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What are grounding queries?

Grounding queries are the key phrases an AI used to retrieve the content it referenced in an answer. Microsoft defines the term in the AI Performance report of Bing Webmaster Tools, a public preview announced on 10 February 2026. The report shows a sample of these phrases, not a full log.

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Definition

Grounding means that an AI system supports its answer with retrieved sources instead of memory alone. A grounding query is a search phrase the system sent to a search index to find those sources. Microsoft's report lists the phrases that led to your pages being cited. A grounding query is not the same as the user's prompt, which may be long and conversational.

How do grounding queries work?

Three terms that are easy to confuse
TermWhat it isWho can see it
PromptWhat the user typed to the AIThe user and the AI provider
Grounding queryA search phrase the AI used to retrieve sources for the answerSite owners, as a sample, in the Bing report
Query fan-outThe technique of splitting one question into several searchesNot published per answer by Google

Developers can see similar data. The Gemini API documentation for grounding with Google Search shows that a response includes the search queries the model ran. The Gemini data goes to the app developer, not to the site owner.

Who reports grounding queries?

  • Bing Webmaster Tools. The AI Performance report covers Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated summaries in Bing and select partner integrations. Its metrics are total citations, average cited pages, grounding queries, page-level citation activity and trends over time. It does not show clicks and does not split Copilot from Bing summaries.
  • Google Search Console. The Search Generative AI performance report shows impressions by page, country, device and date. It does not show queries.

Microsoft advises that you confirm which pages are cited, deepen coverage of topics your cited pages already address, use clear headings, tables and FAQs, back claims with evidence, keep content current and use IndexNow to announce changes.

How do I use grounding queries?

  1. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools. You can import it from Search Console.
  2. Open the AI Performance report and export the grounding queries each week.
  3. Match each query to a page on your site.
  4. Write or improve a page for each query that has no match.
  5. Submit changed URLs with IndexNow.

The Bing AI Performance guide walks through the report. Before you do this work, run the GEO audit to confirm that AI crawlers can read the pages.

Frequently asked questions

What are grounding queries in Bing Webmaster Tools?

They are the key phrases the AI used when it retrieved content that an AI-generated answer referenced. Bing shows a sample of them for your site.

What does grounding mean in AI?

Grounding means the AI supports its answer with sources it retrieved, instead of relying on memory alone.

Is grounding the same as RAG?

No. Retrieval augmented generation (RAG) is one method: the system retrieves documents and gives them to the model. Grounding names the goal of tying an answer to sources.

Are grounding queries the same as keywords?

No. A keyword is what a person types into a search box. A grounding query is what the AI sent to the search index, and it can differ from the person's words.

Does Google show grounding queries?

Not in Search Console. The Search Generative AI performance report shows impressions by page, country, device and date.

Does Bing show clicks from AI answers?

No. The AI Performance report shows citations and grounding queries, not clicks or referral traffic.

Is the AI Performance report final?

It launched as a public preview on 10 February 2026. Microsoft previewed more features later, so check the report for current options.

Sources