Google vs Bing: Which Is Best for Traffic in 2026?
Google vs Bing at a Glance
For most businesses, Google should come first: it handles around 90% of searches worldwide, compared with Bing’s 5% (StatCounter, September 2026). But Bing is still worth optimising for. It takes little extra effort, it powers Microsoft Copilot’s web answers, and it has a much bigger share on desktop, where it’s the default search engine in Windows and Edge.
| Bing | ||
| Worldwide search share (September 2026) | 89.94% | 5.29% |
| UK search share, all devices | 91.39% | 6.08% |
| US desktop search share | 74.71% | 18.8% |
| Default search engine in | Chrome, Android and Safari | Edge and Windows |
| AI search features | AI Overviews, AI Mode and the Gemini app | Copilot and Copilot Search |
| Ad platform | Google Ads | Microsoft Advertising |
| Free site owner tool | Google Search Console | Bing Webmaster Tools |
| Best for | Reaching the widest audience, especially on mobile | Adding desktop and workplace searchers, and visibility in Copilot |
Source for share figures: StatCounter Global Stats, September 2026.
Every few months, a headline declares the end of Google. First it was Bing’s AI chatbot, then ChatGPT, then AI search in general. Google is still the biggest search engine by a long way, but the gap between “biggest” and “only one that matters” is worth understanding.
For years, search firm Google has dominated the search engine market, leaving Bing in the shadows. But with developments in artificial intelligence (AI), both companies have made big moves to stay relevant and attract more users.
So, in the Bing vs Google search engine comparison, who’s best for traffic?
Let’s take a closer look.
What’s Happening with Bing in 2026? (Copilot, AI Search, and Market Share)
So, is Bing no longer a joke? (Sorry, Microsoft)
It hasn’t been for a while now.
Of course, Google still has the biggest market share of any search engine, and by a HUGE margin. In September 2026, Google handled 89.94% of searches worldwide and Bing 5.29%, according to StatCounter. Bing’s share is small, but Microsoft has changed where Bing shows up.
Microsoft has gone much further than adding a chatbot to its search engine. Bing search now sits inside Microsoft’s Copilot AI assistant, Edge browser features, Microsoft 365 apps, and Windows search itself. That means Bing now reaches users who never actively chose it, particularly in workplaces running Microsoft 365. That distribution advantage is the most important Bing development of recent years.
What does this mean for your business, website, and most importantly… your website traffic?
Has Bing Overtaken Google? (The 2026 Market Share Reality)
Nope.
Not yet, anyway.
But that doesn’t mean it should be counted out of the fight just yet.
Bing’s worldwide share has stayed in single figures, and the arrival of AI chat in 2023 didn’t change that. Where Bing does much better is on desktop. In the US, it handled 18.8% of desktop searches in September 2026, against Google’s 74.71% (StatCounter). In the UK, across all devices, Bing’s share was 6.08%.
So the real question isn’t whether Bing will overtake Google. It’s whether enough of your audience uses Bing, often without choosing it, to make it worth a share of your time and budget.
A Short History of Google and Bing
Google launched in 1998 and became the world’s most-used search engine within a few years. Its early advantage was the quality of its results, which ranked pages partly by the links pointing to them. “Google” has since become a verb.
Microsoft’s search engine started life as MSN Search in the late 1990s, became Live Search, and was relaunched as Bing in 2009. Bing has also powered Yahoo’s search results since the two companies partnered that same year.
The AI era has been the biggest shake-up since. Microsoft added an AI chatbot to Bing in February 2023, which became Copilot later that year. Google answered with Bard, which it renamed Gemini in February 2024, and has since added AI Overviews and AI Mode to its search results.
Why Google Still Dominates Search in 2026
Bing got its AI chatbot into search first, but it didn’t change the market. Three things keep Google in front:
- Defaults. Google is the default search engine in Chrome, on Android phones and in Apple’s Safari browser, which together cover most of the world’s mobile searches.
- Habit. We don’t do a Google search. We just Google. Most people never change the search engine they’re given.
- AI in the results. Google added AI Overviews and AI Mode to its own search results, so people who wanted AI answers didn’t need to switch.
Bing vs Google Users in 2026: Device Split and Who Uses Bing
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For a long time, Google has stood apart from every other search engine. It’s bigger, used more frequently, and is such a part of the daily world that Google is now a verb. We don’t do a Google search. We just Google.
Compare that to Bing. As of September 2026, Bing holds around 5% of worldwide search engine market share, with Google at around 90%, according to StatCounter. On desktop specifically, Bing performs noticeably better, with 18.8% of US desktop searches, largely because Edge and Windows ship with Bing (and now Copilot) as the default.
Plus, let’s not forget that Bing is already the go-to search engine for millions of office folks using Windows and Office. It’s right there, ready for action, thanks to IT departments picking from Microsoft’s menu of options.
So the more interesting number isn’t Bing’s worldwide 5%. It’s its desktop share. If your customers search on desktop, at work, on Windows machines, Bing (and Microsoft Ads) may deserve a bigger slice of your marketing budget than its worldwide share suggests.
The best way to find out is to check your own data. Look at how much of your organic traffic comes from Bing in Google Analytics or Bing Webmaster Tools, and if you run Microsoft Ads, use the audience insights in your account to see who’s actually clicking.
How AI Answers Affect Traffic From Google and Bing
Search engines have answered questions directly on the results page for years, through featured snippets and knowledge panels. AI answers take that further. Google now shows AI Overviews and offers AI Mode, and Bing has Copilot. Both can answer a question without the searcher clicking through to a website.
Even without AI, both Google and Bing offer zero-click internet searches. Snippets that answer direct questions are right at (or near) the top of the page, and the user won’t have to go to a website unless they want to find out more.
And that doesn’t even consider the number of people who make a search engine query but don’t click on a link but instead pick up their phone and call or email the business they’ve discovered via search.
In terms of getting website traffic, it will be less about the search engine being used and more about the content on your website.
The key is to think informational vs transactional.
Informational and transactional content have different goals, but both can bring traffic to your site. Informational content focuses on, well, info! It’s all about sharing knowledge and answering questions.
Think of blog posts, how-to guides, or FAQs.
This type of content can get you featured snippets and citations in AI answers, as it’s perfect for quick answers. When people ask questions, they love a speedy, accurate response!
On the other hand, transactional content is all about getting things done. It helps visitors buy, sign up, or download. This means product pages, checkout forms, and subscription boxes. Although not as snippety-friendly, it can still benefit from having clear, well-structured content that can help your site be the answer to a transactional search engine query.
In short, both informational and transactional content can drive traffic.
AI tools answer informational questions well, but people still visit websites when they’re ready to compare, buy or get in touch.
So it’s less about Bing vs Google and more about taking a new approach to your site’s content, and the keywords you use.
It’s not a complete change, just a matter of bearing in mind the intent of the user and what it’s going to take to get them to visit your website.
What Bing now does, is augment its AI answers ChatGPT with attribution links. So it doesn’t just give you an answer, it gives an answer based on the info it’s found on the internet in real-time, with a link to that information included. So users can scan the responses they get and click to find out more. Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode work in a similar way.
Sounds a bit like a featured snippet, right?
How Bing’s AI Answers Compare to Google’s Featured Snippets
This means some things will stay the same (kinda, but kinda not).
The same signals that search engines use to determine SERP ranking and snippets are still in place. It’s just that as well as the same list of links and snippets we now get, there is also some automated easy-to-digest answer that collects data from multiple sources and presents it to searchers on both Bing and Google as a single source of info.
So if we assume that the concept of E-E-A-T will still play a key role in SERP visibility, what’s changed?
Well, for starters, Google’s search engine ranking factors might evolve. But that’s a problem we constantly face. The main concern for businesses that rely on website traffic is the focus of their content. In much the same way that content changed to reflect answer-based content, specific questions with specific answers will have to drive content creation.
Google vs Bing vs AI Search: Where ChatGPT and Perplexity Fit
ChatGPT now has a bigger audience than Bing. OpenAI said in February 2026 that ChatGPT had reached 900 million weekly active users. Like Bing and Google, ChatGPT can now search the web and link to its sources.
Google and Bing are designed to index, rank, and then retrieve information and material from the internet. That’s what a Google search or a Bing query is designed to do, and that’s what they’re (relatively) good at.
AI assistants work differently. They generate a written answer, often drawing on search results, and link to a handful of sources. That makes them useful for research, but they still send far fewer visitors to websites than search engines do.
Google and Bing aren’t the only places people go looking for answers any more. In SE Ranking’s study of more than 100,000 websites, AI platforms sent 0.32% of all website traffic in 2026, up from 0.24% in 2025 and 0.02% in 2024. Organic search sent 42.75%. In the UK, the AI share was lower still, at 0.16%.
ChatGPT sent most of those AI referrals (74.78%), followed by Gemini (11.56%), Perplexity (7.23%) and Microsoft Copilot (3.51%). All of them surface answers with citations and links, which means appearing in those answers is becoming its own discipline, sitting alongside (not replacing) traditional SEO.
If your business relies on organic traffic, it’s worth treating AI search as a genuine third channel rather than a footnote. Our AI Search Optimisation service covers the strategy for appearing in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini alongside your existing Google and Bing presence, and our generative engine optimisation guide and guide to how to rank in Google’s AI Overviews go into the tactics in more depth.
Google Ads vs Microsoft Ads: Which PPC Platform Deserves Your Budget?
If organic traffic through Google is the winner simply because of sheer user volume, what about when we look at PPC traffic?
Which is more effective for your online advertising, Bing or Google?
Pay-per-click is such a useful weapon in your brand growth strategy, that knowing whether to place your ads on Google, or Bing is critical to consider.
Google Ads and Microsoft Ads are the biggest players regarding PPC search ads, but the two offer very different results. When you’re juggling your marketing budget, knowing what you get from either of the two search engine giants can help guide your advertising choices.
The key problem with paid advertising on Bing vs Google is down to cost vs reach.
Google Ads have a bigger audience. Throw a PPC ad on Google, and it’ll get seen by more people. Of course, that also means more competition for your high-earning keywords and a higher cost per click.
On the flip side is Microsoft Ads, which reaches people searching on Bing and Microsoft’s partner sites. With a smaller audience, there can be fewer advertisers bidding on some keywords.
That can mean cheaper clicks, but it varies a lot by industry, so compare the suggested bids for your own keywords in both platforms before you decide. Either way, you’ll lose out on the sheer volume of what Google offers: users.
So there’s something of a trade-off to think about when deciding on Bing vs Google Ads. Our Google Ads service covers the 90% of search that Google controls, including AI Overviews and AI Mode placements , and our Microsoft Ads management covers Bing. Both are worth reading alongside this section if you’re weighing up where to put your PPC budget.
Google vs Bing: Feature Comparison in 2026 (AI Mode vs Copilot)
Bing and Google search might do the same job, but they look and work very differently. Both search engines display different info in different layouts.
Here are some main areas where they’re increasingly working in very different ways.
| Search feature | Bing | |
| AI answers | AI Overviews at the top of results, plus AI Mode for longer conversations | Copilot answers in results, plus Copilot Search |
| Video results | A list of results with thumbnails, mostly sending people to YouTube | A grid with previews you can watch without leaving Bing |
| Image search | Google Images and Google Lens visual search | Bing Images and Bing Visual Search |
| Shopping | Google Shopping, fed by Google Merchant Center | Bing Shopping, fed by Microsoft Merchant Center |
| Local results | Google Business Profile listings and Maps | Bing Places for Business listings and Bing Maps |
| Featured snippets and knowledge panels | Yes | Yes |
Video views are incredibly different on Bing and much more user-friendly. Whereas Google presents a video search as a list of links with a small thumbnail, Bing delivers a fully navigable grid that makes it much easier to determine value. Even better, unlike Google, users can click on a video and watch it within Bing, so they don’t get sent to a website to watch the content they want to watch. There’s even a function to get a video preview by hovering over the thumbnail.
Google video searches are lacking, but for image search, it’s still a big leap forward when compared to Bing. While Bing visual search has some cool image features, such as your layout preferences, the overall look of the Microsoft Bing search results page looks overly messy and complicated. So Google wins on image search even as it continues to fall behind on video search.
For business owners and marketing teams, those factors alone should form a big part of your decision whether to optimise for Google or Bing.
Are you a company whose marketing strategy and products are video-led? Or are you more image-based? Think about your target audience too.
Google vs Bing Ranking Factors: Where They Agree and Differ
One final area to be aware of when considering the best search engine for your business to focus on is the ranking factors. These are the signals that different search engines will use to determine when your website and your content have any value to search engine users.
Despite some common misconceptions, the fact is that both Bing and Google use very similar SEO ranking factors. However, there are enough differences that they’re worth touching on.
The important takeaway is that optimising for Bing and Google means paying attention to details. Optimising your meta descriptions so they include your keywords is great for Bing, but at the same time, doing so isn’t going to get you penalised by Google. Optimise for both, and you should get good performance on both.
Google vs Bing in 2026: The Verdict and How to Split Your Strategy
While it’s fair to say that there are some key differences between the two search engines, there is only one answer to this question in 2026.
It depends.
Bing is absolutely, and rightfully, the perfect search engine for some businesses, but not all of them. And it could be a top search engine in the future.
Google isn’t THE answer, but it is probably the BEST answer.
The sheer number of people that use Google every single day is mind-boggling. Bing has spent years fine-tuning and improving, and it now reaches more people through Windows, Edge and Copilot. But at the end of the day, Google is simply the leading search engine.
Here’s how we’d split your effort:
- Make Google your main focus for SEO and, in most cases, for paid search.
- Set up Bing Webmaster Tools, submit your sitemap and turn on IndexNow. It takes an hour and covers Bing and Copilot.
- Test Microsoft Ads if your audience searches on desktop or at work. Import your Google Ads campaigns and compare cost per lead, not just cost per click.
- Track AI search as a third channel, so you can see where your brand appears in AI answers.
If you want to drive traffic to your website, optimise for Google but pay attention to what Bing is doing and how it ranks you differently.
Get your strategy right, and it won’t be about Bing vs Google. It’ll be about creating a strategy that ensures both Google and Bing will drive traffic to your website.
If you want help with your content strategy, we have a team of content marketing specialists at Exposure Ninja. Learn more about our content marketing services here.
Google vs Bing FAQs
Is Google or Bing better for SEO?
Both use broadly similar ranking signals, but they weight things differently. Bing is often seen as more literal about keywords in titles and meta descriptions, and supports IndexNow for faster indexing. Google leans more on context, intent, and E-E-A-T. In practice, optimising well for Google tends to also perform reasonably on Bing. The reverse isn’t always true.
What is Bing’s market share in 2026?
Bing held 5.29% of worldwide search market share in September 2026, against Google’s 89.94% (StatCounter). On US desktop specifically, Bing’s share is much higher, at 18.8%, driven by Edge, Windows and Copilot defaults. In the UK, across all devices, it’s 6.08%.
Should I run Microsoft Ads as well as Google Ads?
If your audience includes desktop users, professionals, or B2B buyers, it’s worth testing. Bing is the default in Windows and Edge, so it reaches a lot of people searching at work. Clicks can be cheaper than on Google for some keywords, but compare cost per lead in your own account before moving budget.
What’s the difference between Bing and Microsoft Copilot Search?
Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant, built into Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365, and it draws on Bing’s search index to answer questions conversationally. Ranking well in Bing organic search improves your chances of being surfaced inside Copilot’s answers, so the two are closely linked rather than separate channels.
Are AI search engines replacing Google and Bing?
Not yet, and not entirely. AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Gemini sent 0.32% of all website traffic in 2026, up from 0.24% in 2025, while organic search sent 42.75% (SE Ranking). It’s a genuinely new and fast-growing channel worth optimising for, but it’s additive to Google and Bing rather than a replacement for either.
What to Read Next
- See the latest numbers in our roundup of SEO statistics.
- Find out how to appear in AI answers with our generative engine optimisation guide.
- Learn how to rank in Google’s AI Overviews.
- See how search has changed over the years in our history of Google algorithm updates.
Want to know how visible you are on Google, Bing and in AI search? Book a consultation and we’ll look at where you stand and show you what’s worth doing first.
