Bing Webmaster AI queries topics: Microsoft adds Topics Portfolio

What happened

On 13 October 2026 Microsoft announced a beta feature named Topics Portfolio inside the AI Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools, in a post on the Bing blog's Webmaster section signed by Krishna Madhavan, Saral Nigam and Vivek Jain (according to the Bing blog).

Topics Portfolio appears as a new tab to the right of the existing Citations & Pages view and groups the grounding queries that cite a website into broader thematic clusters, for example football, taxes or AI chatbots, so site owners can see topic-level presence rather than individual queries (ppc.land; searchenginejournal.com).

The feature lists three approximate ecosystem measures beside each topic, and includes a Top Opportunity Queries list that shows strong grounding queries where other sites are cited and your site is not. Microsoft emphasises the numbers are approximate and the feature is a test, so small sites may not see it at all (ppc.land; searchenginejournal.com).

Topics Portfolio builds on earlier AI Performance work: the AI Performance report entered public preview on 10 February 2026, and in March 2026 Microsoft added two-way mapping between grounding queries and pages so one query can map to several URLs and one URL to several queries (ppc.land; searchenginejournal.com).

Why it matters for businesses

The tool gives businesses visibility into how AI assistants cite their content at a topic level rather than only by individual queries. That helps companies see the themes where they are quoted and the relative scale of citation activity across the web (ppc.land; searchenginejournal.com).

Because Topics Portfolio shows which other domains are cited on particular topics and lists opportunity queries where a site is not cited, businesses can prioritise content or site changes for topics that already attract AI citations elsewhere. Microsoft describes the Topic Size metric as an estimated total citation count across all sites for the chosen time frame, so the data functions as a rough demand indicator rather than exact search volumes (searchenginejournal.com; ppc.land).

All numeric columns are labelled approximate and citation volumes in the opportunity list are provided as ranges, so businesses should treat the numbers as directional signals rather than precise measures. The topics themselves are generated by artificial intelligence and can be categorised in ways site owners might not expect, so manual review is still necessary (ppc.land; searchenginejournal.com).

Finally, the feature is data-dependent: Microsoft will only show the tab if there is sufficient data for a site. Small or low-traffic sites may not see Topics Portfolio, and the team says the product is in test so figures and behaviour may change (ppc.land; searchenginejournal.com).

What the AI assistants say today

We checked how major AI assistants reflect the new Topics Portfolio capability and whether they reference the announcement and feature details. Several assistants' responses accurately described Topics Portfolio as a way to group grounding queries into topics, list opportunity queries and report approximate citation measures, but coverage and detail varied between systems (assistant check).

The assistants we sampled cited Bing or the Bing blog among their sources when they did reflect the change. The assistants differed in completeness: some included the beta caveats and dates, others summarised the functionality without the blog authorship or the precise test status (assistant check).

What to do now

If you manage a site, use the Topics Portfolio signals as directional intelligence for content priorities and citation opportunity. Vasukai AI Search Desk is one option for checking how AI assistants currently cite your business.

1. Open Bing Webmaster Tools and go to AI Performance; if the Topics Portfolio tab is available review the personalised list of topics where your site has a meaningful presence (ppc.land; searchenginejournal.com).
2. Sort topics by Topic Size and by Sites Cited to identify themes with substantial citation activity and where many domains compete (searchenginejournal.com).
3. Examine the Top Opportunity Queries for topics you care about and treat the reported ranges as prioritisation signals, not exact volumes (ppc.land).
4. Review the Your Grounding Queries table for gaps where your pages are not being cited and map those queries to existing or planned pages using the two-way query-to-URL mapping in AI Performance (ppc.land).
5. Use the thumbs up/down feedback on topic and query rows to report misclassifications; Microsoft says feedback goes to the team handling classification and opportunity selection (searchenginejournal.com).
6. Treat the data as experimental: do A/B testing or small controlled changes before committing major content initiatives, because the numbers are approximate and the feature is in beta (ppc.land; searchenginejournal.com).