register your business for free. Directory Listings have become more important for local SEO in a less Google-dominated world.
Include Brand Journalism for SEO and Branding
By including brand journalism elements, you will better resonate with your audience and call them to action. Many elements of brand journalism are factors for Google’s EEAT guide for content. EEAT stands for Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trust. While EEAT alone is not a signal for authority and rankings, Google has maintained that an EEAT approach to content offers a better experience for users.
To effectively leverage brand journalism for SEO, focus on creating authentic, in-depth content that resonates with your target audience. Start by identifying relevant topics that address your audience’s pain points and desires. Enhance engagement with high-quality visuals like images, infographics, and videos.
Related Article: What is a Brand Journalism Approach to Content Marketing?
Next Steps for Your SEO Strategy
Remember, search engine optimization (SEO) is not just Google optimization. Understand where your audience is, and optimize for those relevant search engines. A future-focused SEO strategy is search engine agnostic and developing for all of the search engines that your audience may use.
As part of our SEO services, we help our clients optimize for all search engines as part of a lead generation strategy. Fill out the form below to start a conversation on how we can help you grow your business through search engine optimization.
