Google Search Console vs Bing Webmaster Tools: Do You Need Both?
What each free tool offers, where they differ, and how to use both together.
Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools are free tools from the two largest Western search engines. They overlap a lot, but each has features the other lacks โ and each only shows its own search engine's data.
What both tools do
- Verify ownership of your website.
- Accept sitemap submissions.
- Show search performance: clicks, impressions, average position and queries.
- Report indexing status and crawl problems.
- Let you inspect individual URLs and request indexing.
- Alert you to security issues and penalties.
Strengths of Google Search Console
- Google's data โ most search traffic in many countries.
- Detailed Page indexing report with reasons for each excluded page.
- Core Web Vitals report based on real-user data.
- Rich result reports for structured data such as products and breadcrumbs.
- Links report showing top linking sites and internal links.
Strengths of Bing Webmaster Tools
- Import from Search Console โ set up in minutes.
- Site Scan โ a free on-demand technical crawl of your site.
- Keyword research tool with Bing search data.
- Backlinks data, including for other sites.
- IndexNow support for instant URL notifications.
Why the numbers differ
Each tool only counts its own search engine. Bing's share varies by country and device, and is often higher on desktop and in some workplaces. Bing's index also feeds other search and AI products, so it can matter more than its search share suggests.
How to use them together
- Submit the same correct sitemap to both.
- Use Search Console for indexing problems and Core Web Vitals.
- Use Bing's Site Scan for a quick technical crawl.
- Compare top queries in both โ differences can reveal new keyword ideas.
- Check indexability of important URLs with the bulk indexability checker when either tool reports a problem.
Read how to submit a sitemap to Bing and how to find keyword opportunities in Search Console.
A worked example
A B2B software company in the Netherlands used only Search Console. After adding Bing Webmaster Tools, it discovered that Bing sent a noticeable share of its demo requests, mostly from desktop users at work. Bing's Site Scan also found dozens of broken links in old blog posts, which the team fixed for both search engines.
A monthly routine with both tools
- Compare clicks and impressions with last month in each tool.
- Check Search Console's Page indexing report for new problems.
- Run Bing's Site Scan and fix new errors.
- Note queries that appear in one tool but not the other.
- Check that both tools still read your sitemap successfully.
Thirty minutes a month is enough for most small sites, and catching problems early saves far more time later.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Bing Webmaster Tools free?
Yes, completely free, like Search Console.
Do I need to verify my site twice?
You can import verified sites from Search Console into Bing, which skips separate verification.
Which tool is more important?
Search Console, for most sites โ but Bing takes minutes to set up and adds useful data.
Do both tools show the same queries?
No. Each shows queries from its own search engine, so lists differ.