Bing Reveals AI Citation Opportunities Across Different Topics
In short: Bing's new Topics Portfolio in Webmaster Tools AI Performance report helps content creators identify and address content gaps at a thematic level, showing where their content is absent in AI-generated answers even when competitors are present across different topics.
Counting individual AI citations misses the bigger picture. Marketers and content creators now face a new imperative: understanding their visibility across entire topics, not just isolated mentions.
Bing has rolled out a beta feature within its Webmaster Tools AI Performance report, the Topics Portfolio, that fundamentally shifts how we approach AI-driven content strategy. This isn’t just another analytics dashboard; it’s a strategic compass, pointing directly to where your content is absent in AI-generated answers, even when competitors are present. The implications for content planning are significant, offering a more holistic view than ever before.
This development moves us beyond a reactive approach to AI visibility. Instead of simply tracking what we’ve already achieved, we can proactively identify and address content gaps at a thematic level, ensuring our brands are represented where it truly matters.
Key takeaways
- Bing's Topics Portfolio groups 'grounding queries' into broader topics.
- The report shows approximated topic sizes and total sites cited within each.
- It highlights specific queries where other sites appear, but yours does not.
- Prioritize content gaps by combining topic size with competitor presence.
- A structured workflow helps leverage the new feature effectively.
- Cross-platform investigation of identified topics and queries is crucial.
Beyond Individual Citations: Thematic Visibility
The core innovation of Topics Portfolio lies in its ability to group “grounding queries”-the specific searches used by AI to formulate answers-into broader, more manageable topics. This aggregation provides a contextual framework that individual citation counts simply cannot offer. You might see your site cited frequently for a niche query, but this new feature reveals if you’re missing from an entire category of related searches where your competitors thrive. The goal is to understand not just if you’re cited, but where you’re cited within the larger information landscape.
Bing’s report presents approximated topic sizes and the total number of sites cited within each. This data offers a directional signal, helping to gauge the potential impact and competition within a given topic. While the AI-generated topic classifications might not always be perfect, they provide a strong starting point for investigation.
Identifying and Prioritizing Content Gaps
The real power of Topics Portfolio emerges when it highlights specific queries within a topic where other sites appear, but yours does not. This is direct, actionable intelligence. For instance, if you specialize in video editing software and Bing shows competitors cited for “best AI video editing tools for beginners” within the broader “AI video creation” topic, but your site is absent, that’s a clear content opportunity. It tells you exactly what kind of content to produce or optimize.
Prioritizing these opportunities becomes much clearer. By combining the topic size with the number of competing sites, you can make informed decisions about where to allocate resources. A large topic with many competitors but significant gaps for your brand might warrant more immediate attention than a smaller, less contested area. This strategic insight helps focus efforts for maximum impact.
A Practical Workflow for AI Content Strategy
Leveraging Bing’s new feature effectively requires a structured approach. First, identify relevant topics highlighted by Topics Portfolio that align with your brand’s expertise. Next, review the specific “opportunity queries” within those topics where your site is currently missing. Then, examine your existing content to see if it can be optimized to address these gaps, or if entirely new content needs to be created.
My team at YB Video, for example, used this exact workflow. We found several topics related to “one-click AI video generation” where competitors were being cited for niche use cases we hadn’t explicitly covered. We then developed new short-form content targeting those specific prompts, enhancing our overall visibility.
This isn’t about chasing every single citation; it’s about strategically filling critical voids in your AI footprint. For a comprehensive suite of tools to assist in this process, consider exploring an AI Visibility Toolkit, which can help benchmark your brand’s AI presence and track prompt performance.
Beyond Bing: Cross-Platform Considerations
While Bing’s Topics Portfolio provides invaluable insights within its ecosystem, it’s crucial to remember that these are directional signals specific to Bing. The AI landscape is diverse, and visibility on one platform doesn’t guarantee the same on others. Therefore, after identifying opportunities in Bing, it’s wise to investigate whether those same topics and queries hold relevance across other AI platforms.
Tools like Semrush’s Visibility Overview can benchmark your brand’s overall AI presence, while Prompt Research helps explore prompts related to your target topics, and Prompt Tracking monitors selected prompts and their cited sources across various AI interfaces. This multi-platform approach ensures a more complete and resilient AI content strategy, rather than solely optimizing for a single channel.