Ask any roofer where his calls come from and he’ll say Google and referrals. Ask about Bing and he’ll laugh. Fair enough. Nobody you know “Bings” things.
But you don’t have to use Bing for Bing to matter. When someone asks ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot for a roofer, Bing is often working behind the curtain. And when someone with an iPhone says “find a plumber near me,” Apple Maps is the one answering.
Both listings are free. Both take about an evening. Here is why they’re worth it this year.
Short answer
Yes, claim both. Bing Places is free and feeds Bing search and Bing Maps, and Microsoft says it helps keep your details eligible for its AI answers. ChatGPT also leans on Bing when it searches. Apple Maps listings are now managed in Apple Business (it replaced Apple Business Connect in April 2026), which is free and shows your details across Maps, Safari and Spotlight on Apple devices.
Bing: the search engine behind other search engines
ChatGPT
OpenAI’s help page says ChatGPT sometimes sends a rewritten version of a customer’s question to outside search partners, and adds the city it thinks they’re in. For how those searches are handled, it points to Microsoft’s privacy statement. Microsoft runs Bing.
BrightLocal’s September 2026 study of about 200,000 local AI searches put it plainly: ChatGPT relies on Yelp and Bing, and hardly uses Google Business Profiles. So a business that is perfect on Google but missing from Bing has a hole exactly where ChatGPT looks.
Copilot
Copilot is Microsoft’s own AI assistant. In February 2026, Microsoft’s Bing Webmaster blog said that registering with Bing Places helps local businesses keep their address, hours and contact details current, so they stay eligible for AI-generated answers to location searches.
To be accurate about it: Microsoft’s October 2025 post about the new Bing Places lists Bing search and Bing Maps as where listings appear, and calls deeper Copilot integration a plan. It doesn’t spell out exactly how Copilot uses your listing. But Microsoft is telling owners, in writing, that Bing Places is part of how you stay in its AI answers. That’s enough reason to spend 20 minutes.
Daily active Bing users, according to Microsoft’s own Bing Places page (read November 2026). That is Microsoft’s figure, not an independent count.
How to set up Bing Places (about 20 minutes)
Microsoft rebuilt Bing Places in October 2025 and moved it to bing.com/forbusiness. The old bingplaces.com address now forwards there.
- Go to bing.com/forbusiness and sign in with a Microsoft account. Use a business email you’ll still have in five years, not a tech’s personal one.
- Import from Google. Microsoft says the new version made importing from your Google Business Profile faster and more reliable. This saves retyping and keeps your details matching.
- If you skip the import, search for your business first. There may already be a listing Bing built on its own. Claim that one rather than making a duplicate.
- Check everything after import: business name, phone, website, categories, hours and service area. Imports copy mistakes too.
- Finish the verification step Bing gives you.
Bonus: see if Copilot cites your website
While you’re at Microsoft, add your website to Bing Webmaster Tools (also free). Since February 2026 it has an “AI Performance” report. Microsoft says it shows how often your pages are cited as a source in Copilot and in Bing’s AI summaries, and which phrases led there. It’s a rare look inside the box.
Apple Maps: every iPhone’s default
Apple Maps comes built into every iPhone. Plenty of your customers never installed anything else.
What changed in 2026: Apple Business
If you read an older guide, it will tell you to use “Apple Business Connect.” That’s out of date. On 14 April 2026, Apple replaced Business Connect (and two other business tools) with one free platform called Apple Business. Apple says listings and place card details already in Business Connect moved over on their own.
According to Apple’s announcement, what you manage there shows up in a few places:
- Place cards (your business info panel, with photos, hours and location) across Apple Maps, Safari and Spotlight search.
- Your brand in Maps, Wallet and Mail.
- Apple also names Siri among the places businesses reach customers through it.
Apple also announced ads in Maps for the US and Canada this year. You don’t need them. A claimed, complete listing is free.
Where Yelp fits in
Axios reported in July 2026 that Yelp already supplies data to Apple Maps. So your Yelp page and your Apple Maps listing are connected more than most owners think. More on that in Yelp for contractors: claim it, fill it in, leave it alone.
How to set up Apple Maps (about 20 minutes)
- Go to business.apple.com and sign in with an Apple Account. As with Microsoft, use a business account you control.
- Choose to claim your location on Maps. Search for your business; claim it if it’s there, add it if it isn’t.
- Fill in the place card: category, phone, website, hours and real photos of your work.
- Complete Apple’s verification step.
- Look at the extras Apple offers, like a Showcase for a seasonal offer or a custom action button, and use the ones that fit.
Want to know what’s already out there before you start? Our free audit checks your name, phone and address on Google, Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp and Facebook, and lists any that don’t match.
The one rule for both: match Google exactly
Same business name. Same phone number. Same website. Same hours. If Bing says you close at 5 and Google says 6, an AI tool reading both has to guess, and it may guess wrong out loud to a customer. We go deeper on this in why your name, address and phone must match everywhere.
After you set up both, test what AI tools say about you a week or two later. Our guide on how to check if ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity recommend you shows how. And for the full picture of where ChatGPT gets its names, read how ChatGPT picks local businesses to recommend.
Do this this week
- Claim Bing Places at bing.com/forbusiness and import from Google.
- Check every imported field. Fix the hours and categories.
- Add your website to Bing Webmaster Tools and look at AI Performance in a few weeks.
- Claim your Apple Maps listing in Apple Business at business.apple.com.
- Add real photos to both, and make sure name, phone and website match Google.
Common questions
Is Bing Places for Business really free?
Yes. Microsoft describes it as a free platform. Bing also sells ads, but you don’t need them for a listing.
Is Apple Business Connect gone?
Yes, as a name. Apple replaced it with Apple Business on 14 April 2026, free for new and existing users. Apple says existing Business Connect listings moved over automatically, so log in at business.apple.com to check yours.
I’m a service-area business with no shop. Can I still list?
Use your real business details, the same ones on your Google profile. If a form asks for an address you don’t want public, look for its option to hide it. Never invent an office address to get a pin.
Does Siri use my Apple Maps listing?
Apple names Siri among the places Apple Business reaches customers, and Siri gives directions through Apple Maps. Apple doesn’t publish how Siri picks which business to suggest, so the safe move is a complete, accurate listing.
Where to start
Tonight, do Bing. Importing from Google takes minutes, and it fills the gap ChatGPT and Copilot look at. Apple can wait until tomorrow. If you’d like us to check what’s already listed first, start with our free audit, and see what we offer on the packages page.
Sources
- Microsoft Bing Blog, “Introducing the New Bing Places for Business: Built for Business Owners, Powered by Research,” 3 October 2025. blogs.bing.com/search
- Microsoft Bing Webmaster Blog, “Introducing AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools Public Preview,” 10 February 2026. blogs.bing.com/webmaster
- Microsoft, Bing Places for Business home page, read 12 November 2026. bing.com/forbusiness
- OpenAI Help Center, “Searching the web with ChatGPT,” read 12 November 2026. help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897
- BrightLocal, local AI visibility study (about 200,000 non-branded searches in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews), 16 September 2026. brightlocal.com/research/local-ai-visibility-study
- Apple Newsroom, “Introducing Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform for businesses of all sizes,” 24 March 2026. apple.com/newsroom
- Axios, “Exclusive: Yelp partners with ChatGPT to surface reviews,” 23 July 2026. axios.com