Crawler guide
Bingbot: what it does and how to control it.
What is Bing's main crawler? It is Bing's standard crawler. Learn how to spot its user agent, check that a visit is real, and decide what to allow in robots.txt.
Short answer
What is Bing's main crawler?
Bingbot is Bing's standard crawler. Bing says it handles most of its crawling needs each day. You can confirm a visit with Bing's Verify Bingbot tool, and you can control the crawler through robots.txt.
In brief
Four things to know first.
Bing's standard crawler
Bing says its standard crawler handles most of its crawling each day. It is one of five main Bing crawlers.
User agents can be faked
Bing warns that user agent strings are easy to spoof. Check the IP before you trust a request.
robots.txt is your control
Bing says robots.txt tells its crawlers how to interact with your site. Crawl control sets hourly rates.
Bing calls it its standard crawler
Bing calls this its standard crawler. User agent strings are easy to spoof, so confirm the IP with Bing's verification tool.
Who runs it
What Bingbot is and does.
Microsoft runs this crawler. Bing calls it "our standard crawler" and says it "handles most of our crawling needs each day."
Bing lists five main crawlers. The standard one is the general crawler; the other four handle ads, snapshots and video previews.
| Crawler | What Bing says |
|---|---|
| Bing's standard crawler | Standard crawler for most daily crawling |
| AdIdxBot | Bing Ads; checks ads and their sites |
| BingPreview | Generates page snapshots for Bing |
| MicrosoftPreview | Generates snapshots for Microsoft products |
| BingVideoPreview | Video previews, only in Bing |
Recognise it
Bingbot user agent and IP checks.
Bing says its standard crawler uses several types of user agent strings, including desktop and mobile (Android) variants. Bing swaps the Chrome version in them for the latest Microsoft Edge version it uses.
BingPreview does not carry its own name. Its strings share the main crawler's 2.0 token, so a log line with that token may not be the main crawler.
Look for Bing's 2.0 token, then verify the IP
Bing's string includes a compatible marker, its 2.0 crawler token and a link to Bing's crawler help page.
Edge version changes
Bing replaces "W.X.Y.Z" in the string with its current Microsoft Edge version.
Spoofing is easy
Bing says not every request with these strings comes from a real Bing crawler.
Verify the IP
Use Bing's Verify tool, or one of the other verification methods Bing offers.
Control it
Allow or block Bingbot in robots.txt.
Blocking it stops it from crawling the paths you disallow. Before you block, measure your visibility: how often your brand appears in AI responses.
Bing Webmaster Tools also has a Crawl control tool. It lets you control crawl rates by the hour.
Find Bing's crawler in your logs
Filter your logs for Bing user agent strings and note which paths those requests hit. Bing warns that these strings are easy to spoof, so not every match comes from a real Bing crawler.Verify the IP
Run suspicious IPs through Bing's Verify tool before you act on them.Set rules in robots.txt
Add allow or disallow rules for Bing's crawlers to the robots.txt file at your site root.Tune the crawl rate
If the crawler loads your server too much, use Crawl control in Bing Webmaster Tools.Report problems
If a Bing crawler misbehaves, follow Bing's steps for reporting a crawler issue. Those steps cover the standard crawler and Bing's other crawlers.
Not sure what crawlers can read?
Our Technical GEO work checks crawler access, rendering and schema, so your key pages are easy to read.
Should you block it
What blocking this crawler could cost you.
Whether to block is your decision. To judge the effect, compare how often your brand appears in AI answers before and after blocking. A visibility change alone does not prove lost traffic or revenue.
Bing's crawler page does not say how this crawler's data reaches Copilot, so we make no claim about it. If AI visibility matters, test your own prompts rather than assume.
| Allow Bing's crawler | Block Bing's crawler | |
|---|---|---|
| Bing's reach | Bing's standard crawler works for Bing | Bing runs five main crawlers |
| Server load | Tune with Crawl control | Verify real Bing crawler requests |
| Best when | You want Bing visibility | Bing's other crawlers |
FAQ
Bing's crawler: common questions.
What is Bing's standard crawler?
Bing's standard crawler handles most of the company's daily crawling needs, Bing says. It is one of five main Bing crawlers, alongside AdIdxBot, BingPreview, MicrosoftPreview and BingVideoPreview.
What is Bing's crawler user agent?
Bing's standard crawler handles most of its daily crawling. Bing user agent strings, including BingPreview's, carry the same 2.0 crawler token and a link to Bing's crawler help page. Bing replaces "W.X.Y.Z" with its latest Microsoft Edge version.
How do I verify a real Bing crawler visit?
Bing warns that user agent strings are easy to spoof, so a matching string proves little. Check the requesting IP with Bing's Verify tool, or use another verification method Bing offers.
How do I block or limit Bing's main crawler?
Bing says robots.txt files tell its crawlers how to interact with your site, so add rules for the user agent there. To slow crawling instead, use the Crawl control tool in Bing Webmaster Tools, which sets rates by the hour.
Is every request with the "/2.0" token the main crawler?
A "bingbot/2.0" token does not single out one crawler. User agent strings are easy to spoof, so the token alone proves little.
Should I block Bingbot?
Blocking Bingbot can keep your pages out of Bing's index and out of grounding results. Bing says its Copilot search experiences use the same crawling, indexing and ranking foundation as traditional search. Blocking it limits that visibility too.
Check what AI engines can read on your site.
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