In response to Google’s artificial intelligence-powered search experiences, Microsoft has launched Bing generative search. This new search feature uses AI to give you overview summaries of what you search for without having to click extra links.
Bing generative search started becoming available to more people in the United States this month. One easy way to try it is by searching for “Bing generative search” on Bing. Microsoft also said it will make the new search option easier to find for questions you want info on.
The search uses different AI systems working together. If you search something like “What’s a spaghetti western?”, Bing generative search will show you a basic description of what that movie genre is about and give some examples. It will pull this info from all around the web for you instead of just sending you to separate websites.
Similar to Google’s “AI Overviews” option, Bing’s generative search lets you choose not to see the AI-generated summaries and just get regular search results linking to pages instead. Microsoft says this new search feature is better at understanding what people search for and finding info to answer their questions directly in the results.
However, some experts worry about AI writing whole articles or sections without directly linking to where the info came from originally. This could take away website visitors that search engines normally send to article pages. One study found Google’s AI Overviews could negatively affect traffic to about 25% of publishers due to this.
When Microsoft first showed off Bing generative search this summer, it said it would watch how the new feature impacts how many people click links to websites from search results. So far the early data shows it hasn’t lowered website clicks. But only time will tell how much effect this ends up having as more people use it.
Of course, any changes Microsoft makes to Bing won’t have as big an impact as if Google did the same thing since far more people search with Google worldwide. But these AI-powered upgrades show Microsoft is working to make Bing searches easier and more helpful for users too.
