The machine is simple once you see it: a Copilot prompt that needs current information becomes search queries, which go to Bing (Microsoft calls the step web grounding). Copilot pulls candidates from the Bing index and the live web, ranks them for relevance and credibility, and the model writes its answer with footnote-style citations to the pages it used. That chain is the buying decision: Bing is the foundation, so its top results get cited, its rankings differ from Google’s, and a contractor site invisible in Bing is invisible in Copilot.
What wins the citation is extractability: H2s phrased as real questions, the direct answer in the first sentence, schema markup, credentialed bylines, HTTPS. The proof of work is free: Bing’s AI Performance report, in public preview since February 10, 2026, tracks citations and the Grounding Queries Copilot derives from long prompts; Microsoft 365 Copilot instead grounds on company data via Microsoft Graph and Work IQ. Microsoft keeps making those citations more prominent, with a consolidated "Show all" sources list and navigational links up top, and that is the machinery your citation service sells against.