Looking to claim your business on Bing? Bing Places for Business is a free service that allows you to link your company to local customers instantly by creating business listings on Bing.
While many companies have Google My Business listings set up, Bing is the second most searched version of business listings and should be utilized to drive organic traffic and leads for your business.
Read our guide that will walk you through how to set up your business listing on Bing Places.
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Bing Places has various procedures for different sizes of business, depending on the number of locations the organization has. If your company has 1-10 sites, this is the method that you’ll use to add or retrieve a Bing Places for Business listing. You’ll want to set up a Microsoft Account beforehand to make the process smoother.
We also cover in the second half of this walkthrough how to create Bing Places for business chains with more than ten locations, so skip ahead if this applies to you.
First, you’ll want to log into your Bing Places For Business Account.
There are a few different ways to claim your business, which we’ll cover below.
If you already have a Google My Business listing set up, you can simply import your GMB listing to Bing Places.
Enter the Business Search tab and pick the type of business, number of locations you’re looking to find, and the country in which the business is located. You can then use the business phone number, company name, or address to find your existing business listing on Bing.
If you’re setting up your business listing for the first time, or aren’t able to find your business via Bing Places, then you’ll create a new business listing.
After you’ve taken the prior steps to either locate your business or begin setting up a new listing on Bing Places, you can edit the basic business information. When you're done, press 'Next' to progress to the next screen, where you can update and add more info for your listing.
To specify your business location on Bing Places, select the “Move map pin” to the business area your business is located and click Submit.
Bing Places offers a number of presets for you to select your business category and describe what your business is all about.
Here you’ll choose to either show or hide your business address. Only show your business address if you expect customers to visit a physical location - if you don’t have an address, select “No” to hide your address in the Bing search results.
This screen will prompt you to include your business contact details, such as an email or phone number, as well as your social media channels that you want displayed on your Bing Places listing.
Attach pictures of your company to your listing. Tap the 'Browse' button to pick the pictures you would like to share. (Note: the first photo you upload would serve as the primary icon on your listing - we recommend selecting your business logo as your first photo for the Bing Places listing).
Add your business hours, if applicable, or move onto the next step.
The last step you’ll need to take is to verify your Bing Places listing. There are five different verification methods, which we’ll cover below. If you have changed any business details or added more info, Bing will not allow you to publish the information until the business review process has been completed.
Not all firms are able to be confirmed for all five possible alternatives. The two popular methods of authentication are telephone verification and postcard verification.
Bing Places will call and provide an authentication code to that number. You also have the option to add an extension number before you press "Check Now".
When you receive the automated call, you’ll then need to add the Verification PIN.
Bing will fetch your registered business phone number and send a verification code as a text message (SMS).
Enter the Verification PIN and click Submit to verify the listing.
If you want to receive a Bing Business listing verification PIN by email, enter your business email ID to receive a verification code.
Note: The email needs to be your business email, and not a public domain email address such as outlook or gmail.
For this option, Bing will deliver a card with a verification PIN to your business address. The card takes about 3-5 business days to arrive.
The final verification method involves verifying your Bing Business listing by answering 5 questions that are specific to your business and that only you would know. You must answer all of these questions correctly for verification to be successful.
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If you manage a chain of businesses, you’ll need to either import data from existing listings from Google My Business or bulk upload location data using a spreadsheet.
The easiest way to create Bing Places for large businesses with 10+ locations is to verify via Google My Business, if those locations have GMB listings already set up.
First, log into your Bing Places account.
Select the number of locations and country that your businesses are located in. You’ll then use a phone number, business name, or location to find your business.
On the next screen, select “Import From Google My Business Now” and choose how frequently you want Bing Places to sync data for verification.
Select the email account that houses all of your GMB listings and confirm the connection so Bing Places can sync the data.
You’ll now have the option of selecting which businesses you want to be imported from Google My Business to Bing Places. Assuming that your GMB listings are already verified, you won’t have to repeat the verification process for your Bing Places listings.
The alternative way to create listings for business chains is to manually upload business data using a spreadsheet, which we’ll cover below.
Again, enter your Bing Places account and select “Claim Or Add Business Manually”.
Bing Places will provide the option to register a chain business. Select this option.
Include your chain name, website, and number of stores you’re looking to create Bing Places listings for.
Fill out any required fields regarding your corporate HQ - a verification request will be sent before you’re able to upload any location data for your businesses.
You’ll now be required to verify your chain headquarters. There are two options for verification - either email or a postcard that’s mailed to your corporate HQ’s business address.
Email is the fastest solution for verification - you’ll receive a verification PIN, which you’ll enter in Bing Places. Note: your business website domain must match your business email.
You can also request to have a physical postcard mailed to your business headquarters. The postcard will have PIN attached, which you’ll use to verify your listings.
Once your request has been verified and approved, you can now head to the “Manage Chain Businesses” section in the Bing Places dashboard.
Here you’ll fill out location data, with a limit of 10,000 listings. Bing Places provides an Excel template - download the template and fill out the recommended information. It’s easy, but tedious and time consuming, so I only recommend this option if no GMB listings are set up yet for your chain.
Once the information is filled in on the template, click “Upload” and submit. As a safeguard, verify that your file didn’t receive any errors after submission (otherwise it won’t upload).
All of your business listings will be added and go through an automatic verification process, which may take 1-2 weeks, and selected as “Published” in your Bing Places dashboard.
Now that you’ve got your Bing Places account set up, check out some of our other resources to get you started:
