Bing Places is a local business listing service provided by Microsoft’s search engine, Bing. It allows businesses to create a profile with their basic information, such as name, address, phone number, website, business hours, and photos so that potential customers can find them easily on Bing’s search results, maps, and other services.
Bing’s search results offer a map pack just like Google’s SERP with the ability to zoom in and view the businesses closest to you.
Bing and Contextual AI
While Bing had quite a small market share of the search engine market (currently under 7%), the investment and integration of ChatGPT’s contextual AI technology may drive a lot more adoption of the search engine… especially if Google is lagging behind with a similar experience. There’s no doubt in my mind that advancements in AI are going to seriously disrupt the search engine market.
Even with its current small market share, Bing still translates to millions of users who could potentially find your business through Bing Places.
Along with the new AI integrated, other features of Bing Places include:
- Verification: Bing Places requires businesses to verify their listing through a phone call, email, or postcard to ensure accuracy and authenticity.
- Multiple locations management: Businesses can manage multiple locations from a single dashboard, making it easier to update and maintain their listings.
- Reviews management: Businesses can respond to customer reviews, track their ratings, and improve their reputation (and visibility).
- Local search ads: Bing Places also offers local search ads that allow businesses to promote their listing and reach a wider audience.
- Integration with other Microsoft products: Bing Places integrates with other Microsoft products such as Office 365, Windows 10, and LinkedIn to help businesses manage their online presence more effectively.
- Mobile App: The Bing Places mobile app allows business owners to manage their listings on-the-go. With the app, businesses can update their business information, add photos, respond to customer reviews, and track their performance from their mobile device.
But the best feature that you may not be aware of is Bing Places integration with Google Business! You can even synchronize the two platforms so that you don’t need to manage two different channels.
Google Business Profile Synchronization
When you register with Bing Places, you’re immediately brought to a screen that enables you to simply import your Google Business listings in Bing! Just add them, update your categories, and you’re live. I did find the categories and hierarchy was lacking. For example, there were no categories for business consultants or software companies… kind of strange.
Businesses should publish on Bing Places because it can help them increase their online visibility and attract more local customers. By having a verified and complete profile on Bing Places, businesses can improve their search engine optimization (SEO) and appear higher in Bing’s search results for relevant queries.
Additionally, Bing Places provides useful insights and analytics to help businesses track their performance and understand their audience better.
Register Your Business With Bing Places
