Topics Portfolio in Bing Webmaster Tools is a beta feature that groups the search queries AI answers used when citing your site into topics. Microsoft said in its October 13, 2026 announcement that it added the feature to the AI Performance report. Each topic shows citation volume, the number of sites cited, and the number of queries. It also lists opportunity queries, where only other sites appear.
What Topics Portfolio in Bing AI Performance is
AI Performance is a report that shows where your site appears as a source in Microsoft Copilot, Bing's AI summaries, and some partner services. It started as a public preview in February 2026. You can check total citations, cited pages, and the grounding queries the AI used while building its answers. A grounding query is the key phrase the AI sent out to find content worth citing. The idea that AI search looks for a reason to cite rather than a ranking is covered in the SEO, AEO, GEO guide (in Korean).
Topics Portfolio groups these queries by topic instead of showing individual phrases. The announcement describes publishers who handle content strategy, editorial planning, and competitive positioning as the main audience. It also says topics and opportunity queries are personalized from your own site's AI search exposure and activity, not a generic list.
Three metrics on each topic card
A Topics Portfolio tab appears next to the Citations & Pages tab in AI Performance. According to the announcement, each topic shows the three values below, and all of them are approximate.
| Metric | Description in the announcement | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Topic Size | Citations across all sites for that topic (approximate) | Indicates AI search demand |
| Sites Cited | Number of sites cited for that topic (approximate) | Indicates how competitive the topic is |
| Queries | Number of unique grounding queries in that topic (approximate) | Shows how many queries the topic contains |
When you open a topic, three cards at the top of the detail view show Topic Size, your site's citations, and the query count. Below them are the Your Grounding Queries table, which lists queries where your site already appears, and the Opportunity Queries table, where only other sites appear. Citation volume for opportunity queries is shown as a range, not an exact number.
The order for reading Topics Portfolio and how to check it
The order the announcement suggests is to sign in to Bing Webmaster Tools, open the AI Performance report, choose an analysis period of 1, 2, or 3 months, and start with topics where citations are already concentrated. Then review the opportunity queries to find areas with room to grow.
- Open the Topics Portfolio tab in the AI Performance report.
- Choose a period and check the topics where your site's citations are already concentrated.
- Open a topic and pick queries in Opportunity Queries where only other sites appear.
- If a classification or opportunity query does not fit your site, send feedback with the thumbs-down button on each row.
The announcement tells you to treat these numbers as directional signals, not precise records. So instead of writing a new article from a single query, it is better to wait until several opportunity queries show up in the same topic and check first whether your existing articles answer those questions. This is MCPY's own judgment, not official guidance, and the reason is to avoid hanging an editorial plan on one approximate number.
To see the result of an update, reopen the report with the same period setting and check whether your site's queries grew in that topic's Your Grounding Queries. The numbers may not change right after you edit an article, so compare over a generous time window.
How Topics Portfolio differs from existing AI Performance features
AI Performance already has several features. The June 16, 2026 preview added Intents, Topics, Citation Share, and Compare, and Topics Portfolio now joins them.
| Feature | What it shows | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Citations & Pages | Total citations, cited pages, grounding queries | February 2026 preview |
| Intents | Classifies queries by intent, such as informational, commercial, or local | June 2026 preview |
| Topics | Shows related queries as topic groups | June 2026 preview |
| Citation Share | Your site's share of all citations for a given query | June 2026 preview |
| Compare | Overlays a previous period to compare citation changes | June 2026 preview |
| Topics Portfolio | Size, sites cited, and query count per topic, plus opportunity queries | October 13, 2026 beta |
The June Topics feature groups cited queries into topics. Topics Portfolio adds citation volume per topic, the number of cited sites, and opportunity queries where your site is missing.
When Topics Portfolio does not show up, and other cautions
- It appears only for sites with enough data. According to the announcement, topics with little exposure or ecosystem activity are not shown, so small sites may see a short list or may not see the feature at all.
- Topic classification is generated by AI, so it can be inaccurate. If it does not match your site, report it with the thumbs-down button.
- Brand queries can appear as opportunity queries. The announcement's example is a running shoe topic where a query with your own brand name shows up. If you pick such a row as a new article topic, you end up writing one more article for people who already search for your brand, so remove it from your opportunity list.
- Citation counts are not rankings or quality. The February announcement stated that citation counts are not a measure of quality, ranking, or authority.
This report covers citations in Copilot, Bing's AI summaries, and some partner services. Exposure in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews does not appear on this screen, so check each one separately. Crawler permission settings are covered in how to allow or block crawlers for AI search optimization.
Frequently asked questions
Will writing articles for opportunity queries increase citations?
The announcement does not promise that effect. Opportunity queries only show queries where other sites appear, and the announcement tells you to use the numbers as directional signals.
Is Topics Portfolio the same as Google Search Console data?
No. Topics Portfolio is citation data from Microsoft AI answers, which is what AI Performance covers. Google search performance is viewed separately in Search Console.
Are the earlier Topics and Topics Portfolio the same feature?
No. The June Topics feature groups queries into topics, while the October Topics Portfolio also shows size per topic and opportunity queries.
There is one thing to do now. Check whether the Topics Portfolio tab opens in AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools, and if it does, start by reading the opportunity query list for the one topic where citations are most concentrated.
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