Most local businesses claim Google, maybe Apple, and stop. Bing gets skipped, because it feels small. That is a mistake, and not for the reason you would guess.
Bing is not just bing.com. Its business data also feeds Bing Maps, search on Windows, and a number of the assistants and answer tools that license Bing’s search index. So the version of your business Bing holds can show up well outside a search engine most people think they never use. And because so few local businesses bother to claim it, the ones that do stand out.
Here is how to claim and set up Bing Places for Business, with a shortcut that makes it faster than you expect.
What Bing Places is
Bing Places for Business is Microsoft’s free tool for managing how your business appears across Bing search, Bing Maps, and the surfaces that draw on Bing’s data. It is the Bing counterpart to a Google Business Profile: your listing, your hours, your details, under your control instead of guessed from public data.
Why it is still worth claiming
- Its reach is wider than its search share. Bing’s index and business data reach into Windows, Bing Maps, and various answer tools and assistants, not just the Bing website.
- It is uncontested. Far fewer local businesses claim Bing than Google. A complete, verified Bing listing is an easy way to look more established than competitors who ignored it.
- It is another source that has to agree. Search engines and assistants trust a business whose details match across many places. Every accurate source you add, Bing included, makes you a safer, more confident answer.
The shortcut: import from Google
The reason this takes ten minutes and not thirty: Bing lets you import an existing Google Business Profile. If your Google listing is already claimed and accurate, you can pull those details straight into Bing instead of retyping everything. Set Google up well first, then import, then verify. We cover Google in a separate guide.
If you would rather not connect accounts, you can also add and edit everything manually. Both paths end in the same place.
Step 1: Sign in and find your business
Go to bingplaces.com and sign in with a Microsoft account. Search for your business by name and location. Bing may already have a listing built from public data, in which case you claim it. If not, you add it as a new business.
Step 2: Import from Google, or enter manually
If prompted, choose to import from Google Business Profile and follow the steps to connect and pull your details. Otherwise, enter your business name, address, phone, hours, categories, and website by hand.
Whichever path you take, make sure every detail matches, exactly, what you show on Google, Apple, and elsewhere: same spelling, same suite number, same phone. Consistency across sources is the whole point.
Step 3: Verify that you own it
Bing confirms you run the business before your listing goes live. Verification is usually by phone, email, or a mailed code, depending on the business. Start this early, because nothing you enter publishes until it clears.
Step 4: Complete the listing
Fill out every field, not just the required ones:
- Name, address, and map location. Confirm the pin sits on your actual entrance.
- Hours. Set regular hours and special or holiday hours, so Bing never tells someone you are closed when you are open.
- Categories. Choose the categories that best describe what you do.
- Phone and website. Current number, live website link.
- Photos and description. Add your logo, real photos, and a short, plain description of the business.
The part a single listing cannot solve
Claiming Bing fixes Bing, today. It does nothing for Google, Apple Maps, the voice assistants, or the directories that also list you, and it does nothing next month when a detail changes and one of those sources drifts out of sync.
Your business information lives in scores of places that copy from each other and age independently. Fix them one at a time by hand and you are never actually done, because the next change starts the cycle over.
That is what LocalBasics is for. You set your name, address, phone, hours, and categories once in a single protected record, and it stays accurate and consistent across Bing, Google, Apple, and the rest of the places customers look, monitored for life, on a one-time payment. Claim Bing yourself. Keeping every source in agreement, forever, is the part worth handing off.
Common questions
Is Bing Places free? Yes. Claiming and managing your listing costs nothing.
Can I really import from Google? Yes. If your Google Business Profile is claimed, Bing can import those details, which saves most of the typing.
How long does verification take? Usually a few minutes to a few days, depending on the method.
Is Bing worth it if my customers use Google? Yes. Bing’s data reaches Windows, Bing Maps, and tools that license its index, and a complete listing is another accurate source that helps every platform trust your information.
The bottom line
Bing Places is free, fast to claim (especially with the Google import), and mostly ignored by your competitors. Set it up, keep it accurate, and remember it is one more source that has to agree with all the others. Keeping them all in agreement is the real job, and the one worth automating.