Bing Places for Business determines how your business appears in Bing Search and Bing Maps: your address, telephone number, opening hours and website. Most business owners focus their local strategy on Google, but anyone searching via Bing for a plumber in Antwerp, a solicitor in Mechelen or a restaurant in Leuven deserves the same accurate information.
If you do not claim your listing, Bing may display out-of-date or incomplete information from external sources. Here’s how to claim an existing listing, create a new one and keep your business details up to date alongside your Google Business Profile.
What is Bing Places for Business?
Bing Places for Business is Microsoft’s free platform that allows you to manage how your business appears in local Bing results and on Bing Maps. You can use it to claim an existing listing, create a new one or fill in any missing details: business name, address, telephone number, website, opening hours, category and service area. The exact fields vary depending on business type, country and dashboard version.
The platform is not an advertising platform. For paid search campaigns, you use Microsoft Advertising, with your own budget, targeting and bids. Your Bing listing, on the other hand, will always remain organic and free.
Where does your Bing listing appear?
For a search query with a specific location, such as “electrician in Turnhout” or “Italian restaurant in Hasselt”, Bing displays a map, a list of businesses or information about a specific location. Creating a listing does not automatically mean you’ll appear at the top: Bing determines for itself which results are most relevant, based on the search query, location, competition and the quality of your information. Bing listing?
Your listing mainly ensures that Microsoft has accurate information. It does not guarantee a ranking.
Bing Places and Google Business Profile complement each other
Google Business Profile and Bing Places serve the same purpose: to manage your local details within their respective platforms. You don’t have to choose between them. Your website remains the central source; Google Business Profile supports your presence on Google, and your Bing listing does the same for Bing. If you change your address, telephone number or opening hours, update your website first and then check both listings.
This allows you to reach customers who search using Google as well as those who use Bing as their default search engine – for example, via Windows or Microsoft Edge – without having to choose between the two platforms.
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Add, claim and verify your business
First, search for your company name, address and telephone number before creating a new profile: there may already be an automatically generated listing. If you find an existing listing that belongs to your company, claim it. If you can’t find one, add a new listing using your official company name, without adding any extra cities or keywords.
Next, enter your address, telephone number, website, opening hours and category, and follow the verification steps provided by Bing in your dashboard. The verification method available varies depending on the business and location. The platform sometimes offers the option to import data from an existing Google Business Profile, but always check your business name, address, opening hours and images yourself after such an import: an import saves time, but is no substitute for a thorough check of the content.
If you operate from multiple branches, manage each location separately in the dashboard. A construction company with its head office in Herent and a workshop in Mechelen can then ensure that each branch has the correct address, telephone number and opening hours, rather than a single listing that is only half correct.
Which data deserve the most attention?
Use the same business name everywhere – on your shop front, website and quotations – without adding any extra keywords. Check your address and the position of the map pin carefully, especially if your business is located in an industrial estate, a shopping centre or has multiple sites: give each site its own address, telephone number and opening hours. Choose a category that describes your main activity as accurately as possible and keep your opening hours up to date, including around public holidays and collective holiday periods.
This information is also known as NAP data: name, address, phone number. It must be consistent across your website, Bing Places, Google Business Profile and other business listings. Minor differences in spelling are not a problem, but having an old address on one platform and a new address on another causes confusion for customers and search engines.
Is this worth it for a Belgian SME?
You don’t need to spend as much time on Bing as you do on your Google Business Profile. However, having a verified and accurate listing ensures that customers searching via Bing don’t see an out-of-date address or an incorrect telephone number. For businesses serving local or regional customers, the benefits of this check outweigh the limited time investment: setting up a profile and keeping it up to date usually only requires attention a few times a year.
This is all the more true for sectors with a high volume of telephone or walk-in enquiries, such as the hospitality industry, medical practices and law firms. A customer who is left with an out-of-date telephone number or an incorrect address will often simply call a competitor.
Your Bing listing works best when combined with a strong website
Your Bing listing helps boost your local visibility, but it is no substitute for your website. Your website provides space to explain your services, approach and catchment area in detail; a business profile, on the other hand, mainly offers a concise overview. For local SEO, your website needs to make it clear what you offer, the region in which you operate and how people can get in touch. Combine this with a technically sound website: clear navigation, fast-loading pages and a good mobile experience help both visitors and search engines to understand what you have to offer.
If you operate from several cities or regions, separate landing pages on your website can support those locations. However, avoid creating dozens of almost identical pages where only the place name changes: each page must offer genuine added value, for example through specific services, case studies or travel information for that region.
Are you unsure whether your website is ready for that?
Common mistakes with your Bing listing
The most common mistake is failing to check whether your business is already listed on Bing, meaning that an automatically generated listing remains unmanaged for years. A second mistake is creating a new profile when a listing already exists, which leads to duplicate and conflicting results. Other common issues include choosing a category that is too general, having an out-of-date website, or failing to update an address following a move. You should also ensure that the profile remains owned by your business, not by an individual employee or temporary partner.
Frequently Asked Questions about Bing Places
Bing Places for Business is Microsoft’s free business platform. It allows you to manage how your business information is displayed in local search results on Bing and Bing Maps: you can claim an existing listing or add a new one, and then check details such as your address, telephone number, website, opening hours and category.
Yes. You don’t pay anything to create or claim a listing. Microsoft Advertising is a separate, paid advertising platform; your Bing listing remains organic and free.
Google Business Profile manages your local presence on Google Search and Google Maps, whilst Bing Places does the same for Bing and Bing Maps. Both platforms serve a similar purpose, but are part of different search ecosystems.
It isn’t compulsory, but combining the two makes sense if you’re looking for local or regional customers. Not everyone uses the same search engine, so by managing both, you increase the chances of customers finding the same accurate details everywhere.
Sign up to Bing Places for Business and start by searching for your business name and location. If a listing already exists, claim it. If you can’t find anything, add a new listing and follow the verification steps in your dashboard.
Bing determines which verification method is available for your business, depending on your location, business type and the details on file. Follow the instructions in your dashboard and ensure that your business name, address and contact details are correct beforehand.
For businesses operating locally or regionally, it’s certainly worth checking what information Bing displays. You don’t need to invest as much time in it as you do with Google, but ensuring your listing is accurate prevents potential customers from seeing out-of-date or incomplete information.
Check your profile at least a few times a year and whenever there are significant changes to your details: a change of address, new opening hours, a different telephone number or an additional branch. Also check that your opening hours are still correct during public holidays and holiday periods.
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