Microsoft Bing announced that it has added a beta of a new feature, “Topics Portfolio,” to the “AI Performance” report in Bing Webmaster Tools. It groups search terms used to ground AI answers—known as grounding queries—by topic, letting users assess their site’s visibility, the size of each topic, how crowded the competition is, and room for growth. The feature is available when a site has sufficient data.
Reading a site’s visibility through groups of search terms
In AI search, multiple search terms are used behind the scenes to answer a user’s question. Sites selected as sources for those search terms are then cited as the basis for the answer. Topics Portfolio groups these “search terms used as the basis for answers” into broad topics such as soccer, taxes, and AI chatbots.
Until now, analysis has focused mainly on examining search terms one by one. Many site operators have likely found that when faced with hundreds or thousands of terms, it can be hard to see which areas they are strong or weak in. Grouping terms by topic brings the overall shape of a site into view, like a map.
The report appears only when a site has accumulated enough data. It is reasonable to see this as a feature that will initially be used by sites of a certain scale.
Size, competition, and room for growth on one screen
The table displays several metrics. Topic Size is an estimate of the total citations across all sites for that topic, indicating the level of demand in AI search. Sites Cited is the number of sites appearing for that topic, serving as an indicator of how crowded it is. Queries shows the number of search terms within the topic.
Topics with high demand and relatively few cited sites could be promising targets. Conversely, topics with many cited sites can be viewed as already crowded markets. It is similar to a trade-area analysis for choosing a store location, where you can check both the number of customers and the number of competing stores.
### Opportunity Queries surfaces search terms you may have missed
Another key feature is “Top Opportunity Queries.” It lists search terms across topics for which other sites are cited but your own site does not appear. Citation counts are shown as ranges rather than exact figures.
The detail page for a specific topic displays the topic’s size, the number of citations for your site within that topic, and the number of search terms. The terms are organized into two tables. The design lets users compare, on one screen, the areas where their site is gaining traction and those where it is missing out.
AI search analysis shifts from rankings to citations
Traditional web analytics has focused on search rankings and clicks. This feature tracks how often a site is used as a source in AI answers. Rather than measuring views or visits, it measures the fact that a site was “selected”—a shift in the basis of evaluation.
For site operators, this provides more to consider than just article-level traffic, including which topics their site is seen as a reliable source for. It could serve as a foundation for planning content by topic.
One point to keep in mind is that tracking citations and measuring their impact on audience acquisition are two different things. Click data is not included at this point, so other metrics will be needed to assess how citations translate into actual traffic or results. The feature is still in beta, and its future expansion will be worth watching.
The Bing Webmaster Tools development team says that bringing together a site’s strengths, the level of competition by topic, and room for growth helps users understand their visibility in AI. Another distinctive feature is that Opportunity Queries are personalized for each site based on real data.
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