The new Bing search with chatbot - practical test and SEO tips
Microsoft's search engine Bing has lagged behind Google in user acceptance for years. While the company still holds a considerable market share in North America, Microsoft's presence in Europe is minimal. That's about to change as the company has integrated the ChatGPT chatbot into the Bing search engine.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, announcing the new Bing with ChatGPT at the company's headquarters in Redmond (Photo by Dan DeLong)
Together with an improved Edge browser, this is not only economically interesting. The combination of chatbot and web search has the potential to permanently change search behavior – with implications for search engine optimization and your website. But what can the new Bing already do, and how does the integrated ChatGPT software affect the search engine? What does this mean for your SEO work?
The Race for User-Centric AI in Web Search
With the release of ChatGPT by OpenAI, a veritable race has begun. Microsoft recognized the potential of artificial intelligence early on. The company secured stakes in the development and initiated a comprehensive cooperation with OpenAI. Through a long-term "multi-billion-dollar investment," Microsoft aims to expedite OpenAI's breakthrough. (Source: tagesschau)
This did not go unnoticed by the competition. When Bing announced the use of the chatbot in the Bing search engine, it apparently triggered an internal "Code Red" at Google. The tech giant initially announced Bard, a competing offer for Google Search, but then internally tempered expectations significantly. In the meantime, Bard can be tested via the experimental site Meet Bard (google.com). Unfortunately, the beta version is not yet available in all languages, especially in Europe, which suggests problems regarding GDPR issues. Bard is a direct interface to an LLM (Large Language Model), which represents a special variant of Google's LaMDA AI. Bard currently presents different versions of results that users can choose from. A close integration with Google Search is intended so that by clicking "Google it," you get relevant suggestions for search queries and can open the results in a new tab for further follow-up. The new search via Bard was introduced as PaLM2 at Google I/O.
For the First Time, Search Responds in Dialogue
The waiting time for Bing's chatbot is no longer really existent. You quickly gain access to the chatbot.
The new approach allows you, as a user, not just to enter a search phrase and then receive a list of hits. You can communicate directly with the chatbot, and it provides short or detailed answers in dialogue, linked to a verifiable source.
This has a conversational character and feels almost like a human dialogue. The sources provide the opportunity to navigate directly to the links. While at the beginning, especially in the mobile version, the search had shifted downwards in favor of the chat, now the classic search exists parallel to the chat.
But Microsoft goes even further. The company has announced to offer the chatbot via the Edge browser or app for other applications as well. Access to linked.in is planned, as well as via Skype and on mobile devices. There, the chatbot will serve as assistance in writing. Integration into Office products is already realized. Word and Outlook can already be automated with ChatGPT.
Microsoft offers chatbot support for linked.in
The New Bing is Powered by ChatGPT-4
Microsoft's chatbot is not based on the well-known text generator ChatGPT-3. The company is already using a significantly improved version for Bing. Additionally, Microsoft has combined the AI with its own AI model, Prometheus, which further optimizes text output and is expected to deliver better results.
In practice, it is evident that the implementation of AI software in Bing is significantly faster and can provide reliable sources compared to the chatbot at OpenAI. This is an important difference from outputs of ChatGPT as a text generator directly at OpenAI, despite all the similarities.
Bing's chatbot responds to a question about whether a purchased seat fits in a car, providing further links after the answer.
Using the New Bing with ChatGPT: User Interface
Currently, to use the chatbot, you need to request access. This requires having or opening a Microsoft account.
The practical usage starts with a normal search input into the new Bing. Instead of the usual list of results, the search engine opens a chat window to provide information relevant to the query. If this doesn't happen automatically, you need to click on the chat button first.
You can choose between a more creative, a more precise, or a balanced conversational style.
Practical Example: How the Bing Chatbot Works
Unlike the classic ChatGPT tool, Bing not only provides answers but also enriches them with sources and further links. You can either continue the conversation with the bot or use the links for further research. Here are some examples to illustrate how it works.
In a test query about Ralf Seybold, both the search results on the left and the chatbot on the right provide an answer. The information is concise but succinctly summarized and includes sources.
Bing answers the question: Who is Ralf Seybold?
After the initial query, the next question is directed straight to the chat and focuses on the professional publications of Ralf Seybold. The answer is once again relevant, and sources are linked.
Bing's chatbot answers the question about Ralf Seybold's professional publications
The next question focuses on the availability of these books. Here again, the Bing chatbot satisfactorily answers the query and provides multiple links.
The Bing chatbot provides purchasing options for Ralf Seybold's books.
Now, an intriguing question arises, which can be understood both personally and professionally. Entering "Ralf Seybold partnership" yields a remarkable result, backed by sources and quite accurate.
The Bing chatbot responds to a query about Ralf Seybold's partnership.
It's no secret that there is a partnership with this SEO tool. The direct question about a connection between the two is answered correctly by the Bing chatbot, with the right sources provided.
The Bing chatbot lists the best all-around SEO tools.
These test queries yield a good overall result. Particularly interesting is Bing's ability to attach relevant sources or useful further links. While this may not work for all queries, it's a step in the right direction. Because this linkage of text and reliable sources was lacking in ChatGPT until now.
Altered Search Behavior Impacts Search Engine Optimization
A look at the practical test and the examples presented by Microsoft itself shows how search can change. For you as a website owner, this means a completely new and quite significant challenge.
- Direct communication will shift the focus from the search result list to the dialogue with the chat.
- Clicks from chat responses will only occur with genuine interest. Short factual answers are unlikely to lead to further research and clicks on links. Yet, the links placed there will still be valuable. Because the research takes place from within the chat.
- For your own website to provide content for Bing's chatbot, it must be perfectly optimized. This is also necessary to be considered as a source or destination for further information links.
- The first organic search results are much less prominently displayed. The battle to reach the first page will now be a battle for the top spot.
Many consequences of Bing's new search can only be guessed at. But there is one essential point you should think about right now. This applies even if for now only Bing integrates a chatbot into search and Google follows suit later. Because search behavior is likely to change very significantly – at least in the medium term.
If chatbots provide sufficiently high-quality responses, they will likely capture a significant portion of search queries. This means that you should optimize your content for the specific requirements of a chatbot in the future. Only if the crawlers can understand and evaluate your information, your pages can be considered in the responses.
SEO Implications – Your Website Must Deliver Perfect Answers!
With Bing Chat, Microsoft has successfully integrated an AI chat into search. Indeed, Bing has been gaining users since the launch of the AI chat and can attract some users away from Google. Bing is gaining significance, as reflected in the stock market. Even if this does not happen immediately, an important path into the future is laid out. Sooner or later, one of the major providers will transition search to a chat format.
This future trend also impacts search engine optimization, specifically sharpening existing measures and forcing you to take action. Without SEO, it will be significantly harder to position your websites prominently on Bing or Google. It is also unlikely that they will be a source for chatbot answers or appear as references there. Key elements include especially on-page measures.
- Keywords: Presenting results requires search engines to deem your page relevant. Integrate specific keywords into your content, including relevant sub-keywords and synonyms that create the perfect context for the main keyword.
- Structured Data: Use microdata to highlight the content of your website. Crawlers can better understand individual passages of your website and assess the relevance for specific search terms. This is advantageous to be considered in relevant search queries.
- Content Structure: Content structuring is closely related to structured data. Use images, videos, and other formats, add subheadings with relevant search phrases, include FAQs, and use lists or tables and similar stylistic devices. This makes the content more engaging, adds value, and organizes the content into understandable sections.
- Quality: With average content, it will be challenging to become the recommended source. The chatbot will likely consider your website only if you provide comprehensive, original, and substantial information for a search query. The more original and better the content, the easier it is to achieve prominent mentions.
- Language: The chatbot currently answers questions in relatively simple language. Readability is more understandable for readers and likely helps the chatbot reproduce the content.
- Website Structure: Create relevance through a good structure on your website. Ensure that content is found in appropriate sections and navigation areas. Additionally, internal links can help explain the weighting of pages and content. Even a well-labeled URL can be helpful for crawlers.
- Technical SEO: More than ever, server errors and slow page loading can complicate achieving a good position and inclusion in prominent link positions on Bing or Google. Technical SEO establishes a solid foundation to achieve these positions.
Decision to Allow or Block ChatGPT: Do you want to make your developed content available to the AI, or not? This is a crucial question. This applies especially to future products where OpenAI is integrated, not just Microsoft Bing.
Block ChatGPT from Your Website – Here's How
In the robots.txt file, you can define whether the AI can read and use your content or not.
Block All Content:
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Disallow: /
Allow Selected Content or Directories:
User-agent: ChatGPT-User
Disallow: /
Allow: /folder1/
Allow: /folder2/
Allow: /this-is-a-content.pdf
If you want to block the bot completely via IP, you should know the IP address range used by OpenAI, which is 23.98.142.176/28.
SEO Tools Support Website Optimization
By the way, the above measures generally apply to SEO and not just for the improvement of the OpenAI chatbot. These standards of on-page optimization and best practices in technical aspects will help you improve your website in general. They increase the chance of achieving good rankings – even in traditional web searches.
SEO tools are a great help in implementation. These tools are programmed to automatically evaluate many of the points mentioned above.
Offerings like On Page SEO Checker or SEO Writing Assistant and Site Audit provide specific insights into errors, improvement possibilities, and untapped potentials. Simply follow the instructions and suggestions, and you will have significantly improved your site from an SEO perspective, making it more understandable for crawlers.
That's the goal. The better search engines like Bing or Google understand your content, the more likely you are to advance in their organic search. At the same time, you create the conditions for a chatbot integrated into the search, like Bing's, to summarize your content and mention a link to your website.
The Trend Is Set, SEO Must Follow It
Even if Google initially backtracked and is working on integrating AI into search, the trend is set. Microsoft's advance with the new Bing was a challenge to the competition.
The Bing chatbot can do more than ChatGPT. The integration of search results into the response is the "missing link" that Open AI alone could not provide. By setting sources and recommendations for further research, a new search experience is created, followed by new search behavior.
SEO often focuses on optimization for Google. That could change. Fortunately, both major search engines are quite similar despite their differences. By following the recommendations of SEO tools and your SEO knowledge, you will be able to achieve better rankings with both providers.
This is particularly true when preparing content for a chatbot. It doesn't matter if Bing, Google Web Search, or a new provider uses a chatbot. The offerings will in any case require strong on-page signals to process, understand, and reproduce the content. Websites without SEO support will find it even harder than before.
Chatbots in search engines are coming. Be prepared.
Read also:
Google Bard - Impact on Future Search
